# Is it a bad brake hose or something else?



## kmihmiscnissanforums (Dec 24, 2016)

My car is 17 years old. As I was driving back from the grocery store, the brake got more and more sensitive as I drove in stop and go city traffic, within a few minutes time. Eventually, the brake became so sensitive that just touching it would stop the car. I could not feel the car pulling to one side like people suggested that a locked brake would do. I pulled into a parking lot and tried hard braking, used the hand brakes, checked the brake fluid level at the master cylinder reservoir which was at the max level line and not full to the brim. The car engine was revving at 3k or higher and my speed was 20-30 MPH. I normally get 45-50 MPH when engine revs at 2k. I could see the RPM gauge go up and down as I was pressing the gas pedal trying to speed up. Then I pulled into a parking lot and stopped the engine for about 3 or 4 minutes and then restarted, the engine hesitated a bit, but restarted fine. It would not move after restarting. I actually had to give it some gas to move. Normally, taking my leg off the brake pedal would move the car at a slow speed - without even touching the gas pedal. So, I gave it some more gas and drove at 25 MPH, the engine was revving at more than 3k. The brake pedal was still very sensitive. When I came home after 5 minutes I could tell the left side wheel was hotter than the right side wheel just by feeling the dissipating heat with my hand. There is no squeal or high pitch noise so I'm thinking this is not a ball-bearing issue. Can it be the brand new left caliper assembly which I just replaced a few weeks ago? I'm thinking it is a bad brake hose on the driver side. Any suggestions?


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Could be either...or pads that are binding in the caliper mount bracket. Usually, if I'm replacing a caliper, I'll replace the hose as well. It's just a good practice and hoses aren't that expensive to take a chance on them failing. You'll need to do some inspecting to isolate the problem. Usually if it's a hose problem (rather than a seized caliper), you can crack the bleeder screw on the caliper and the piston will retract as the pressure is released from it. If it is seized, it will typically stay that way regardless if you crack the bleeder or not. As far as check the pads, you should be able to remove the caliper and be able to slide the pads easily in the mount. If not, they may need to be lubed, the hardware could be rusty or the pads are too large and need to be filed down (this usually happens with low quality, aftermarket brake pads).


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## kmihmiscnissanforums (Dec 24, 2016)

smj999smj said:


> Could be either..... aftermarket brake pads).


I forgot to mention that I flushed all the brake fluid and bled all 4 brakes a few months ago. So, the fluid is probably not an issue. I also changed the left caliper assembly last week.
As you suggested I cleaned the caliper grooves where the clips go. I used a rotary tool to get rid of all the rust and dust until everything was shiny. I cleaned the "ears" on the pads that rub against the clip. Added some brake lube under the clip as suggested by experts but did not put any lubes on the pad ears, they are all super clean and shiny now. Then I re-seated everything. Without the dust and rust, the pads and clips went in just fine this time. I took the car out for a test ride today, the issue happened again. I came back home, by the time I pulled into my garage, the car would hardly move. I had to give it gas to go over the bump in driveway. I put the car in reverse, won't move, tried the 2nd and 1st gear (it's an automatic transmission) same issue. I turned the engine off for 5 minutes. Then I turned the engine on and tried to move the car, the car wont move, the front wheels were still really hot. I thought it is a good time to check the transmission fluid. By the time I was done checking the AT fluid, the brake issue went away. I put the car in drive and it drove normally. I put it in reverse and it moved normally and nicely by itself without having to give it any gas. I took it out for a drive and everything was fine this time, no brake issues. I hit the brake many times, could not reproduce the issue again. What is causing this intermittent issue? A bad hose (or two) will lock up the brake every time, right? The car does not pull on one side when this happens, both wheels get really hot, what are the chances of both brake hoses failing around the same time? Have you seen anything like this before?


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

A bad master cylinder could definitely be causing your problem.


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## kmihmiscnissanforums (Dec 24, 2016)

rogoman said:


> A bad master cylinder could definitely be causing your problem.


Others have said it could be bad brake hoses. Earlier this year when I replaced the brake pads, it was unusually hard to push back the caliper piston with a C-clamp. I tried pushing back the caliper piston on the brand new caliper assembly today, it was much harder, wont retract at all. I did not open the bleeder hole as I was certain the new caliper assembly and piston are good. Do you think it could be bad hoses and bad master cylinder?


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## kmihmiscnissanforums (Dec 24, 2016)

I had a mechanic change both front rubber brake lines. I also had a full rear brake job done, with new brake shoes, wheel cylinders etc. All 4 brakes were bled. I drove the car about 85 miles so far and it has been running fine. I am hoping this issue was caused by the bad brake hoses which got replaced.


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## kmihmiscnissanforums (Dec 24, 2016)

The car ran fine for a few months after changing the rubber brake hoses and replacing both of the back wheel cylinders and brake shoes and hardware. Well, my wife says the problem with brake is back again. The following is what she described:
The car wont go past 30 MPH and revving at 3k and it was slowing down at a rate higher than normal rate of coasting. Normally, when the engine revs at 2k, we get 40 to 45 MPH. She tried to stop the car and the brake pedal was super stiff and wont go down much kind of like stuck at the up position and she could not push the pedal in using normal force, she had to push the pedal very hard to stop the car. She waited a few minutes and restarted the car. The engine was revving up to 4k and the car wont go past 20 or 25 MPH and engine started making very loud noise, I guess the transmission was too hot trying to speed up and not being able to. Then she pulled over to a lot and tried to go in reverse, the car wont move without pressing the gas pedal, normally the car moves without needing to press the gas pedal when in reverse. She called me and by the time I went over there to rescue her, it has been about 25 to 30 minutes. The problem fixed itself by that time. I started the car and pressed on the brake pedal, it was going up and down fine after half an hour of cooling. I drove it back home and had no issues. The symptoms are pretty much identical to the original issue I mentioned. The car now makes louder sound when driving. Could it be bad bearings because if I move the steering to the right, the loud sound from the engine or front side diminishes a lot.
The 2 years old transmission oil is black. Hyundai user manual says that is OK. However, I'll change a few quarts this week. What could be causing the brake to lock up like that? Is it the brake or bad transmission or bad bearings because of the loud noise from the front side?


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

17 year old Hyundai? Why not check out a Hyundai or Kia forum and see if others have had similar problems.


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## kmihmiscnissanforums (Dec 24, 2016)

Those forums are pretty much dead. No one answers anything.


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## Car guy (Mar 31, 2016)

Hyundai-forums is one of the most active and best sites to actually get helpful answers. It has vastly more activity than this site. Perhaps 2 orders of magnitude.


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## kmihmiscnissanforums (Dec 24, 2016)

I posted my question there. No answers yet.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

kmihmiscnissanforums said:


> The car ran fine for a few months after changing the rubber brake hoses and replacing both of the back wheel cylinders and brake shoes and hardware. Well, my wife says the problem with brake is back again. The following is what she described:
> The car wont go past 30 MPH and revving at 3k and it was slowing down at a rate higher than normal rate of coasting. Normally, when the engine revs at 2k, we get 40 to 45 MPH. She tried to stop the car and the brake pedal was super stiff and wont go down much kind of like stuck at the up position and she could not push the pedal in using normal force, she had to push the pedal very hard to stop the car. She waited a few minutes and restarted the car. The engine was revving up to 4k and the car wont go past 20 or 25 MPH and engine started making very loud noise, I guess the transmission was too hot trying to speed up and not being able to. Then she pulled over to a lot and tried to go in reverse, the car wont move without pressing the gas pedal, normally the car moves without needing to press the gas pedal when in reverse. She called me and by the time I went over there to rescue her, it has been about 25 to 30 minutes. The problem fixed itself by that time. I started the car and pressed on the brake pedal, it was going up and down fine after half an hour of cooling. I drove it back home and had no issues. The symptoms are pretty much identical to the original issue I mentioned. The car now makes louder sound when driving. Could it be bad bearings because if I move the steering to the right, the loud sound from the engine or front side diminishes a lot.
> The 2 years old transmission oil is black. Hyundai user manual says that is OK. However, I'll change a few quarts this week. What could be causing the brake to lock up like that? Is it the brake or bad transmission or bad bearings because of the loud noise from the front side?


When this problem occurs again, don't wait for the car to cool down; instead put the transmission into neutral, not park, and jack up the front of the car right away and try turning each tire by hand. If you're unable to turn one or both of them, crack open the bleed screws one at a time to see if that frees up the rotation. If you're now able to turn the tires freely, then there may be an obstruction in the hydraulics; bad master cylinder or debris in the lines, rust. It's also possible that you have excessively worn wheel bears that are seizing up when the car has been driven for some length of time since you spoke about the loud noise that's occurring now.


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## kmihmiscnissanforums (Dec 24, 2016)

When I lifted up the wheels in the past they only rotate less than an inch on all four because their corresponding wheels are stuck on the ground. So, am I looking for a wheel or wheels that wont even turn that half-an-inch rotation?


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## Car guy (Mar 31, 2016)

Lift up both axles for his test.


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## perfectlift-tips (Oct 17, 2017)

Great it's good to hear that your car issue is resolved, after all visiting to the mechanic paid off the trouble..


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## kmihmiscnissanforums (Dec 24, 2016)

The problem is not fixed. People are telling me it is most likely a bad wheel bearing. Some people are telling me that it is bad master cylinder or rust issue in the brake line. A few people also said it could be a bad transmission. I am trying to narrow it down one issue.


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## kmihmiscnissanforums (Dec 24, 2016)

rogoman said:


> When this problem occurs again, don't wait for the car to cool down; instead put the transmission into neutral, not park, and jack up the front of the car right away and try turning each tire by hand. If you're unable to turn one or both of them, crack open the bleed screws one at a time to see if that frees up the rotation. If you're now able to turn the tires freely, then there may be an obstruction in the hydraulics; bad master cylinder or debris in the lines, rust. It's also possible that you have excessively worn wheel bears that are seizing up when the car has been driven for some length of time since you spoke about the loud noise that's occurring now.


The wheel or brake locked again. This time I took off the front driver side wheel because it was sizzling hot and the rest of the wheels were not. It got that sizzling hot after driving for only 10 miles or so in city traffic. I tried to rotate the hub and rotor. They were solid locked and I got burnt through the gloves. Shoving a screwdriver in between the rotor and brake pad easily freed the caliper assembly. So, the culprit was either the front passenger side brake or the wheel bearing. 
I had a mechanic replace the front driver side wheel bearing yesterday. The droning noise is still there, and like before only goes away when I am rotating steering to the right. Is it cheap tire or bad bearings on the rest of the car? My main concern is the wheel locking up issue. I can live with the loud noise.
Since the wheel bearing replacement, I have driven the car only once and the brake/wheel did not get too hot and lock up since then. Which was an intermittent issue to begin with. The transmission worked fine. I'll update again soon.


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## kmihmiscnissanforums (Dec 24, 2016)

Flushing the brake fluid fixed the problem.


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