brake pedal goes to the floor but regains pressure after several pumps???

[tamadrumr88]

for the last two days ive been having this wierd problem. if i drive but dont touch the brake for say a minute or so (highway or uphill driving) when i eventually do go to use the brakes the pedal goes to the floor with minimal pressure and the car does not slow down at all. if i pump the pedal atleast two times the pressure comes back to normal and the car comes to a stop as it should... but again, if i dont touch it for a little while after that the pedal loses pressure again

fast forward to today, i pop the hood to check the brake fluid level, its just under the "max" line, but there is a lone tube laying in the "leaf trap" thats not plugged into anything. i looked but could not find where the line went so i snapped some pics.

anyone know what this belongs to and where it needs to go? is this the cause of my brake problems? please say it is

[Militant-Grunt]

Air bubbles in the brake line?

[wood_e]

Try bleeding your brakes. I believe there's only 1 vaccuum line going to the brake booster.

[mike-2ptzero]

That clear line most likely went to your battery which drops down thru a small hole in the trap tray you are talking about.


Could be a leak at the brake booster hose which you can find at the back of the intake manifold.

[Quattro4mage]

A leaky brake booster would result in a really hard brake pedal (i.e. would require alot of force to push). You are having a hydraulic problem which most likely is a bad brake master cylinder.

2nd on the clear hose. Its for the battery vent. Nothing to do with the brakes.

[ProOnThaSnow]

Sounds like 1 of a couple of pssibilities.

You either have a leak (which wouldn't result in a full reservoir), air in the lines, or more than likely a bad Master cylinder. I'd put my money on the Master Cylinder. Bleed the brakes first to make sure there's no air in the lines. If the problem persists, its time to repalce the MC. Good Luck!

[MEDEL51480]

I 2nd ProOnThaSnow's post!

[Ado]

i had a similar probeam. with my car the master cylinder was out, the abs modulater also gave out at about the same time, and i had air in the system. lol. yea the jackass that had the car before me really fucked it up. if i was you i would blead the system and go from there. also i would vag it and see what codes it pull up. good luck.

[pipe7284]

didi you change your brakes within that time frame you gave us? if so you have air in your brake lines. bleed them.

[allshowA4]

i'm fairly certain that line is a windsheild washer line. do u have u washers hooked up?

[tamadrumr88]

i dont understand why all of a sudden this problem came about if i havent done anything to agitate/provoke this.... i havent touched anything on the car in about two months, never had this problem until now, and this just started within the past two days

okay so the general consensus is a faulty brake booster... how much can i pick these up new/used? how many hours should i expect to pay a non-audi mechanic "on the side" for

[seatown88]

i would try bleeding the brakes first, why shove out money if it can be fixed with just bleeding the brakes, try that and if it doesnt work, then look to replace the master cylinder.

[wood_e]

Yeah, just give bleeding a try.. it couldn't hurt...

[tamadrumr88]

anyone wanna scan/email me the bentley pages on replacing the master cylinder myself?

[seatown88]

have you tried bleeding the brakes?

[tamadrumr88]

ive never done that before so id have no clue what im doing. ive only had this car a few months so i havent really gotten into doing anything.... prior to this i had a 2001 neon r/t and that thing was maintenance free.... completely different ball game when i stepped into the audi /

wanna link me up to a diy?

[wood_e]

Click me

[tamadrumr88]

i was looking for an audi/vw specific one but that helpful folks at vortex got to me first

[wood_e]

There IS no VW/audi specific procedure... - If your MC has 2 lines start bleeding from the wheel furthest from the caliper and work your way to the closest one. If you have 4 lines you can do it any way you want.

[tamadrumr88]

im probably just going to get the brake master cylinder replaced and obviously replace the old fluid... what do you guys think of this?

http://replacement.autopartswa...false

i spoke to one of their customer service reps and i was told that that is not a genuine vag part however it is recognized by audi as an oe-replacement part