Said It Here

Why is my brake pedal mushy after a service?

Brakes require being pressed almost to the floor to generate force after a shop visit, leaving drivers with a dangerously soft pedal. This stops drivers from braking reliably and risks a total loss of stopping power while driving.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Seeking a second opinion on online forums
  2. 2
    Bleeding the brakes properly again
  3. 3
    Checking the vacuum line to the booster
  4. 4
    Replacing the master cylinder, brake booster, and ABS module
  5. 5
    Relying on dealership diagnostics and loaner vehicles
  6. 6
    Driving slowly to a local mechanic with a soft pedal and using the handbrake
  7. 7
    Bleeding the system manually at the ABS pump lines using an old-school method
  8. 8
    Buying an aftermarket diagnostic scan tool to run the bleed procedure instead of dealer software

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

“After that the brakes had to be pressed a lot for braking force to be applied, almost touching the floor.”source ↗

“I wanted to get a second opinion here and wanted to know if they are right, or does anyone know if it is some other issue?”source ↗

Lazy-Molasses8275 · r/MechanicAdvice · 1 upvotes

“Swapping over my ABS pump as the motor has failed (code 5DF0 and 5DF1). I trust myself to do the unit swap but I don’t trust myself to prime the system with INPA properly.”source ↗

“Can I carefully drive to a garage roughly 2 miles away and have them fully prime the brake system for me with a power bleed?”source ↗

“My usual local garage quoted me £2500 for the job and said the pump was over £2k alone and they won’t fit a second hand pump”source ↗

CaptainSperg · r/MechanicAdvice · 1 upvotes

“since the day i bought it the brakes have been a little squishy”source ↗

“my pedal went to the floor while driving down a mountain road and triggered all my ABS/VDC lights again”source ↗

“Came to pick the car up and it still had ABS/VDC error lights on start up and the brake pedal still went to the floor.”source ↗

“So far i'm in $2,300. HELP”source ↗

Stewartx_772 · r/autorepair

Where this came up

r/MechanicAdvicer/autorepairauto repairbrakescar repairdiy mechanicsmechanic advicevehicle maintenance

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