Hi
My son owns a 96 Geo Prism. When we first purchased the car, the brakes seemed fine. That was over a year ago. I drove it a few days ago and was surprised to find the brake pedal went very low to the floor before beginning to stop! (at least halfway or more) There doesn't seem to be air in the system, but I bled it to be sure. The brakes aren't spongy at all.
I checked the front brakes and they were fine, I actually expected them to be in worse shape since we haven't ever replaced them since we bought the car. The rears looked ok, as they were replaced just before I bought the car. I did adjust them though, up to the drum then backed off a tad. This didn't help with the low pedal at all.
The master cylinder is always full, I never have to add fluid.
While the car was out of gear, I jacked the front of the car up and spun both of the tires, then my son applied the brakes. Both front tires stopped. I was thinking that maybe the front brakes weren't working properly, but they appear to be. This may not be a very good test though. I hate to just buy parts without some thoughts on what the problem might be.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as my next step of diagnosing this problem.
Thanks again, Mark
My son owns a 96 Geo Prism. When we first purchased the car, the brakes seemed fine. That was over a year ago. I drove it a few days ago and was surprised to find the brake pedal went very low to the floor before beginning to stop! (at least halfway or more) There doesn't seem to be air in the system, but I bled it to be sure. The brakes aren't spongy at all.
I checked the front brakes and they were fine, I actually expected them to be in worse shape since we haven't ever replaced them since we bought the car. The rears looked ok, as they were replaced just before I bought the car. I did adjust them though, up to the drum then backed off a tad. This didn't help with the low pedal at all.
The master cylinder is always full, I never have to add fluid.
While the car was out of gear, I jacked the front of the car up and spun both of the tires, then my son applied the brakes. Both front tires stopped. I was thinking that maybe the front brakes weren't working properly, but they appear to be. This may not be a very good test though. I hate to just buy parts without some thoughts on what the problem might be.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as my next step of diagnosing this problem.
Thanks again, Mark
Apr 20, 2008 at 9:03 PM