95 GA brake problem

[Tate]

Hello all,

I have a 95 Grand Am with some brake trouble. I was driving back from camping in the mountains, and had to drive down a series of massive hills. 3/4 of the way down the brakes turned to mush. I had to pull to the side, and the brakes went all the way to the floor and did nothing. Brake fluid was full. I though I saw a puff of white smoke come out of the right front tire, but it may have been dust from gravel. The brakes were going all the way to the floor and were doing nothing. I drove the rest of the way down the hill using the e-brake. When I got down the hills, the brakes were still mushy, but worked a little bit. Took the car home, let it sit for a couple hours then took it around the block and the brakes work fine, like nothing ever happened. This has never happened before. Someone told me maybe the master cylinder might be going, I don't know. Any suggestions?

[gmack221]

You can overheat your brakes if your using them too much (thin pads & thin rotors make things worse), it can boil the brake fluid in the caliper, would give you much the same results. If they are fine now i'd say your close to doing a brake job. Next time use a lower gear when going down mountains, don't just use your brakes, let the motor slow you down some, but be smart about it, don't put it in low 1 at 55mph, rather then OD put it in 3rd. When you get into mountains there's a reason they have run-away truck ramps & signs that tell them to use lower gears, its usually not a problem with light vehicles unless your brakes are about shot & you use them too much.

[catback23]

gmack221 is right, sounds like you were on the brake way to much. That whole drove down the rest of the hill using the e-brake is just plain dangerous, what would you have done if the e-brake failed? And yea your about do for a brake job I can only imagine how glazed the pads are and how warped the rotors may be. Todays lesson you NEVER ride the brake, NEVER NEVER NEVER don't matter how steep the hill is you never drive down it with your foot on the brake. Todays 2nd lesson you NEVER use the emergency brake in place of the service brakes, not even for a short while.

[Tate]

Thanks for the advice, I appretiate it.