Brake booster replacement

[Corn4all]

I recently had my brake booster replaced under warranty and now my pedal is super soft and goes all the way to the floor. The brake performance is ok but the pedal feel is terrible. The dealership says that's the way it's supposed to be but I have owned the car for 3 years and know that's not right. Any one have this problem and how was it corrected.

 

2012 Edge Sport Fwd

62000 miles

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Maybe they did not bleed the brakes properly.

 

Maybe the master cylinder has now developed a leak, or a line is leaking somewhere. Keep checking the brake fluid level, make sure it is not low.

 

Or just maybe the brake fluid is really dirty and needs to be flushed.

[Bobs2015EdgeSport]

Anytime you have a "spongy" pedal, it's almost always indicative of air becoming trapped in the system! So, especially since you have noticed that the "feel" of the brakes is "super soft" and "goes all the way to the floor", I would bet anything that air got into the system! The only other remote possibility is that the technician failed to properly adjust the pedal linkage rod to fit the new booster (a good mechanic would have verified the length adjustment of the rod, just to be sure), which could possibly explain the pedal going to the floor. (I ran into this very same problem when restoring my '67 Camaro). But, I would put my money on air being in the system. And, NO, that is not "how it's supposed to be". A pedal going to the floor is an accident waiting to happen, so don't settle for their excuses.

 

It's usually pretty easy to bleed each line on the brake system at home, if you have a floor jack and some basic tools (I've done it on many of my older, high-mileage vehicles, with my wife in the driver's seat pushing on the pedal for me, and the results were great). If doing it yourself is not an option for you, I would take it to another dealer or a shop that specializes in brake work and have them do it for you professionally. In reality, your brake fluid should be perfectly fine at 62K miles, so I doubt that you would find it to be "dirty". (I've typically waited to flush my brake fluid at around 100K miles, and even then, only as a preventative measure).

 

Replacing the booster unit is a sure opportunity to introduce air into the system. Since it sounds like they didn't bother to bleed the brakes after reassembling everything, it sure sounds to me like they didn't finish the job properly!