# Brake Pedal goes to floor and car won't stop, WHY? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** prelude, fluids, civic, brakes, honda\ **Created:** [August 24, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082 "2010-08-24T17:57:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lanedans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@lanedans](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lanedans)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/1 "2010-08-24T17:57:29Z")
I was driving my 94 Honda Prelude and put the brake peddle to the floor, but the car wouldn’t stop. This was a onetime occurrence, but a dangerous one. So I checked the brake reservoir and it was full. I can’t find any leaks. Please help me find out why this happened and how to prevent it. (Also the e brake doesn’t work and so I don’t know if that?s connected) ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/2 "2010-08-24T18:00:11Z")
This is a classic symptom of a failing master cylinder. You will probably need a new one. Have the car towed to a shop for a proper diagnosis and repair. ---
**Author:** ![lanedans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@lanedans](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lanedans)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/3 "2010-08-24T18:10:11Z")
Thank you for your reply. Does it matter that it is intermittent. It has only happened once. Also would a master cylinder failure result in faded brakes, or brakes that don’t work as well as they should? ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/4 "2010-08-24T18:19:50Z")
It might only happen just once more, right at the end of your life or the life of someone who was in front of you. If you did survive, could you live with that? ---
**Author:** ![lanedans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@lanedans](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lanedans)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/5 "2010-08-24T18:22:58Z")
i agree with you, I’m just trying to narrow down the problem. It does need to be fixed, I’m just wondering if it could be something else other than a master cylinder? ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/6 "2010-08-24T18:27:22Z")
If you have ABS, then it could be something there. Otherwise, if you aren’t losing brake fluid, it almost has to be the master cylinder. ---
**Author:** ![59thunderbird](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/59thunderbird/32/461_2.png) [@59thunderbird](https://community.cartalk.com/u/59thunderbird)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/7 "2010-08-24T18:28:31Z")
Sounds like the MC, had this problem on my 74 Nova only did it once and a while. What I found was if you would “very gently” push on the pedal it would go to the floor…try that…if you used normal pressure it was fine. What happens is if you gently push on the brake and it goes tom the floor, it means the brake fluid is getting past the seals. When braking normally the extra pressure expands the seals enough to provide normal braking. Replace the MC, and flush the old brake fluid and air out of the system. ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/8 "2010-08-24T18:29:52Z")
When I had this problem, it was intermittent and ended up being the master cylinder, so knowing it is intermittent doesn’t change my answer about the diagnosis. I don’t know the answer to your other questions for sure, but I believe the answer is yes, a bad master cylinder MIGHT be causing your other symptoms. However, when you take the car in, don’t tell them you have a bad master cylinder. Tell them your symptoms and let them check the whole brake system. After all, you might have more than one problem. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/9 "2010-08-24T18:40:03Z")
ABS cannot interefere with a braking system in such a manner as to allow the pedal travel to increase. This one sounds like a definte master cylinder to me. ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/10 "2010-08-24T19:16:24Z")
The master cylinder is not causing the ebrake not to work. The ebrake is a completely separate system from the service brakes by design, so that if the service brakes fail completely they won’t fail the emergency brake as well. I suspect your ebrake is out of adjustment. That’s something that should be fixed when the car is in for the MC change (and I do agree with everyone above that you need to replace your master cylinder). ---
**Author:** ![edb1961](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/edb1961/32/122_2.png) [@edb1961](https://community.cartalk.com/u/edb1961)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/11 "2010-08-24T20:36:46Z")
The master cylinder on my 71 Buick failed at the end of a 150 mile trip. Fortunately I was 2 blocks from home and nobody else was in the intersection. There was a little braking left, enough to get home and then had it towed to the shop. There was no warning and the brake light only came on as the pedal sank to the floor. This is not something you want to mess with, please get it fixed for your own sake. Ed B. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/12 "2010-08-24T20:50:09Z")
Yep all it takes is once to die or kill someone else. If you know about it and don’t panic, pumping the brakes up can give you something in an emergency, but you need a master cyl yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/13 "2010-08-24T20:56:01Z")
> The master cylinder is not causing the ebrake not to work. What’s an ebrake? Are you referring to the parking brake? ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/14 "2010-08-24T21:00:49Z")
Yup, he is. They used to be called emergency brakes, and many of us old folks still call them that occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/15 "2010-08-24T21:18:11Z")
What’s this used to be stuff? My 06 Lincoln LS has an electric parking/emergency brake. The owner’s manual as well as the service manual refer to it as serving as both a parking brake and an emergency brake. In fact, it has a specific emergency brake mode that allows it to be used at three different braking levels while moving, “in the event of main brake failure.” What ever you want to call them, they [parking/emergency brakes] still serve both purposes on all the cars that I have driven. ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/16 "2010-08-25T02:43:57Z")
tardis, aren’t there cars out there that have four disk brakes and only a single drum-type parking brake? I don’t think those parking brakes are made to do any more than hold the car after it is stopped. ---
**Author:** ![BustedKnuckles](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bustedknuckles/32/25_2.png) [@BustedKnuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BustedKnuckles)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 10:26am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/17 "2010-08-25T10:26:10Z")
They will stop the car the one time the main brakes totally fail! Then, you’ll need to replace them, but that’s a small price to pay. ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/18 "2010-08-25T13:14:50Z")
I’ve had Grand Marquis with four wheel disks and small drums for the parking/emergency brake. One those, I could press hard on the parking brake pedal while moving and completely lock the rear brakes. I’d say they could stop the car, just not as fast as the front brakes. My current cars have four wheel disks with the parking brake working on the rear disks through the normal brake pads. These too can lock the rear wheels. Perhaps there’s some problem with your parking brakes if they can’t stop your car? ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/19 "2010-08-25T14:40:40Z")
> Perhaps there’s some problem with your parking brakes if they can’t stop your car? Nope, no problem that I know of. Fortunately, I never said my parking brake wouldn’t stop my car, and my motorcycles don’t have parking brakes or emergency brakes. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/brake-pedal-goes-to-floor-and-car-wont-stop-why/54082/20 "2010-08-25T17:14:12Z")
Okay, Tardis, okay. We had a very lengthy debate a while back about this entire subject. The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter what it’s called…if I suddenly discover I have no brakes it becomes an emergency brake…I’m PULLING THE HANDLE!!! Semantics be damned!