Brake problems, almost had an accident

[hhalimi]

I was driving around 25m/h, when a car suddenly braked in fron of me, I had plenty of distance, pushed the brake harder than normal but the pedal was feeling very mushy and the car stopped just inches away from the other car. I had to push realy hard and it was feeling as if the brakes were not working well. I have put around 400 miles on this car and in normal driving condition, it never gave me a feeling as if there was any problems with the brakes. I hope the brake booster is working. I am planning on doing some hard braking, when the trafic permits to make sure every thing is working. Brake fluid level is good. I did not get to bleed/flush the fluid yet. Any other ideas, or this is normal?

[drowssap]

did you try pumping them at all to see if it improved ?

[Disco Mike]

What year is the truck, how many miles on it, when was the brake system last flushed?
If the fluid is brown, do a full 2 quart DOT 4 brake flush, inspect the brake pads for being thin or cracked and do you have any warning lights on?

[hhalimi]

Originally Posted by drowssap

did you try pumping them at all to see if it improved ?

At that moment, no, but later yes and seems to make the pedal feel harder.

[Disco Mike]

That is normal. Now back to my questions?????

[hhalimi]

Originally Posted by Disco Mike

What year is the truck, how many miles on it, when was the brake system last flushed?
If the fluid is brown, do a full 2 quart DOT 4 brake flush, inspect the brake pads for being thin or cracked and do you have any warning lights on?

It is 04 with just over 126k miles on it. Brake pads and rotors have been changed within the past 2 years, the system has not been flushed since the car had around 40K miles on it, when the second owner bought it. It might not have been flushed before that either. I do not have any warning lights, except the sevice engine soon light after power wash and induction cleaning.

[Disco Mike]

So, start with the brake flush using Castrol's synthetic brake fluid, then get back to us.

[hhalimi]

Originally Posted by Disco Mike

So, start with the brake flush using Castrol's synthetic brake fluid, then get back to us.

Thank you Mike.
It is very cold here, I will probably freeze in my garage if I do it my self, I am going to get the castrol brake fluid and a code reader and go to the closest mechanic to flush the system and also inspect the brakes.

[discotheque]

Would you mind posting how much you paid when you get it done? Thx

[Disco Mike]

Don't go buy a scanner unless you plan on using it a lot and then talk to me first on what to buy and from where.
A shop will charge you $100 easily to bleed the brakes, sure you don't want to do them yourself?