Brakes are hard to push, slow stopping, but brake fluid is full..what could it be?

115

Asked by Whitney532485 Sep 12, 2014 at 07:47 PM about the 2002 Volvo S40 1.9T

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Every time I start the car the brakes are super stiff and pedal is hard to push with very
slow stopping but after I brake several times it gets better (enough to drive it) but is still
pretty scary at first. brake fluid is full...is there any way this could be an easy fix? I am a
girl that knows nothing about cars!

9 Answers

115

Thank u for answering! I think you are right because when I hold the brake in and start it the pedal goes down a little, but is this so dangerous like I shouldn't be driving it at all? Or can this booster problem make my brakes go out completely all of a sudden? I'm just worried because I have to use this car for work and there is no way I can afford to get it fixed right this moment,I will need the car to be able to fix the car lol..

5 people found this helpful.
63,195

Check and see if the vacuum line from the engine to the booster has any cracks or has come loose. I hope that is the problem. Much cheaper and easy to fix.

5 people found this helpful.
201,085

Good call boholmark. In my experiences with bad boosters the pedal gets hard to push. The booster just uses vacuum to assist with the pedal pressure you have to apply for the brakes to work. In other words brakes work just hard to push the pedal. Check the vacuum line mentioned above. It is highly possible that it is bad and for less than five dollars you are back to normal brake pedal pressure.

3 people found this helpful.
115

Ok the vacuum hose appears fine no cracks or anything but this part with a spring was attached to the booster and it was kinda pushed up and the clip that holds it down is broken..what is this? People at auto zone and oreilly have no idea what im talking about..please help! Lol I'm trying to fix it myself.

6 people found this helpful.
63,195

I'm not sure. It could be some sort of check valve. It's most likely a Volvo dealer part, although Ford owned Volvo at that time. May I suggest that you post that question with the picture and where it was on the booster. Be descriptive with both your problem and about the part you found.

2 people found this helpful.
201,085

http://store.voluparts.com/early-volvo-s40-brake-booster-hose/ -- check this out. Here is your part. And probably why the pedal is hard.

12 people found this helpful.
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