I noticed yesterday that when I went to stop, my pedal went to the floor. I still had some braking power but it shocked me. The next time I hit the brakes, my seatbelt kept me from going through the windshield. My pedal became very inconsistent. Since it is still under warranty, I had it towed to the stealer. They told me that my brake fluid was contaminated and that was causing the problems.

Here's the kicker. They told me that in order to fix it, i have to have entire brake system replaced to the tune of 3G's. I had them flush the system for now cause i'm not paying that.

Is there any way to clean the brake system of the contaminants?

 

That is total bullsh*t. $3000 dollars I would look for another dealer. Ok you have contaminated brake fluid, flush it out fill it with new fluid and go on. The worst that can happen is you might have corrosion in your brake calipers and master cylinder. This usually causes leakage I would check your brake fluid level at least once a week for the nest couple of months and take a look at your calipers to check for leaks. If nothing happens after several weeks you are home free.

 

It sounds like you need to bleed your brakes. It may not solve it completely, but I'm sure it well help. Your calipers might need to be rebuilt too. And $3000!!! Thats ridiculous!! Warranty should cover that I would assume

 

I'd hope that they'd cover that under warranty too. My ex has had some brake lines go out on her car, and they charged her about $700 both times to fix them. But they had to actually make the lines, the couldn't get pre-bent lines. Anywho, I'd say bleed 'em thoroughly, check the fluid level, n so on n so forth. And make sure you're emergency brake works.

 

first question is how did it get contaminated in the first place????????????....any kind of oil introduced in it will swell everything rubber and cause things to stay applied.

 

They say contamination is not a factory defect, so it is not covered. I can understand that. The complete flush did a lot of good. I would say that it is back to around 85%. Maybe another flush or two will do the trick. I will look around for someone selling calipers or rebuild them. I wouldn't mind getting better calipers anyway.

As for how it got contaminated, I let a friend use the truck to move and they took it in for an oil change without telling me. I know they thought they were doing me a favor, but I run AmsOil in my truck. I can only imagine it got topped off with something that was either dirty or not brake fluid.

Guess I won't have to do the driving out of town this weekend..

 

Over time it picks up copper from the brake lines. I believe it is the result of a slow chemical reaction that happens over a long period of time between the brake fluid and the liner of the lines.

 

I highly doubt that even a lacky at Jiffy-Lube would put oil in your brake fluid reservoir.

I suspect these events are unrelated. Fortunately bleeding your brake lines is simple and inexpensive.

 

Never said oil, More like power steering fluid maybe?

 

Why would they be topping off either (Power Steering fluid or Brake Fluid) unless you have a leak? Is it possible you have a caliper leaking? Go check your brake fluid and see if it is still full.