So my old truck had another unfortunate problem...the brakes died approaching a stop light, resulting in me rear-ending some crappy little Olds minivan. It wasn't a sudden stop, I had just kinda rested my foot on the pedal to prepare to stop, and the first bit of pressure sent the pedal to the floor. I'd been driving through the city for a good 20 minutes and didn't notice anything unusual, no "spongy" pedal feel that usually warns the brakes have a fluid leak or something. I had probably just stopped about 30 seconds ago, go to stop again and there's no brakes. Not even a little. Didn't hit anything on the road, though the road was rather icy/snowy. Strikes me as highly unusual that the brakes just instantly fail like that.

Good news is nobody was hurt (only hit the minivan at maybe 15mpg, would have been more but locking up the back wheels with the e-brake slowed me a little). My '93 got the middle of the front bumper pushed in an inch or two, where some rust was forming around the tag. Grille and the rest of the front end was un-damaged. Her minivan got screwed, the entire hatchback was shoved a good foot in, rear window shattered, and her rear wiper arm was on my hood with glass bits everywhere. Shows how plastic cars fare against steel ones I suppose.


It's a front-disc, rear drum setup, with the rear ABS system (which works as it should and always has). Once a week I pop the hood and check the fluids, and in all the time I've had the truck I've never needed to add brake fluid. There was a very faint pedal pusle indicating the front discs are mildly warped but I thought nothing of it. Oddly enough on the way to school I have to go down a short but very steep hill, and that day some *** backed out into the street without looking, and I hit the brakes hard enough to make the rear antilock come on. You'd think if a hose or like was about to go that would have busted it, but I drove another 10 miles normally. On the way home about 10 miles into the city it died. No low fluid warning light, normal brake feel. However afterward after I floored the brake pedal again to ensure that I didn't skid, the low fluid light came on as well as the yellow ABS light. A check confirmed that the master cylinder's reservior was down to about 1/3, from the full it was when I checked a few days prior. Pushing the brake resulted in a "whooshing" noise from the rear end.

I thought since there were two lines out of the master cylinder it was a two-zone system? As in like if there was a break in the rear line, the front brakes would still function? I only got a quick look before the cops and eventual tow showed up. Only reason cops were involved was because one happened to be crossing the intersection the next block down as the exact moment I hit the van, no kidding. The other lady from out of state and from her accent probably out of the country was trying to negotiate with the cop to not "get involved", since she had been on her cell phone when I hit her (illegal in NYS) and also didn't go when the light was green. If she had gone I wouldn't have hit her and she knew this.

Anyway, what could cause such a sudden failure? It happened last Thursday, but with the holiday jam the local shop won't even get to look at it until tomorrow so hopefully I can get some answers about this.

 

yes there are two lines but this happened to me about a month ago. I was stopped at a light and my pedal dropped to the floor. It was indeed a busted line directly below the master cylinder where the line splits to go to the left and right front brakes. the fact that you had to add fluid tells me that you were losing it somewhere. Probably a small hole starting?...Anyway, sounds like it was on it's way out and it finally gave up the ghost..so to speak. You likely still had a little brake left but that would depend on the blowout perhaps...certainly not enough to stop you if you were coming up on a stopped car.

Depending on your mechanical aptitude, you could likely do it yourself. Your local auto parts store will have some stock lines that may do the job for you depending on where the break is. If you can use those..I would recommend getting the lines with the spring around it. The spring makes it able to be bent without creasing the line. Otherwise you would need a tube bender. If it is a long line you may be able to get a jobber to make(cut, bend and flare the ends for you...usually for a fee). You may also be able to buy the factory line from a dealership. Never went that route myself...bought a bender and flare kit awhile back.
Hope this helps and let us know how it turns out.
Dave

 

Sounds to me like you hard a rusty line and stressed it with that hard stop on the hill. Then all it takes is 1 or 2 good stops to finish it off. My 94 did the same thing. I blew the middle line near the fuel filter.

The lines with the springs crease too, just as easy. I've had to fix(replace new lines) them for quite a few people. All brake line is double-walled and should never be bent with your hands. Just because the outer tube isn't kinked doesn't mean the inner isn't.
The springs are meant to protect exposed lines from rocks and debris. Since our trucks run mostly in the frame rails they are unnecessary.
In the rust belt, the springs hold moisture and salt near the lines, rusting them out quicker so based on where he lives i'd say go with plain lines and get a cheap bender($4-5).

It is a 2 zone system, all had to be since like the late 70's I think. The problem is you loose all ABS and most of your assist. So you could stop the truck...eventually.

By low fluid light you mean the red "Brake !" light right? That means there is a hydraulic pressure problem. As soon as that light comes on (when not from parking brake) the ABS turns off, triggering the yellow light.(It will likely turn off when the leak is fixed.
Since you live in NYS I'd bet on a rusted line. The woosh prolly means a hole in the rear somewhere. To try to find it you can fill the master cylinder up and have someone pump the brakes while you look for fluid under the truck.

 

The same thing happened to my 94 and my dad's 95. Both had the brake line rupture behind the drivers side front wheel. A section at this location is wrapped with wire coil where it goes from the caliper connection through the inner fender.

On both occasions, the trucks were being used to tow and had an extra load.

 

I had both the fronts go, both times in my driveway when I put the truck into gear. After the first one went, I checked all the lines and they looked good, but the other went in almost the same place, where there was spring around it.

Not playing that game any more. I could have had it happen at a lot worse time.

 

wow my brakes are not right(peddle gos down far then really slows down quick) and my E brake doesnt work. Im going to have my brakes fix ASAP after hearing this story

 

Well the local shop finally got to it and according to them almost every line was severely rusted and when I mentioned the hard stop shortly before the failure they agreed that probably popped a small hole somewhere resulting in a fluid leak but not large enough to make a noticeable loss of braking power. The main break happened right after the T over the rear axle on the going to the left-rear drum. They said the rest of the line looked bad, and replaced the whole rear system. Then during bleeding, the steel line for the left-front wheel broke right where it changes to the rubber line, that got replaced. Again, they said the right-front line looked in about as bad shape, so I had them replace that too. They said the two rubber lines in the front looked fairly recent and were in fine shape. $250 later I have a practically new brake system.

Ya, the red "BRAKE!" light came on after the accident and after I pressed the pedal once again (I figured the sensor in the master cylinder reservoir tripped this light for low fluid), a few seconds after the ABS light came on too.

Since this same shop had done it's yearly inspection about 6 months prior, I asked why they didn't catch these rusted lines then and do something about it. Not surprisingly they didn't have an answer, and the guy gave me the standard speech about how fast rust is, and that it could have been fine 6 months ago.

Brake problems are definetly not something you want popping up in the middle of traffic. And despite me using a minivan for a stopping bumper, it could have been much, much worse.