No Brakes!!! Dangerous ride home.

[r32flow]

Hey guys, I feel like it's never a good thing when I post on here.

Last night I get into my truck to drive home, and my brake pedal feels spongey. So I pumped it a few times and it seemed fine. I checked the fluid and for leaks. Didn't see any problems. This trip was about an hour and a half. By the time I got close to my house, I had the pedal all the way to the floor and truck was still rolling. It would slow down slightly, but it was extremely scary.

Since there are no leaks I can see and the fluid was at a good level, I'm guessing it's the master or booster.

Any thoughts from you guys?

 

[r32flow]

BTW it's a 98 k1500 5.7L

 

[Caman96]

Look at rear brake for leaking wheel cylinder/s. Not just from the backside.

 

[movietvet]

What @Caman96 said and also unbolt the master cylinder from the booster and pull away and look for fluid. You can leave the lines attached at the master cylinder when you do this. Could even have seepage from a caliper piston seal. If is wheel cylinders, do the shoes too. If is calipers, do the pads too. If is the master cylinder, do the booster too because may have fluid inside the booster.

Happy motoring!

 

[r32flow]

I took the rear drums off and you guys were right. The cylinders on both sides were leaking. Not enough to be visible from the outside but it was a nasty mess inside.

Just replaced both, and my brakes have never felt better. I'm relieved it was a cheap and easy fix.

Thank you guys for all the help as usual.

 

[GoToGuy]

Did you think about dieing or killing anyone ?

 

[movietvet]

Did you think about dieing or killing anyone ?

I did once. Was in my 65 Chevy pickup and just got off highway and applied brakes. Went to floor. Laid on the horn, geared down, hard right turn at bottom of ramp and missed everyone, was also using my park brake but was not much help, went another 300-400 feet and ran another stop sign and finally got pulled over on the shoulder after that. Blown rear steel line. Rusted thru from the salt on the roads KC, Mo. streets. Took a while to pry my ass from the seat.

 

[movietvet]

I took the rear drums off and you guys were right. The cylinders on both sides were leaking. Not enough to be visible from the outside but it was a nasty mess inside.

Just replaced both, and my brakes have never felt better. I'm relieved it was a cheap and easy fix.

Thank you guys for all the help as usual.

The thing is, that fluid causes that from age and lack of flushing fluid. The caliper pistons could also be seeping and I would look behind that master cylinder. Then flush the entire system.

 

[Hipster]

Did you think about dieing or killing anyone ?

Read the title and first thought was glad I'm not in the neighbor hood. Knowing you have a problem and doing it any way has limited labels. If he drove over a family of 4 in a Honda doubt he would acknowledge he ever realized he had an issue, Whoops! 1.5 hour drive is not in the neighborhood.

Ya know, PM schedules eliminate alot of this nonsense, an oil change is not a 5,10 20, 150k, etc. service. Supposed to inspect this stuff at intervals. No gold stars next to his name for this.

Overlook PM on an airplane and it might fall out of the sky.

 

[r32flow]

Did you think about dieing or killing anyone ?

YES!!! To be fair I had brakes when I left. I was very close to home when this happened. I live in the middle of no where and was driving on a straight road for over 45 minutes. I didn't even notice the brakes were so bad until I was 5 miles from home. Scared the **** out of me.