Help i have really spongey brakes

[jakebutler]

Hello. This is probably a really stupid question. I pulled off the drive this morning and my brake pedal were rock hard. Then half way to work they suddenly became very spongey and will slow me down but no good if i needed to suddenly stop. There is no warning lights etc on the dash though. Just been out round the car park again and they seem sort of nearly ok for a while then they hav gone spongey again. Coukd this mean they need bleeding and new fluid puttibg in or should there be a light on the dash when the fluid is low? Thankyou

 

[Advikaz]

Might be some air in the system. Has it started all of a sudden? or has it been getting gradually worse?

I'd start with a fluid change.

 

[jakebutler]

Its just started all of a sudden mate. Was perfectly fine the night before. Thankyou

 

[McGherkin]

Have you checked the fluid level?

 

[LiamR172]

Doesnt this sort of thing happen if the vaccum pipe had a hole in it?

 

[jakebutler]

No havent checked the fluid yet mate, i will be able to do it on my lunch. How much would you pay for a garage to bleed and re do the brakes? Thankyou

 

[jakebutler]

I wouldnt know what a vaccum pipe is mate. Sounds like a expensive job? Thankyou

 

[SeanTrophy]

Could be the master cylinder. Same happened to me and that's what it was.

 

[Advikaz]

Sounds as if theres a loss of pressure from somewhere at least.

 

[jakebutler]

Ok thankyou for all the help, suppose i better get it into a garage typical just before xmas thankyou

 

[FLOBALOB]

As mentioned the vacuum pipe can sometimes touch on something hot and get a little hole burnt in it which causes these symptoms. Look at the rear of the engine in the middle ( you can sometimes hear a little hissing noise coming from it if its got a hole in it ), there should be a pipe just to the left ( i think ) of where the speedo sensor pushes in . Easy fix, just get some more pipe of the same type and repair/replace.