Hey guys, how ya'll doing?

I was coming up to a four way stop, and I start to hit the brakes, but as I'm pressing the brake it becomes solid at about half of the pedal travel. All of a sudden I have no brakes and I roll right through the intersection, quickly I hit the emergency brake and stop at the side of the road. I see a parking lot near by so I slowly drive into it and shut the truck off. I push the pedal as hard as I can (still solid) and start the truck as I'm pushing, the pedal hits the floor as its building pressure and then comes up to the normal position. After that the brakes work perfectly.

What the heck happened? Did the brakes freeze up some how? I was driving the truck a good 15-20 minutes before this happened. It was pretty cold out here today, -25 or so... I know how brake systems work, but I've never had this happen to me before. Booster problem, or just a malfunction?

Thanks.

Well do to weather conditions first thought that comes to mind is frozen brake fluid. You could have had ice in the brake fluid that caused a temporary blockage.

How old is the brake fluid and when was the last time the system was flushed? Brake fluid absorbs moisture from the air and should be flushed every 2-3 years or at each brake replacement whichever occurs first.

Sounds like a brake booster problem, maybe moister in the check valve. At -25 all your problems could go away with a 50 degree jump in temps.

torkum said:

Sounds like a brake booster problem, maybe moister in the check valve. At -25 all your problems could go away with a 50 degree jump in temps.

Click to expand...

Yep exactly. This is the main reason for flushing the brake fluid completely every couple of years or when replacing the brake pads, which ever occurs first. Moisture accumulation in brake fluid is very common problem and causes numerous problems (ie freezing, lower boiling point, corrosion etc).

Thanks for your help guys. We have owned the truck for about half a year now, and I am unsure whether the previous owner ever flushed the brake system. I will probably flush the system sometime in the coming week... Seem's odd that this has never happened before.

Thanks again