Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Brakes Relay/Booster & Cold Weather

About 10 days ago, had a weird thing happen on a very cold morning with my formerly Texas-based CSVT, now in PA.

Was easing out of the parking lot of my apt building, went to stop for cross-traffic, and had no brakes. Jerked the emer brake handle and stopped about 1 inch short of the street and the big-butt SUV passing by.

Thinking that a brake line may have been damaged by the rock-hard snowpack that had built-up in the parking lot (it would never occur to my cheap-ass landlord to hire someone with a mini-dozer to shove that crap off the lot), I eased it into the parking lot of a church across the street and checked the brake fluid level. Reservoir was full. Immediately after and ever since, the brakes have functioned normally ... But I'm now 100% paranoid about if/when this malfunction may happen again.

Any ideas if/how cold temps could affect the braking system?

Drumbo

I had the same problem, it lasted for 3 days.
When I took the car to my mechanic everything including the master cylinder was okay.
We figure they were just cold and snowy and therefore only pumping the brake 10 times or so at start up help get them going. My mechanic has a BMW that does the same thing each morning.

I was scared (censored) the first time it happened as I went through a stop sign!

I've lived in climates with minus temps for weeks on end and never had this happen. Did the brake pedal go to the floor? Was is firm? If the emergency brake stopped it the rear discs were mechanically sound. My only guess is ice build-up in the caliper due to a leaky seal or dust boot?? If your pedal goes to the floor there may be something wrong with the ABS dump valve.

Was the pedal hard and no brakes, or did it go to the floor.

If it was hard, the power brake booster works on vacuum and may have forze in the actuating valve (might of had condensation). When it warmed up, the moisture melted and voila!, you have power brakes again. Without the booster, the pedal is very hard and difficult to get any braking action.

You also may have had a frozen solenoid in the ABS. Same deal but brakes go to floor. Bleed your fluid to cure this.

To answer to the question you and Contouraholic asked, the pedal went nearly to the firewall, but I jerked the emer brake handle before it could travel the distance. It wasn't like there was no resistance, but the brakes did virtually nothing to stop the car moving at maybe 3 MPH.

And, yes, brake fluid is due for replacement. Will take care of that ASAP.

Thanks for the heads-up.

Yeah, I can relate to the empty-bowels reaction. My driving-style has been a lot less, uh, exuberant ever since.