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2003 Chevy Tahoe Z71 here. This morning as I was driving to work I noticed my brakes were a little unresponsive. I recently checked the pads/rotors and they are in good shape. When I push the pedal down, it seems like I can push it further than usual. I tested it going about ~35-40 and 'slammed' on my brakes the way I would if a deer were to dart out in front of me, and stoppage was pretty much as expected. However, this caused the "Service Brakes" to turn on and the cars warning system to start beeping at me. When I plugged in a code reader, it didn't detect anything, the error has gone away, and I didn't notice the same issues with the brakes.

Any ideas here? Possibly some air here, maybe an issue with the brake booster. My first idea would be to replace the lines, as I understand it is possible that even if I don't have an external leak it is possible that there is a leak in one of the inner tubes.

Thanks in advance.

Josh Buhler
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USER_8675309
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2 Answers2

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While having some one depress the brakes inspect each of the rubber flex hoses at the wheel corners. Look for any sign of bulging. Hoses age with repeated expansion and contraction form brakes being applied.
This eventually causes bulges in the inner hose part which requires extra fluid to make up for the extra space and hence a slow petal depression. The Service Brake light and alarm relates to this as an expanding hose on one wheel during extreme hard stop would cause a shift in the pressure between sections, which would clear on pressure balance return. IN your vehicle these clear with power (ignition) off and on, so not stored and readable unless read when active. You might never see a leak until it is to late and the hose bursts. If hoses are not the issue your next most likely suspect is the ABS motor pump or control circuitry.

spicetraders
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Look at the level of the brake fluid. If its low, top it up and pump the pedal to check for leaks. If you cannot find leak anywhere, most probably the brake fluid is leaked into the booster pump.

This can be very dangerous, you may end up at some other vehicles rear end.

Get you master pump and booster pump checked and replaced.

soosai steven
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