Subaru - Impreza :: 1999 - Soft And Pulsing Brakes / Now One Brake Line Blown
May 14, 2013
I have a 1999 Subaru Impreza Wagon that I have owned for about 2.5 years, and I love it. I travel for work and I use rental cars alot. I have noticed in the past year that my brakes feel softer than most cars I drive, but I figure.. they are new cars, and my car is pretty old.
In the past 2-3 months I have notices a pulsing in my brakes...it sounds/feels kinda like the ABS, but I was thinking it would be worth getting my brakes inspected soon.
Then this past week, I totally blew a brake line when I was driving.
The car has about 140,000 miles on it and the mechanic says a brake line alone may not be related to the pulsing sounds...because brake lines usually go because of rust....
So...thoughts on things I should be looking at? What could the pulsing be a symptom of?
if one brake line blew, and it is rust, is the other one not far behind? (this was a new england car up until 2 years ago)
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I have a 1994 F-250 4x4 w/manual transmission. I was driving a few days ago when the brake pedal suddenly went to the floor. I had almost no brakes (less than 10% at most), but luckily was able to get off the road safely. It was immediately apparent that the line connecting the T-fitting and the passenger side drum had broken.
I have never blown a brake line before, but I always assumed that you would have either front or rear brakes, depending on which line blew. Unfortunately I was wrong! The master cylinder reservoir was about 3/4 full when I initially checked it, but after I moved (slowly) the truck to a safer spot in the parking lot, I checked again and it was nearly empty.
Is my brake system behaving normally (no brakes front or rear, blown line completely empties the reservoir), or should there be some safety factor built in? If the system is operating correctly, is there any way to convert to a system that doesn't give out fully when a line is blown?
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Just the other day I got the clutch replaced on my 06 WRX. I took it to a reputable workshop that I've dealt with before. When I got it back the clutch pedal feels very soft and goes to the floor with ease, whereas before it was a lot harder and felt good. It works good and dosen't slip but just a soft pedal. I also went for the OEM replacement and not aftermarket. Some of the google searches I've read say the pedal will get harder after about 1000-2000 km.
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It's just one thing after another with this car. Just had my uncle replace the front right cv joint (which took about 6 hours). While he was working on my car I noticed the parts of the engine looked moist (not greasy). I found that the oil feed line may be the culprit. Is this something that needs to be addressed ASAP? Or can I just ignore it for another year or so (when I may be getting a newer used car).
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My 1998 Forester suddenly began pulsing / crunching sound, from the front brakes. I had just performed full brake inspection 2 weeks before. So I removed the ABS fuse (20 amp), and the problem disappeared. Of course the ABS light is also on now, but I can drive the car. I disconnected the 4 wheel sensors from the car harness, connected an oscilloscope to each, and spun the wheels pretty fast. I get 150 MV peak-to-peak from each sensor. Must I replace the "tone rings", or just wire-brush them? Replacing the rings are a BIG job, and the wheel bearings & seals must be replaced, since they don't survive pulling out the axles from the steering knuckle (front), or strut assembly (rear).
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On the expressway, I was driving my 2013 Subaru Impreza about 50 mph and had occasion to make a sudden stop. There were no crashes, and traffic started up again immediately - except for me! There I was, in the left lane, and when I depressed the gas pedal the car stayed put. I could hear the engine rev, but the wheels didn't turn. I had to turn the car off and start it again before I could move forward. What could be going on?
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My daughter has a 1993 Subaru Impreza with 5 speed manual transmission. I have been driving it because of problems getting it to go in 1st gear. Most of the time the car goes from a stop just fine, but whenever it is on any kind of uphill grade the car seems to be stuck like the brake is still engaged. I hear a "grinding noise" I think is coming from the right rear wheel. This happens only in 1st gear, then the car is fine after that, I tried starting from 2nd but the same thing happens. This car is front wheel drive.I think the brake may be sticking in the rear wheel. The car has a new clutch and I put in new brakes all the way around. Is there a way that I can temporarily disable the right rear brake (drums)? Maybe then I could isolate the problem.
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I recently had my Subaru Impreza (2011) brought in for repairs to replace the brake pads and rotors. Upon driving home from the repair shop, I noticed that it was a lot harder to pull up on my parking brake than before when I parked.
My question is: is this a sign of something I should go back to the mechanic about? Is there such thing as the parking brakes being on TOO tight? I just wanted to be sure.
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I just joined as I bought my '97 F-150 5.4 4X4 about 3 months ago. The dealer gave me a 6 month warranty but hasn't honored it at all and I've had one problem after another. That's another story though but right now I'm just trying to fix the important issues. The problem at hand are my brakes.
I was noticing a couple days ago (maybe I never noticed it that much as it was a new vehicle to me) that when I apply the brakes it sounds like a bicycle pump and the pedal travels nearly all the way down. It doesn't hit the firewall but I'd probably guess it has 3 more inches or less until it bottoms out. The hissing only occurs as the pedal travels and stops when the brake pedal isn't moving.
Now I'm not sure if the hissing sound is normal as I replaced the brake booster (from the junkyard though) and the new one still hisses when I apply brakes. The brakes seem to work okay, could be more sensitive it's just the pedal feels soft until it almost bottoms out like I stated before and the the brakes grab a little bit harder. What could it be?
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I have a 79 f150. I changed two brake lines and master cylinder and bleed,and more bleed,but still very soft all most to floor? wheel cylinders look good.
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I had a leaky brake line behind the gas tank on my 2000 f250 superduty and in the process of fixing that I ended up changing all my calipers and brakes. I've bled the lines and there is no air left in the lines but the brakes are still soft is there something else that needs to be bled. I think all brake fluid leaked on the floor when the line broke.
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Using a line lock as a parking brake? Going to switch to 4 wheel disc wont have parking brake.
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I blew a power steering cooler line yesterday and lost a bit of fluid. Removed and replaced the line, consequently losing most of the fluid in the system (during line replacement). Re-filled the system and now i have great power steering when driving but none at idle. If I bring my RPMs up about 150-200. I get it back in full force. Could my PS pump be on the way out or might this just be air in the system?
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So the other day I had someone change lanes and slam on the binders right in front of me which caused me to slam on mine. Luckily no one got hit. Now my brakes feel different. Sometimes the pedal feels nice a firm other times it pushes in 2-3" before starting to brake. The fluid level has not changed in the resevoir and the hydroboost appears to be working fine. The power steering is still operating as before. I have checked the calipers and none are leaking.
My suspect is the master cylinder but was wondering if the symptoms are common with the master cylinder failing? I'm thinking internal o-ring has failed due to the near accident event. I'm going to do power steering flush just because I never have. Is there anything that would display these symptoms that I could check before buying the master cylinder?
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So a few week back I noticed my brakes were getting soft. Soft meaning that when braking for any distance, I would hear a kind of "pressure release, squeaking" sound coming from the pedal, and the pedal would sometimes go to the floor and the ABS would kick in. Let me tell ya, its a pretty crappy feeling when your brakes aren't doing what their supposed to! So, I replaced the pads all the way around, replaced the master cylinder (bench primed). I took it out for a drive, and it did the same thing. So thinking maybe the fluid is bad, I flushed new fluid through the lines. Took it for a drive, and it felt good right away, the pedal firmed up a bit, and then it did did it again.
Just so I give as much info as possible, the rotors are looking pretty rough and going to be replaced soon.
So, my question[s] are; What is the next step in identifying the problem? Is there a chance the new master cylinder is bad? Could worn rotors cause the caliper to max out and not apply enough pressure? Even though the calipers seemed fine while replacing the pads, could one or more be bad? If so, how do I know?
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Rear steel brake line ruptured the other day (was pretty rusty). Despite being an idiot in regards to automotive repair (among many other things), I decided to give it a shot. I was able to get the damaged section off, went to Autozone with the broken piece, they matched it up, were nice enough to cut it and put on one larger fitting (because the two were different sizes) and flare it for me.
I was able to get the one side (at the T fitting) on OK. That was the "new" side, the one they flared at Autozone. Looks good. No leaks.
The stock side, at the passenger side caliper, leaks like crazy. Not out the threads, but out the hole through which the line passes. Know what I mean?
I'm having a hard time figuring out what's happening, because I'm not sure how this thing works. Does the line fit flush to something inside the connection at the caliper? Is it a bad flare?
It did not go in easy, but the new one was just as much trouble as the fitting that came out (stock?), so it must be right.
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The brake line on the passengers side went bad. Called ford for replacement and they said ford is not supplying that line any more. Where I can get a replacement? Its hard line and connects to the rubber line.
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Just got a 99 super duty and I have a very weird problem. When stopping i feel a very strong pulsing from the brake pedal. I assumed warped rotor. but the strange part is when I hit the brake the cab dome light comes on. How to locate this pulsating?
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I have this truck (in signature below) that I have not driven for ~3 years. As I am starting to drive it I am noticing I need to put A LOT of pressure on my brake pedal to get the brakes to work. They stop the truck and the pedal doesn't feel soft as if there is air in the line but it feels as if I apply a lot of pressure and there isn't a lot of grab.
While it might be possible, I don't think I have any type of glaze or coating on my brakes that would cause this. 95% of those 3 years, the truck was inside.
I wonder if it feels as if the truck is hard to stop because of the additional power I have coming from this new motor?
Is there any type of part I can replace in the brake booster to adjust the pedal? Or brake booster. Maybe that is going bad?
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I have a 2004 Ford Expedition and today on the freeway I had to step on the brakes pretty hard to avoid an accident. After pressing, the pedal resistance became really soft and the brakes worked, but were very sensitive (a lot of pedal movement to brake). I had this happen some time ago and I did a complete system flush and no problems since then, but it has to do with how hard I hit the brakes. What could be wrong????? BTW - I never noticed the anti-lock brake pedal pulse at all during this event. I'm not even sure it is working at this point. No dash lights to indicate an error of any sort.
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I just replaced my 3rd HP power steering line last night( 3rd in 300K, always blows the same point....fitting comes apart where it attaches to the pump.
I'll start, mine have gone about 100K plus or minus 10K, almost thinking about making it a 100K maintenance item.
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