I think my Blazer must be telling me it's ready to retire. too many problems lately.

I was driving 3 days ago and the red emrgency brake warning light came on and the brakes felt spongy then it felt like there were no power brakes. Got home and checked fluid levels and leaks. Not that bad on level, but i topped it to correct level anyway. Next day, same thing except that as I came to a stop and pushed gently on pedal, you could feel the pressure going down and the light came on at the end of the stop. Drive for 5 minutes without brakes and the light went out and power brakes were OK again.

I'm thinking Booster has a leak. Any way to test for this? I can't see any fluid that has leaked on the ground but it's been bad weather lately with freezing rain and I could have a leak and just not see any signs. When engine is off, if you pump brake pedal, I can hear an air sound down by the pedal. Problem is that this may be normal, just never tried it before.

Any thoughts? BTW, thanks again for advice on oil pump problem. Still no sign of ticking noise a week later. Seems the patient may need more surgery than it's worth.

Doug

 

If the pedal goes down slowly while your foot is on it, you are leaking brake fluid somewhere. Some places that will NOT leave an obvious sign are Wheel cylinder (if you have them, ignore if you have rear disk), Master cylinder: May be dribbling down the front of the brake booster, or, it may be draining into the booster itself, in which case, you will never see a leak, but, fluid level will keep going down.

It is also possible that the master cylinder is blown between the two internal pistons, in which case, you will not see a leak either, but, fluid loss will be significantly less, if any at all.

 

I had a mechanic check out the brakes and there was a small leak between the front & back somewhere. We could not find anything with the shield in the way but he replaced the brake line and spent a long time getting everything bled, but it's all back to normal now. $113. total which is good considering what the booster cost might have been.

Thanks the the reply