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Squishy brake pedal

Posted By: Gary Benson

Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 04:40 PM

2015 Silverado. There's no leaks and not losing brake fluid. When I back up and brake, it makes a funny sound and the pedal is soft. Going forward, it stops just fine if I haven't been on the pedal for awhile but if in stop-and-go traffic and riding the brake it will eventually go to the floor and be squishy. Then I have to pump the pedal to get brakes and they still aren't good. Drive for awhile and hit the brakes and they stop fine. Could this be anything else but master cylinder? Again, theres no leaks.
Posted By: loosegoose

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 05:11 PM

Most likely an internally leaking master cylinder.
Posted By: nate

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 05:14 PM

Or brake booster, I would double check and make sure there's no pin hole Ina brake line.
Posted By: KeithC

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 05:19 PM

Your brake fluid is likely low.

Keith
Posted By: Garryowen

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 05:29 PM

Bleed the air out of the brake lines.

Garryowen
Posted By: Turtledale

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by loosegoose
Most likely an internally leaking master cylinder.

X2
Posted By: Gary Benson

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 05:36 PM

Thank you guys.
Posted By: warrior

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 05:47 PM

Master cylinder blowing by the rear circuit.
Posted By: Cragar

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 07:03 PM

Originally Posted by Turtledale
Originally Posted by loosegoose
Most likely an internally leaking master cylinder.

X2

X3

Try bleeding the master cylinder. To do that , have friend help while you bleed the lines coming directly out of the master cylinder. Do one at a time , not together. You should see both are bleeding out the same amount and the same pressure. Just bleed the two lines at the master cylinder not the bunch just below it which is part of the ABS system. If they are inconsistent , you may have a bad master cylinder.

Are you getting any fault codes for the ABS system ?
Posted By: Gary Benson

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 07:21 PM

No fault codes, nope.
Posted By: Cragar

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by Gary Benson
No fault codes, nope.

That's good. Getting into ABS related problems can make you pull your hair out and shred was your wallet sometimes.
Changing out a master cylinder is much cheaper and easier.
Posted By: Gary Benson

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 08:26 PM

I'll start with that and work my way up. Thanks.
Posted By: warrior

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 08:38 PM

Probably a bad o-ring on the piston. Master cylinders can be rebuilt.
Posted By: Cragar

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 10:04 PM

I gotta add a funny story to this thread.

Years ago my roommate at the time was dating this girl. She had a mid-80's Chevy Malibu type car. It had brake problems. She had already had one shadetree mechanic replace the front brake pads. Didn't help. Same mechanic then replaced one of the calipers. Still didn't help. Then she had a different shadetree mechanic replace both of the rear wheel cylinders. Still didn't help. Not the girl's fault as the diagnosis was made by the people that worked on her car.

My roommate asked me to look at the car. A fairly quick diagnosis revealed that the master cylinder was bad and it was only making the back brakes work , fronts had almost no use. So I told her it needed a master cylinder and the part was around $50 at the time. The look on her face was desperation and the thought of spending more money on a problem that didn't get fixed after several tries and the money spent. My roommate backed me up saying if that was the problem , I was probably right. The girl caved in and returned the next day with a new master cylinder. Fairly easy job , got it installed in about 20-30 minutes.

I then give her back her keys and tell her to wear her seatbelt until she got used to how the car was going to stop. In one ear and out the other....... laugh

She came back a couple days later to visit my roommate. Then I got the story.....lol

She had left with the car after I fixed it with another girl. The first real stop they made the driver was so used to pushing down super hard on the brake pedal they completely locked up the brakes. The driver slammed into the steering wheel and the passenger hit the dashboard and faceplanted the windshield. Obviously not wearing their seatbelts. Luckily nobody got hurt too bad. The girl that owned the car thanked me for fixing her brakes correctly unlike the people before that failed.

Moral of the story - Wear your seatbelts.
Posted By: Gary Benson

Re: Squishy brake pedal - 10/17/22 11:04 PM

laugh Psh..........! Brakes just slow ya down.
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