Driving the 3 door today, car just been put back on the road after 5years. Had tarox 10 pots up front, fresh brake fluid and brakes were working fine. Gave the car some today and had to brake hard and all of a sudden i had a very soft brake pedal and hardly any stopping power.

Crawled the car home, left it for a bit and gone back to it and the peddle appears to be back to normal again.????

Any ideas

Dont want to be using it with this issue as could end up causing an accident.

 

I would try bleeding some new fluid in to it. Over time it retains moisture and will make the pedal feel worse and cause the fluid to "boil" and not operate correctly.

But if you were just driving normally then had to use the brakes hard then not sure. Have a look for small leaks in the system.

Bruce

 

Thanks mate

When it was put back on the road which was about 3 months ago all the brake fluid was changed. I want to find out what the problem was for 100 % because if it happens again at speed i might not be so lucky. Might have to just take into some one

 

Sounds like the system wasn't pressurised? Check the electrical connectors that go onto the servo/pump.

 

Soft pedal with not much brake could well be just the pads deglazing.
If you drive gentle most of the time, the pads can glaze, more of a problem with some more than others, they could actually have overhetaed very easily this way, but now cooled will be fine after a few miles, the resin that bonds the mix together comes to the surface when they glaze, but a good roasting to the point of fade gets rid of it.
I had this problem always with the DS Ferrodo pads I used to use, just got hot enough to bite decently then 5 mins later they fade.
It would not hurt to examine the pads though as the material may have started to come away from the backing metal, small cracks are ok but not chuncks missing.
Could have been a few sticky pistons helping to warm pads up as well.
I too would have said fluid except you have changed it, was the fluid new ?
Any stored fluid WILL absorb water even if still sealed, and it has a shelf life, that is why I no longer buy 1 gallon at a time but as needed, so always fresh.
tabetha

 

Thanks to all the above for advice

The fluid was new when changed, all the above gives me quite a few things to check so il do that first. One of them things with brakes i want to sure what it was or i wont want to be driving the car anymore.

 

Thanks for the above, how is it best to avoid the pads glazing??
Might be well worth changing the fluid again myself that way im sure its new.

 

I think you're right to want to check. Personally I would suggest that you take time to examine all your brakes - take each wheel off, look for leaks, check the pads have plenty of wear left, check enough fluid is in the reservoir, check the lines and pipes look OK, make sure there is nothing obviously wrong.

Next would be to bleed the brakes again. You may find that there is air in one of the lines which caused the pedal to go soft and which will bleed out easily.

Charlie

 

Will go through all the above tomorrow, post up my findings when i get the chance