TwoTrey

My brakes have failed numerous times without warning. This happens every couple of weeks. The pedal travels all the way to the floor and it takes a few pumps of the pedal to regain braking. This continues until I turn off the car and return to it later only to find it fully operational.
A trip to the dealer and two independent mechanics uncovered no trouble whatsoever. With what little I know about brakes, is it possible that the brake fluid is at fault?
From posts about tracking these cars I've heard that high boiling point fluids are needed to avoid brake failure. So maybe mine's 'boiled'?
Thanks in advance. Jack.

WYSIWYG

did the dealer/mechanics replace the fluid?

mulsannekink

If you're not loosing fluid, it's a master cylinder. Fix it before you die

TwoTrey

Nobody's replaced the fluid

TwoTrey

And I've been real lucky that the 3 times it's failed, I've had no accidents... Stopped driving it for now though. Gotta find out what in the world's wrong with these brakes!
Jack.

Electron Man

...to fail intermittently. Whether or not the pedal goes to the floor usually depends on the manner in which the force is applied.

If the pedal is more likely to go to the floor with gradual application of small force (as opposed to applying a large force quickly - i.e. threshold braking), then my guess is the seals are sufficiently worn to allow fluid to occasionally bypass them.

In any event, you'd be wise to replace the MC.

TwoTrey

Thanx. That xplanation fits my scenario very well

ryoung

.
internal seal leakage in the ABS pump.

But if there's no air in the system and no external leaks, the brake fluid has to go somewhere when the pedal goes to the floor -- caused by internal seal failure in either the master cylinder or the ABS pump.