Brakes broke

[johnnq]

driving home in my pontiac, i stopped at a red light and yawned. i pushed the brake pedal down a little farther than necessary during the yawn...and then i saw some white smoke or steam coming out right in front of the driver seat under the hood (i think where the brake fluid is). i pull over because i lost most of my braking power. when i push down, i can even hear (and see) air coming out from the bottom of the car. a hose is probably broken. i've never fixed anything on a car before and spending a lot of money on this pontiac half broken pos seems like a waste. how much would it cost to get a reasonable mechanic to fix it? how much would it cost me to fix it? is it a difficult?

[Alibi]

Originally Posted by johnnq

how much would it cost me to fix it? is it a difficult?

Well, first cost is dependant on exactly what "it" is and on the going rate for whatever mechanic you take it to. Get the car home or to a friends house (tow via pickup, if possible...tow trucks are expensive). Have a friend mash on the brake pedal while you look in the engine bay and under the car for the source of the leak. You probably have a brake fluid leak somewhere and the smoke was caused by the fluid buring off on the exhaust manifold.

If it is just a hose, then you should be able to do this yourself for fairly cheap. Other issues would depend on your mechanicking ability. For the most part, if you can get a replacement part in decent shape from a junkyard and replace it yourself it should be a fairly cheap fix....but no telling because we don't know what "it" is.

[johnnq]

metal hose broke. it costed 100 bucks....but supposedly all of the metal hoses are rusted and i'm supposed to go easy on the brakes.