2001 Rodeo brakes issue

My wife's Rodeo has 90,000 miles, every once in a while she'll press the brake pedal and the vehicle won't stop, she has to pump the pedal before it finally grabs, but then it makes a grinding noise. I drove it for a week or so with no problems and everywhere I take the car, they said the brakes look fine. I read in another post that a caliper might be bent. The master cylinder is holding fluid, no leaks anywhere. Any suggestions out there? My wife's pregnant so I either need to fix the problem fast or get another car. Thanks

My wife's Rodeo has 90,000 miles, every once in a while she'll press the brake pedal and the vehicle won't stop, she has to pump the pedal before it finally grabs, but then it makes a grinding noise. I drove it for a week or so with no problems and everywhere I take the car, they said the brakes look fine. I read in another post that a caliper might be bent. The master cylinder is holding fluid, no leaks anywhere. Any suggestions out there? My wife's pregnant so I either need to fix the problem fast or get another car. Thanks


So your wife is the ONLY person that notices the problem? That's strange.

What's the maintenance history on the brakes?

So every shop removed the tires and checked the pads for wear, rotor runout, and inspected the calipers?

Do you have drums in the rear?

My wife's Rodeo has 90,000 miles, every once in a while she'll press the brake pedal and the vehicle won't stop, she has to pump the pedal before it finally grabs, but then it makes a grinding noise. I drove it for a week or so with no problems and everywhere I take the car, they said the brakes look fine. I read in another post that a caliper might be bent. The master cylinder is holding fluid, no leaks anywhere. Any suggestions out there? My wife's pregnant so I either need to fix the problem fast or get another car. Thanks then you are going to have to get out there and jack it up and take the wheels off and have a *very* good look. from your description i would *guess* at

**the brake master cylinder has an internal leak where the fluid is going past one or more of the seal cups. this would not show up as a leak. BUT the "grinding noise" doesn't fit this diagnosis.

**a clogged brake line or hose and/or a collapsed or collapsing hose at a wheel.

**something with the ABS.

somebody is just going to have to go through it step by step. a bent caliper (hard to do) might explain the grinding but not the pumping. and pumping diagnoses don't explain the grinding.

this is all going from the reports that everything looks okay. but obviously it is not.

have a look. let us know. and yes, i wouldn't drive it without a resolution, pregnant or not.

questions: when the brakes work, is there any pulling to one side or the other? when they don't work, is there pulling to one side or the other? any indications like pulsing pedal that the ABS is engaging inappropriately?

//bc

She's the only one that notices the problem because she drive it the most. And it doesn't always happen. It'll happen when she's least expecting it to happen.
When I would drive it, I would intentually slam on the brakes and the ABS would kick in, the pedal pulsates and I hear a grinding noise, from everything I've read on ABS, that's what they do.
I had the pads replaced in the front brakes a few years back.

I'll have to look at more closely, I'll keep you guys informed as to what we find.

Thanks

Have the rear brake pads been checked out? The rears generally do not squeal when they're worn, but you will get grinding if the pads are worn and you're hitting the rotors.