# Sudden Brake Failure 1999 Fiat Brava

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/sudden-brake-failure-1999-fiat-brava/6244>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** fiat, failure, brakes\
**Created:** [October 21, 2007, 10:18am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sudden-brake-failure-1999-fiat-brava/6244 "2007-10-21T10:18:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dtremblay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@dtremblay](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dtremblay)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 10:18am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sudden-brake-failure-1999-fiat-brava/6244/1 "2007-10-21T10:18:46Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 3:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sudden-brake-failure-1999-fiat-brava/6244/2 "2007-10-21T15:22:34Z")

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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.