The brakes on this van take a long time to stop. We took it to the dealer a couple of weeks ago to get it checked and they replaced the master cylinder. But the brakes seem the same as before. I push the brakes really hard and it takes a long time to stop and the wheels never lock. The brakes are not anti-lock brakes as far as I know. Is this something normal? Or should we take it back and say they didn’t fix the problem?
Are you sure you don’t have ABS? Check the lights that turn on before you start for an ABS light. Also have they bled the system efficiently? Sounds like you might have some air in the system. On second thought, why did they change the master cylinder to begin with?
You have ABS alright,but I wonder if there isn’t a malfunctioning power brake booster causing the fault.
Are the brake pads in good condition, or are they severely worn?
Brake pads contaminated somehow?
You certainly should be able to lock the brakes or activate the ABS and feel that vibration. I have known some small women who were not physically able to provide the pressure to lock the brakes. I believe that is also true of a number of men, but they don’t want to tell anyone about it.
Ask the mechanic to take you for a test drive and see if they can lock the brakes. If they can then it is don’t to the amount of pressure required and that can be a mechanical defect or I believe some cars it can be adjusted.
I just checked the lights on the panel and the ABS light comes on and then off when I start the car. So, maybe it does have ABS. But, then as I understand it, the ABS brakes should vibrate when I push really hard on them. Is this correct? This is not happening as far as I can tell.
They replaced the master cylinder because they said it was leaking. As far as the pads being in good shape, when we took the van in, they were supposed to inspect the brakes. So, if the pads were not in good shape, I assume they would have told us. After all, they would want to make money, right? I am assuming the pads are in good shape.