Sudden Brake Failure 1999 Fiat Brava

One second my brakes worked perfectly. The next second the pedal went to the floor with nearly no braking action. I lifted the emergency brake to find it also 95% innefective. Anyone care to try to explain how both the power brakes and emergency brakes can fail simultaneously (ps… this has been a very well maintained car). There has been no loss of brake fluid.

More information needed!

Are these 4-wheel disk brakes? 4-wheel drum brakes? Front disk/rear drum?

Were you driving on a steep downgrade? Was it raining? Did you drive though a large puddle?

In the meantime, until you supply us with a bit more information, I want to point out that many “emergency” brakes have too little braking power for them to be really effective for stopping the car. At their best, e-brakes can usually only summon up…maybe 30%… of the braking power of your service brakes. And, if the e-brake is badly out of adjustment, you might not even get that 30% effectiveness.