Hello All,

I'm a brand new forum member and thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide. I'm an active member of other car forums and really appreciate the "community" feeling of forums!

My mom has a 1998 Volvo S70 that she enjoys driving (only 50k miles!!). Lately it's developed a problem with the brakes. When you press the brake pedal the 1st time it catches low, but if you lift your foot off right away and press it again it catches very high. This same scenario happens every single stop during a drive. Always the same thing: 1st press catches low, second press catches high. I've never experienced this before on other cars and can't duplicate it on my SLK or truck. All four rotors and all pads are new. She had taken it to an independent for the new metal about 10 months ago. They also bled the brakes at that time (she took it back to them because she felt the pedal was soft). So this apst Friday I took the car to the Volvo dealer where she bought it. They bled the brakes too. No change, still have the problem. The shop foreman came for a ride with me and he said he couldn't feel any change between pedal press 1 and pedal press 2, although I'm certain of it. So now what? Some folks have suggested that it might be the power brake booster. So I tested that tonight. With the engine off, I pressed the brake pedal. It held. While my foot was still on the pedal I started the car. The pedal fell slowly - is this a problem?

Thanks again in advance!
Jimbo

 

How long is it since the brake fluid was changed? Contaminated fluid can give these symptoms and can be dangerous. Water in the fluid can boil off under heavy braking and leave no braking effect.

Your test of the booster was OK. The pedal should go down as the booster kicks in.

 

Bill, thank you for your reply!

The brakes were bled about 10 months ago when the rotors and pads were replaced. I took the car to the Volvo dealership this past Friday and asked them to 'change' the brake fluid. They tell me they bled them. For all I know they squeezed out a few drops at each wheel. What I wanted was a full pressure bleed, but who knows what they actually did. I'm willing to bet it's been a very long time since the fluid was completely swapped out (that's why I asked them to do it).

I guess I should buy a pressure bleeder and do this myself to be certain. I hope that's all it is. My concern was that it could be the power brake booster or the master cylinder.