My brakes have been feeling mushy for a few days now. Every once and a while they get firm, but only for a few minutes. The pads and rotors are good and theres no leaks anywhere. I checked the power steering fluid and it was very low so I topped it off and noticed little difference.

Have you checked the rear brake adjustment lately?

open the master cylinder and have someone press the brakes FIRMLY but SLOWLY...if you get brake fluid spraying out the reservoir or the classic water jet effect(put a hose in a bucket of water and point it up), then you likely have a bad master cylinder(internally leaking)...easy enough to fix, the part is i think 160 new IIRC. WhiteK2500 might remember...it was his we did.

Have you tried bleeding the brakes? Brake fluid should be changed At least every couple of years or less. New fluid is cheaper than the damage contaminated fluid can cause. Also keeps bleeders from seizing. Also check self adjusters on rear brakes.

open the master cylinder and have someone press the brakes FIRMLY but SLOWLY...if you get brake fluid spraying out the reservoir or the classic water jet effect(put a hose in a bucket of water and point it up), then you likely have a bad master cylinder(internally leaking)...easy enough to fix, the part is i think 160 new IIRC. WhiteK2500 might remember...it was his we did.

160$ CDN IIRC.

So when we gonna get around to new wheel cylinders in the rear...? :D

I've been leaking power steering fluid for about 6 months now. Until this point, I've just been topping it of as necessary. The other day I noticed a terrible clattering noise under the hood about the same time my brakes got mushy. When I opened the cap to add fluid it was milky white/brown and bubbling up. I can hardly turn the wheel. What would cause this odd color of my fluid?

it is probably brown from overheating and the milky white foaming is from aeration, for some reason the pump is churning air into it(leak in the system)

you could start with flushing the pump and hoses and filling with fresh fluid but that would probably not solve the aeration problem as you have a leak.




spongy brakes means either the master has gone bad, there is a leak in the brakes somewhere, a pad is hanging up and the caliper is just bending it and finally it can be caused by the rear brakes out of adjustment.

My brakes have been feeling mushy for a few days now. Every once and a while they get firm, but only for a few minutes. The pads and rotors are good and theres no leaks anywhere. I checked the power steering fluid and it was very low so I topped it off and noticed little difference.


try gently clamping off all 3 brake hoses with a vice grips(not too hard or hose damage will result internally) your brakes should now be rock hard, if not then there is either air trapped in the steel lines/master cyl or the master itself is shot.

if it is then rock hard, you can pull 1 clamp at a time to diagnose what area the problem is at.

vise grip does make a special hose clamp pliers for this that you can get from tool distributors like snap on , mac, matco for like $10 ea, the grip area is rounded on one side ad a little more blunt on the other side as to help prevent hose damage

when they get firm, do they start to "sink", because that would indicate blown master...if the pedal travel isn't "mushy" but more than usual. I.E. takes longer pedal stroke before pressure builds..you have a single circuit leak, or rear brakes out of adjustment.

the quickest way to check for a bad master is see if pressure is bleeding back into the reservoir, and also you can undo the mounting bolts, pull the master forward a little, and see if fluid drips from between it and the boost unit...if it does...the master is bad...

the rear cylinders could be leaking behind the dust boot, have you checked for excessive fluid(more than a trace) inside the boot? also have you checked that the calipers aren't leaking. seal leaks will show up as mushy brakes more so than a line a leak will.

hopefully you aren't still driving the vehicle with this issue, as this is a huge safety factor and stopping distance will be greatly increased


DieselDemon, please post new thread if you haven't already. you will get more replies and the OP in this thread won't have to sort through two issues for his answers.

Similar thing happened to me, I had excessive brake travel and excessive stopping distance. Turns out I had two siezed real wheel cylinders, shoes were not contacting the drum at all.

Funny story as my pass side rear wheel had 6 siezed lugs too. Pounded on a smaller 3/4 drive socket with a sledge and a 4ft breaker bar, then new lugs. Interesting day. Hijack Over.