Not sure if this is common or not... When it rains; on occasion when i step on the brakes, the pedal feels real stiff and the car doesnt slow down at all... Until i pump the the brake, which then it feels like it goes to teh floor for a minute. Im not driving through puddles other than the regular ones on the road from rain run off. The breaks have all new pads and rotors all the way around id say back in june 06. Again this isnt something that happens everytime it rains, but more often then not i would say.


Anythoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

 

i ran into that same situation yesterday in my brothers chevy blazer... exact symptons. once it was dry there was no problem... i don't know either...

 

air in system

 

Completely normal. Its water that has built up on the rotors. It takes a second or so for it to go away befor braking returns to normal. Some of the newer cars have a brake wipe function in the abs that is tied into the rain sensor. When its raining the abs will hit the brakes for a microsecond every 30 seconds or so to get the water off the rotors. Ive experience this phnominon first hand on long drives to work. Ill be blowing by cars on the left after it has rained. The cars on the right are throwing up all sorts of water that gets on the brakes. Hit the brakes relatively hard and the car pulls hard left for a second and then starts braking straight. Kinda of annoying but theres an easy fix. Just hit the brakes every once in awhile while cruising.

 

Hmmm....well does the pedal go to the floor or does it just feel like it. Two pretty different thing there. If the pedal actually goes to the floor you my have air in the system or you may have a bad master cylinder. If the brakes act like dankhound described then it is just water surface tension on your rotors which can also be solved with an upgrade to cross drilled rotors.

 

hmmm i get that when i drove my mom's saab 9-3 when it was snowing sometimes

i once ran into someone's front lawn in my neighborhood and missed their mail box by like a centimeter lol. Really sucked trying to back out and looking like an idiot to all the people shovling snow.

 

I get the same effect riding through puddles on my mountain bike. LOL Dankhound is right on the $$. Its simply water buildup, and yes, cross drilled rotors would alleviate this for sure. Concerning the pedal going to the floor, thats a problem. I've done plenty of brake jobs and a pedal that goes to the floor with no ABS pulse etc is a problem. Could be air due to a bad master cylinder or a bad seal, or a faulty line etc. Save some dough...Take it to WALTS and have them throw it up on the lift. In my area they do a free inspection. They can tell you if there is a problem etc. I had a master cylinder seal blow out on me one time and the pedal shot to the floor like a bat out of hell..That was a scary intersection experience. Shat my pants actually...Anyways, its best to have your system checked out to make sure you and your family are safe.

 

I had a volvo S70 that did the same thing. It was usually water or road oil on them that caused it and was not something that really could be easily remedied.