Brake Pressure - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Jakobi · 02-24-2003, 23:16

Today, while driving home from uni I found that the pressure in the brake line was pretty poor. To firmly apply the brakes I had to pump the pedal a few times otherwise I found myself with the pedal not too far from the floor (although they were still working like this)

What I would like to know is what could be the cause of this? I have not experienced this problem in this car, but had it happen in my old corona sedan on hot days. This brings me to mention that the car was parked in direct sunlight from about 11am - 4:30pm..

Any help would be much appreciated as I dont particularly like driving around on faulty brakes.

tickfordboy · 02-25-2003, 00:08

What you have is what I have heard called "Brake Fade" and what happens is the brake fluid leaks back and leaves you with soft brakes. This can be due to old fluid. Brake fluid is required to be changed every two years, a complete flush. Brake fluid is a magnet for water. If there is moisture in the brake fluid your pedal goes spongy or doesn't work at all. If this happens on hot days I think the fluid is weak and contaminated. Hopefully this is your problem as brake fluid is not very expensive and a brake bleed would do your car good.