MX-3.com

The car has had these issues since I bought it. Not so much in the winter, but every now and then the pedal gets harder now that the weather is warmer. It gets to the point that I cant even power through it, and have to shut the car off to get full pedal and go another two blocks. Booster? Lines? My brake light is on, so is my abs light. The abs light has been on for a year now since there was a non abs cv installed by , you guessed it, kal tire. And the red brake light has been on for about 2 months as my e brake doesn't work. (way too much slack, no tension.) Any ideas guys?

Sounds like your booster is leaking vacuum. You press as hard as you can and the brakes don't seem to be working even though the pedal is totally firm? That's the booster I think.

The MX-3 boosters both seal on the push rod which pushes on the master cylinder piston. The seal is held in by a little castelated ring...look at the exploded view in the online manual and you'll see what I mean. Should be about $12 for the seal and retainer. It's a pretty easy job as well, but you will have to disconnect the brake lines from the master cylinder to remove it. So you'll need to bleed when you're done.

Thanks, I wish that was it, its the opposite tho.... The brakes grab, hard, and pedal is firm. hard to explain but ill drive down the road and feel like im losing power, then awful smell, the brakes are engaging even tho my foot is nowhere near the pedal... and the only way to keep going is to shut the car off, wait for the brake pressure to ease, then start again...

I think one of your cats is hiding under the dash pushing on the pedal. Throw a ball of yarn under there and see if that helps. lol

Hahaha, yup, that fixed it!

93vtecklr wrote:Hahaha, yup, that fixed it!

When in doubt, blame the Mazdalolcat

Those darn cats!!!

Seriously tho, any ideas?

I checked the brake fluid today, on minimum. Topped it up and the brake light went away, and my ebrake works now. I guess I'll bump this thread if the brakes grab while driving i warm weather. Let's hope the low fluid was the culprit.

LOL! You didn't think of checking that first??

haha i think under my name it should say dumb member......

did ya bleed the lines? I was going to say that maybe there is air trapped in there causing the pressure or something

Toping off your brake fluid shouldn't effect anything. especially if its only at minumum. The e brake is actuated by a cable specifically so that it is kept seperate from the hydraulic system so that you can use it if something fails. I've never heard of this problem before and it makes absolutely no sense to me. haha. Are you sure all the brakes are locking up? Sometimes the rear calipers on these cars seize up. And that would explain the ebrake not working.

between the brake booster and the engine, there is a rather large vaccum hose. in this hose should be a one way check valve, check to make sure the valve is working properly.