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Brake problems, making a clicking sound and not holding pressure.

7K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Flyinghigh 
#1 ·
2010 Dodge Caliber SXT 2.0L - Front disc brakes and rear drum brakes, Automatic transmission. Just about 300K on engine. Original engine, original transmission.

I have been having transmission problems for the last 3 months. About once a month I will drive the car too long (I drive about 90 km a day round trip for work as I live in the country area). Once in a while I will run into the transmission temp light coming on if I push 130km round trip. I don't believe the transmission to be the issue, but I just wanted to throw that out there in case it could possibly have some relation to my recent brake issue.

I was coming home from work today and reached the last 3km stretch before my house. I then noticed the transmission temp over light came on and as I was going up hill I heard a very sharp whining sound. I pulled over and shut the car down for 10 minutes. I restarted but this time the brakes felt different. The light was gone but there was no pressure when I applied the brake. I let the car roll down the hills leading to my house and it seemed like the car was trying to break itself going very slowly. I was still able to press the brakes but it just pushed to the ground... and it felt like I had to push much harder to stop.

The brakes have been going for the last month, as I noticed metal on metal sound about 2 weeks ago but due to unforseen circumstances was unable to deal with them right away. I bought them today and ironically enough I have run into a new slew of issues with the breaking system.

I don't understand the sounds I am getting from the car. When I am in park and no key is in the ignition I can press on the brake pedal and get some resistance, but if I push harder it sounds like an air leak as the brake pedal slowly allows me to push it to the floor - I tried this for 2 minutes with the car off and I could not keep enough pressure to the point where it wouldn't let press the brake pedal anymore. I could always it to the floor.

When the car is on and in park there is no resistance whatsoever and I hear a single click which sounds like it is coming from directly behind my shifter. When the car is in Neutral the click disappears but the pressure remains the same.... None. I can go into reverse and drive and no pressure is felt when pressing on the brakes but the car will stop when pushed all the way down. I am not opposed at this point to getting dirty and taking things apart as I was already planning on doing my own brakes.

Here are two videos showing the sounds I am hearing.

Video with car off



Video with car on

 
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#2 ·
The click in the second video is the transmission release.
 
#5 ·
Check for a leaking wheel cylinder or brake caliper first. This is a classic sign of a hydraulic leak in the brake system. First though, remove the cap from the master cylinder and see if there's any fluid in the reservoir.
 
#6 · (Edited)
So I checked the front calipers when replacing the rotors and pads and no leaks there. I will check rear drum cylinder when I change shoes today. I should however note when I check the master cyclinder fluid it was full ti the cap (like an overfill). There is leakage all along the reservoir, on the master brake cylinder and it could be seen dripping down when I had the car jacked up. It is hard to indicate exactly what is leaking as like I said the reservoir is over full and dirty looking. In fact it looks more full then it was a few days ago after pumping the brakes. First photo was dry around master cylinder, second photo from today and is wet liquid is higher. Auto part
Auto part Vehicle Automotive fuel system
 
#7 ·
Hmmmm, I'd try siphoning some fluid out and drive it around a little bit and check it again. If it seems high again, I'd check the rubber brake hoses. Maybe one of them has collapsed and is not allowing the caliper to release the pressure and the fluid back into the line. For some reason the fluid is backing up on you. It could also be a defective master cylinder, but I don't think so. To check your brake hoses, just start at one end and start pinching the hose. If you hit a soft spot, then there's your trouble and you need to replace it. I'd just do both sides if you find one defective. The other one won't be far behind.
 
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