Hey guys.

I was wondering if any of you have also had the problem I'm having. Whenever I start the car, and quickly put it into reverse, the brakes become insanely stiff. I have to slam the pedal hard to get the car to slow down a little. It won't stop. What's weird is it doesn't happen everytime. But it does most of the time. If I let the car sit for a while or let the car roll a little, the problem goes away and the pedal softens up. What is this? One thing the advisor at Volvo did tell me was that my brake pedal wasn't retracting the way it should when you let go of the brake pedal. It seemed fine to me but that's what he said. I have heard things about a switch or vacuum pump, or master cylinder. I don't want to take it to the Volvo dealer because I don't trust them anymore. I have had a lot of bad experiences with them.

 

it sounds to me like a vacuum assist issue. your brake booster is what makes your pedal easy to push. i have not at all experienced the problem you describe, so i believe there is a problem. do you hear any hissing under the hood when you first start it? i'm not sure about our cars but i know some have a check-valve that can go bad. hopefully this link works and you can see what i'm talking about.

link to illustration

this is likely where your problem lies. either that check valve is bad, you have a leak or... (gulp) you need a booster...

 

I dont hear a hissing under the hood. I just hear that faint hissing from the brake pedal all cars have when you press it

 

Sounds like the brake booster is leaking, or the vacume pump is not working if your car has one.
Depending on your milage you could have brake line problems but I'm betting on it being the booster as mentioned.

Togs

 

I have both on my car. Brake booster and Vacuum pump