On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 21:26:48 -0500, "Ernest Scribbler"
wrote:

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote
The brakes failed - as in F A I L E D - causing me to avoid a massive
collision by jumping a curb and heading into the pucker brush.

Then, to add insult to injury, when I restarted the engine after it
stalled out, a horrendous noise and oil smoke started to pour out from
under the hood.

Some sort of fault in the vacuum operated brake-booster?

You mean there actually is a vacuum brake booster?

What the hell kind of nonsense is that?

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote
You mean there actually is a vacuum brake booster?
What the hell kind of nonsense is that?

Big round thing between the master cylinder and the firewall. Almost all
cars have them. They rarely fail.

http://www.google.com/search?q=brake%20vacuum%20assist

"Ernest Scribbler" wrote
They rarely fail.

.... but what you described sounds like what happens when they do. Did the
brakes totally go away, or did you lose the power-assist? (The latter could
easily feel like a total loss if it happened unexpectedly.)

"Ernest Scribbler" wrote in message
...
"Ernest Scribbler" wrote
They rarely fail.

... but what you described sounds like what happens when they do. Did the
brakes totally go away, or did you lose the power-assist? (The latter
could easily feel like a total loss if it happened unexpectedly.)



That's exactly what it feels like. In my son's car, it was like pressing
against a thick stack of cardboard, until he REALLY leaned on the pedal.
(This was part of an exercise in a large empty parking lot). It can feel
like there's no more you can push to get results, but there IS more.

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 21:38:52 -0500, "Ernest Scribbler"
wrote:

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote
You mean there actually is a vacuum brake booster?
What the hell kind of nonsense is that?

Big round thing between the master cylinder and the firewall. Almost all
cars have them. They rarely fail.

http://www.google.com/search?q=brake%20vacuum%20assist


I had one fail in a Volvo, but in the opposite manner. It would activate
when the brake pedal was pressed, but would then keep applying the brakes
until they locked up.