So heres the deal...Up until about 2 weeks ago my brakes were fine. They have progressively gotten worse since then. What is happening is that my brake pedal will go soft and the brakes will not engage until its almost touching the floor. It seems to do that every other time I brake. It almost seems the system is losing pressure, building pressure back up, losing pressure, and well you get the idea. I already had my brakes bled thinking that may be the problem. It didn't do anything, and actually seems to have made it worse. My car is at the dealership now since its still under warranty for another 11/2 years. The service writer is telling me that one of his guys took it for a test drive and that there is nothing wrong. I am going in tomorrow morning and taking it out with the service manager to show him whats happening. I think my master cylinder is the culprit. What should I do since they seem to think nothing is wrong and I can't really prove it?
I would say it was your master cylinder. A couple things you will want to check:
1) take a look at the booster behind the master cyl resevoir, does it look wet? Carefully run a hand under it to see if it is wet or has that appearance of being wet
2) inside the car, check the brake pedal at the floor. Is there brake fluid? Is it wet under the carpet? Check to see if you see anything on the boot there at the floor...
3) have a friend carefully depress the brake pedal SLOWLY while you observe the liquid in the master cyl. Control this LOL.....don't just say press down then up and let me watch...LOL...Tell them, down and hold the pedal there and observe, then up and observe.
Watch for bubbles and watch for strange abnormalities with the fluid levels...
Other than that...Observe around your wheels for leaks or wetness. You may have a bad brake cylinder that may be leaking enough to cause problems..
Hope this gives you some things to check on...
L8R
Rich
The thing is, its not leaking any fluid anywhere. I've checked the fluid level many times and it hasn't changed a bit. I'm guessing that it may be the master cylinder or the brake booster.
check the brake lines they may have rubbed on the master cylinder and wore a line in it. thas what happened to my pedal kinda and thats what it was. if it causes an accident dont touch the car or gm will not send a tech to look at it.
^^^???what do you mean the brake lines wore a line in the master cylinder?
the lines rubbed on the master cylinder and wore a hole in the line not master cylinder
If you do not have any fluid leaking I would try the emergency brake handle and see how far you have to move the hande before the brakes come on. Your rear brakes may simply need to be adjusted. I have a 99 Z 24 with over 155 K miles and I haven't replaced any master cylinders nor brake lines yet.
