Hi guys, I don't post much in General section as I've been somewhat lucky with my car in the past 4 years.
Lately I don't drive it much as I got a daily few month ago but I still drive it at least once a week to put gas, wash, going to meets and buy coffee
well what they say "car breaks more when u don't drive it" apparently true
anyway couple of weeks ago on Saturday I took my car out and my breaks felt wrong, they were too soft, I pumped the pedal drove little bit and it seemed back to normal, I left it at that
last Saturday I took my car for a drive and right away breaks felt the same but this time around I wasn't able to pump it, it was still soft.
I parked my car in the driveway and decided to engage electronic brakes which I don't recall doing ever before, sure enough I wasn't able to disengage them, the system won't recognize that break pedal is pressed, I had to manual disengage my parking break using the hook inside the trunk. I got a message about the breaks right after but I'm sure it will go away once the issue is fixed
there were no other errors at all even after connecting the scanner
I started checking:
1. The level of break fluid is on Max
2. no signs of break fluid anywhere under or near the car
3. most likely there is no air in the system not only because of above but also its been a while since the break fluid, rotors and pads were changed, no bubbles in the break fluid reservoir when pedal pressed
4. the calipers are dry
5. the master break cylinder looks like it was just purchased (that clean)
I started to look for similar issues online and it seems everything is pointing to the master break cylinder seals, the other option is break booster but the symptoms there are different (the pedal becomes harder to press not softer like in my case)
my mechanic came over and we looked at everything again also spent some time to cleaning the clogged seal under the booster to let bunch of water to escape, also stumbled upon this black box, it was half covered in water, what is that, alarm?
looks like my mechanic not convinced its a master break cylinder issue even though everything points in to that direction.
If anybody has any ideas or experience with similar behavior I'd like to hear it!
Thank you all!