Bought my first car ever a few days ago, at age 47! (Been living in NYC for 30 years). Got a used 1991 Volvo 240 and had it at the mechanic's to bring it up to speed to be road ready. I just need safe and cheap wheels, I had no idea what a great car and legacy I have stepped into. About 15 minutes after taking it fully fixed (new shocks, new coils, new exhaust system, fixed idle air control valve and a ton of wiring issues), I went to step on the brakes and the pedal went straight to the floor! I kept pumping and pumping it in disbelief as I grew closer and closer to the car in front of me, and finally the brakes starting gaining some resistance, and then worked. Needless to say, I went straight back to mechanic's. He double checked everything and it all looked good and said maybe it was air in the brake line? Guess the next step is replacing the brake master cylinder? Does anyone have any suggestions? As a new car owner, I am obviously terrified and would love some advice. Thanks in advance.

 

Could easily simply be a bad brake master cylinder, (it could be 30 years old!)

The problem was NOT "air in the lines"

Or if there is a sticking caliper, that will overheat the fluid after driving for a while, causing the brake fluid to boil, and create a no pedal situation until you pump to compress the air bubbles in the boiled fluid. After the brakes cool down they will feel fine.

If a caliper is sticking I would suspect it's a a rear caliper - a sticking front caliper would generally make the steering pull to one side.

 

Well, master cylinder is the usual culprit in such cases... Was this car sitting unused for a while?

 

Yes, I think it was? I will try to get more information from the previous owner! Ack, it's so scary....thanks for your response!

 

if this car has an unknown history and was likely long term neglected, and you want it to be a reliable daily driver, you might consider all new brake calibers, new master cylinder, and possibly replacing the brake lines, too, with fresh cuprnickel, that would be initially expensive but give you piece of mind that the most important safety system on your car will be good for decades to come. oh and if its a non-ABS 240, there's a brake distribution block I'd consider replacing too. use quality parts, not the cheapest asian stuff you can find.

 

A Master Cylinder works like a plunger in a tube. When you push down, the pressure on the fluid pushes the edges of the plunger to contact the walls of the cylinder, and you get fluid pushing on the calipers to stop the car. If your Master Cylinder is old, it could be the plunger isn't as flexible or the edges worn so you have an imperfect seal at best, no seal at worst. The symptoms of a worn MC on an old VW I used to have were that if I pushed the brake slowly, it wouldn't stop. If I slammed the brakes, it would stop, and stop very quickly. I got a new Master Cylinder the next day...

Any decent mechanic can diagnose a bad master cylinder by description of the symptoms alone. If he says it's OK, but the car doesn't stop again, get another mechanic.

 

Thank you for your reply. So today I went to pickup the special order new master cylinder, the one the mechanic told me to buy. I drove 2 hours to get it, and when I finally got to the mechanic, he said it was the wrong part!?!? But it was his order!!? So now I have to return that one and get a different one. So he let me leave his garage, drive 2+ hours back to NYC and said I would be OK with the brakes. But when I finally got to NYC on the jam packed rush hour highway, the brakes went 100%. I tried to pull the parking brake, but it did not work. How I was not killed or killed someone else is a miracle. I sat hyperventilating (still am, actually) and waited 20+ minutes for a tow truck that never showed. I noticed that the brakes "came back", and since I was one exit away from my apartment, I drove very slowly with hazards on and parked.Â



Should I just sell this damn car already? All I want is to feel safe, and I do NOT in this after these experiences..

 

Thank you for your reply. So today I went to pickup the special order new master cylinder, the one the mechanic told me to buy. I drove 2 hours to get it, and when I finally got to the mechanic, he said it was the wrong part!?!? But it was his order!!? So now I have to return that one and get a different one. So he let me leave his garage, drive 2+ hours back to NYC and said I would be OK with the brakes. But when I finally got to NYC on the jam packed rush hour highway, the brakes went 100%. I tried to pull the parking brake, but it did not work. How I was not killed or killed someone else is a miracle. I sat hyperventilating (still am, actually) and waited 20+ minutes for a tow truck that never showed. I noticed that the brakes "came back", and since I was one exit away from my apartment, I drove very slowly with hazards on and parked.Â



Should I just sell this damn car already? All I want is to feel safe, and I do NOT in this after these experiences

 

why didn't the mechanic buy the part himself ?? sounds like a pretty flakey mechanic.

 

agree with pierce, you need a new mechanic. find one that specializes in vintage volvos. get car towed to mechanic. i have a '91 and can tell you that it has one
of the best braking systems of any car i have ever owned including mercedes.
so no don't sell it but do get it fixed right! you will be happy i guarantee it.

 

Ok you drove the car a distance at speed and when you tried to stop the pedal went to the floor. Then after it sat for a little while you had a brake pedal and could stop the car. Those symptoms are of overheated/boiling brake fluid. Usually caused by a sticking caliper - or someone driving with two feet. And that is fixed with a caliper/s not a master cylinder.

If a master cylinder is bad, you can usually get the pedal to go to the floor by pushing lightly on the pedal, lifting up slightly and pushing lightly again to work the pedal down to the floor. The bad master cylinder is allowing the fluid to go around the outside of the worn/damaged seals inside instead of forcing the fluid out to the wheels. Sure, a salt country car could easily have both, a bad master cylinder and several sticking calipers.

An old Volvo that has lived in salt country could cost you a lot of money to keep running - Is a Vehicle safety inspection needed in your state? Will it pass without the handbrake working? The cables rust and sieze - and are not easy or inexpensive to replace

 

well, all my Volvos (240, 960, S90, 850, 940, 740) were somewhat prone to pulsing rotors within a year or two after new rotors/pads.... my 1990/93/94 Mercedes E's all stop on a dime smoothly without any drama under almost ANY conditions without a hint of pulsing. soooooo, YMMV. speaking of really strong brakes, heh, my 2002 F250 diesel has awesome brakes. but of course, it had better, its got a 8800 lb GVWR and can tow 12000 lbs (20K lb GCWR).

that said, the Volvo do have decent brakes, and I did find my 740T wagon did better with Akebono rotors than the more generic ones. but I also loaded the heck up out of that thing, and drove it hard in the mountains, so again YMMV.

 

I hope you went to a VOLVO shop or at least a reputable Eruo Shop if your going to be paying for your services. I cant say I could have been so restrained if I just PAID $$$$ for a service inspect and lost my breaks upon leaving. Good save, no need to prove the front impact measure work/SRS. AKA airbag. Good luck be well, stay sain.

 

well the mercedes i am comparing to was a '84 300D, a car i drove for many years. great machine i will say. the 240 has an equal if not better braking system i think.

 

Ah, that was a model 123.... My 90,93,94 are model 124. Bunch of major engineering improvements, like 5 way multiilink rear suspension, ABS, 225 HP (on the 93,94 3.2L DOHC version)