Brake Malfunction

Greetings Folks:

Purchased a used 2002 Passat 1.8t wagon about a month ago. It was traded in on a Dodge Magnum at a Dodge dealer so no previous maintenance info. It had 42k when purchased and 44k now.

No problems until now. It is parked inside a garage at our house. The wife took it this morning and drove about 5 miles to a friend's house. It was parked outside from about 9am to 4:30pm. When she got in the car to come home she had to back up a short distance to get out of the driveway. It did not stop very well. She took notice but did not become alarmed. The trip home is 95 percent uphill so there was not much need to use the brakes. However, the last turn before our driveway was very frightening as there was almost no slowing. She drove the rest of the way very slowly. I happened to be outside when she arrived. She stopped by placing the trans in neutral and then in park when it stopped. I then tried it out. It felt like there was a block of wood under the brake pedal. The e-brake works but there is hardly anything happening when the pedal is pressed.

The difference today is that is was 16 degrees below zero when she left and it never got above 0 all day and was about 10 below when she got back.

Has anyone had outside temperature related brake problems?

Thanks for any info you have.

The vacuum lines under the intake manifold very commonly get soft & tear. They provide vacuum to the power brake booster.

Thanks boschmann, I will check them.

The temperature thing may have been a false clue. The wife took it back to the dealer. They looked it over and said the rear pads were just about gone. Replaced them and no problems since. (Also, outside temp went back up to 50 above). From the looks of the interior I suspect minimal maintenance by previous owner.

So, as Rosanne Rosana Danna used to say - "Neverrrrrrr mind."

It could also have been ice in the vacuum power booster system. If it was a leak it would have made the engine run rough. I haven't seen a late model Passat yet that wasn't close to needing rear pads.

That makes a lot more sense. Even if the rear pads were gone there would have been some braking somewhere.

Short of moving south, what is the fix? Can the lines be drained or blown out?

Sorry for the late reply. Christmas, kids and all.

If it's working fine now I would'nt do anything, hopefully if there was moisture it has passed through or evaporated. Just be carefull the next time it gets well below freezing.

Thanks for taking the time Boschmann. We average about 30 days of below zero every winter up here. I will be able to test your observation. Will let you know what happens.