Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Soft Brake Pedal

I had new tires put on my wifes '96 SE and ever since the brake pedal has been soft, goes to the floor. No problems before the car went in for tires. New front pads and rotors and rear pads done last summer. Returned it to the shop and they bleed the system, but the problem was still there. Had them install a new master cylinder, better, but still not right. No leaks detected thoughout system, everything seems to be sound.
Any ideas????

1996 SE
61,000 mi

i was gonna say replace the master break cylinder untill you said you had that done, that most certainly would have been the problem since when th seals fail inside them, fluid can run by nd preassure is lost, hence the soft to the floor feel. but i really couldn't say what else it is now that youve had it done. they still could have given you a bum master cylinder if its a remanufactured. see you said it got a little better so that indicates your on track with the master cyl. What does happen sometimes is that the old broken master c will fail and in turn cause the brake booster to get soaked and begin to fail as well. Could be a possibility to why it isnt 100% yet.

I had a very similar problem once.

My problem happened after I had new brake pads and rotors put on the front. Anyway, the brakes were EXTREMELY soft and went down almost to the floor. It was very scary driving.

The service tech said that he thought it was a bad master cylinder. I disagreed with him, since the brakes worked fine before we brought the car in and the problem only started after we got it back from the shop. The tech said that they bled the brakes properly, but I still had them do it again.

After much stress and research, I found out that the front disc brakes (and possibly the back) have retaining clips (aka spring clips) attached to them (they are silver in color and about the same thickness as clothes hanger). If they are installed incorrectly, it will cause the mushy brake problem.

In your case, I don't understand how this could have happened. You don't need to take the brakes apart in order to put on new tires! If the brakes were fine before you brought the car in, then something must have happened at the shop. If it is the same problem that I had, then they either are idiots for taking the brakes apart or they did it on purpose to make more money.

If it happened at the shop, then I would try to make them fix it.

Here are some threads that talk about the same problem that I had:
http://www.contour.org/forums/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=004236 (contains a picture of the spring or retaining clip that I am talking about)
http://www.contour.org/forums/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=005282 (my original thread)

Thanks guys for your posts. Before I made my post, I read most every post relating to soft brakes I could find. I did read your problem G Pappas about the front clips not being installed correctly and think that maybe the problem. Only a hunch, but it is possible they knocked the calipers while replacing the tires and disrupted one of those clips. I will check it out and report back with my findings.

does your car have abs?

mom had a 96 grand am that went thru 2 sets of brakes in only 16k miles...first time she replaced the brakes and we didn't really think that much about it

then the second set got worse and worse and one morning she came home from work (graveyard) and mentioned that the pedal was going to the floor ....of course i didn't believe her and took the car for a drive...and nearly doo-doo'd on myself..almost no brakes at all

car was towed to the ponti-yuck dealer and was diagnosed as having a failed abs computer and contamination in the brakes lines...cost her 1400 smackers and just one month after the warranty expired and there was nothing the service guy could do to get gm to cover the repairs

someone else also mentioned that getting stainless steel brakelines helped with a spongy pedal

Good News!!!

Stopped at the repair shop today and they took off both front tires and lo and behold, one of the retaining clips was out of position. Two minutes to put it in the correct place and now the pedal is SOLID.

Many thanks to everyone who replied and to Contour.org for having this service for us Contour owners. Its a great place to share knowledge.

'96 SE
61,500 mi
and a SOLID BRAKE PEDAL

I guess you can't get your $$$ back for the Master Cylinder repair ???

Thought it does sound like you had them install that part.

Did they tell you that was what was wrong?

TB

I hate to say this, but I wonder if service centers are purposefully installing the brake clips incorrectly.

In my case, I find it hard to believe that they would install one clip correctly and the other clip incorrectly. Not only that, but when I brought it back to them to show them the wrongly installed clip, they installed it incorrectly again!

Both times they insisted that it was the master cylinder that needed to be replaced. Luckily, I didn't fall for their shenanigans and was able to find the solution on CEG.

Coolkuehl3, I would recommend never going back to that service center again. On top of that, if they suggested replacing the master cylinder, I would ask for your money back (it doesn't hurt to ask). You should at least be able to get the money spent on labor. If you feel it is warranted, you might even want to consider letting CEG know who did this "work" and calling the Better Business Bureau.