No brakes!, Brake pedal went to the floor Options

[mburkhart]

So I was out for a cruise around the neighborhood the other day and things were going great until the brake pedal went to the floor. I was able to pump it a few times and restore pressure and crawled home in a low gear. Each time I used the brakes the pedal would go to the floor until I pumped it a few times. Scary!

Once home I looked under the car and inspected the soft lines at each caliper but they looked fine and no leaks. The brake fluid reservoir is still full. I'm not sure where the problem is.

What should I be looking for?

[Craigers17]

I did this a few months ago. I used this advice by McMark from another post:

1. Pop the throttle pedal off of the pushrod, so it can be pulled towards the rear of the car.
2. Depress the clutch pedal about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way down.
3. Route the board over both the clutch pedal and the brake pedal in the same motion (or close enough)

It takes awhile to figure out. But once you've done it a few times the 'right' way it becomes pretty easy. ...end quote

...hope this helps...worked for me.

[mburkhart]

Well it looks like the caliper is the culprit. Brake pressure felt normal when I backed the car out of the garage. I pulled both front tires and found the driver side caliper was seized and the pads were tight against the rotor like billh1963 described.

I think I'm going to replace both front calipers/pads/soft lines. I will also take a look at the rear calipers and make sure they're still functioning correctly.

[bdstone914]

@mburkhart
post='2850680' date='Sep 12 2020, 01:57 PM']
Well it looks like the caliper is the culprit. Brake pressure felt normal when I backed the car out of the garage. I pulled both front tires and found the driver side caliper was seized and the pads were tight against the rotor like billh1963 described.

I think I'm going to replace both front calipers/pads/soft lines. I will also take a look at the rear calipers and make sure they're still functioning correctly.
[/quote]

A siezed caliper would not explain the pedal going to the floor. I say it is still the master if no other external leak can be found.

[stugray]

[quote name='bdstone914' date='Sep 12 2020, 06:50 PM' post='2850730']
@mburkhart
post='2850680' date='Sep 12 2020, 01:57 PM']
Well it looks like the caliper is the culprit. Brake pressure felt normal when I backed the car out of the garage. I pulled both front tires and found the driver side caliper was seized and the pads were tight against the rotor like billh1963 described.

I think I'm going to replace both front calipers/pads/soft lines. I will also take a look at the rear calipers and make sure they're still functioning correctly.
[/quote]

A siezed caliper would not explain the pedal going to the floor. I say it is still the master if no other external leak can be found.
[/quote]


"A siezed caliper would not explain the pedal going to the floor. "

Sorry, but this is false.
A dragging caliper will overheat that caliper and boil the brake fluid creating a large "air" bubble in the lines.

It has happened to me more than once.

This is usually not the caliper's fault, but the flex lies to the caliper.
They "swell" internally blocking flow and not letting the caliper release.