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"Hard" brakes in freezing weather

I've got a problem with my 97 Legacy wagon: in really cold weather (10F/-12C or below) the brakes are very hard for at least a few seconds. The colder it is, the longer it takes the brakes to work. I've been out in 0F/-18C and had to warm up the car for at least a minute before the brakes are normal.

It would be a simple solution to just warm up the car each cold morning, except that I'm a firefighter/emt, and need to be on the road within as few seconds as possible, for those charming 3:00 AM calls. (Very bad form to crash the car on the way to a call, too.)

And it's not just my car, either. A fellow firefighter has an '03 Outback, that does the same thing. My mother's '03 Forester also does it, but at least she never needs to be on the road within seconds.

From what little I've seen online, it sounds like it has something to do with the power assist / vacuum, and it does feel like the power assist is not doing any assisting. But for all I know it could be something completely different.

Anyone know anything about this? Anyone have a solution?

Thanks in advance for your help.

-Allison

Reply to
Allison Turner-
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The check valve in the vac line to the booster is freezing up. The dealer should have a solution. If not try the check-valve from another kind of vehicle.

Reply to
clare at snyder.on.ca

Hi, How old is the brake fluid? More likely it is contaminated with moisture. Flush and refill. Brake fluid doesn't last forever.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

And it seldom causes a hard pedal. Hard pedal on a cold day is virtually allways lack of boost due to either a frozen check valve, or moisture in the vac. line.

Reply to
clare at snyder.on.ca

Hi, I live in much colder winter out here in Alberta. Never experienced that. Then I always keep my vehicles in original condition no matter how old they are.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Hi,

I can't speak to really cold conditions, as it seldom even gets to freezing where I am. But, for anecdotal purposes only, a recent change of brake fluid cured a "hard pedal" in my Camry's brakes. There's lots of argument on car forums about changing fluid, but I think the industry consensus favors a change about every two years. It certainly won't hurt.

I've found it sometimes helps w/ "diagnosis" to pump the brakes w/ the engine off to deplete the vacuum in the system. Then, hold the pedal down and start the engine. The pedal should "drop" a bit right after the engine's started, indicating all the vacuum lines are clear and valves are working.

Rick

Reply to
Rick Courtright

on Sat, 05 Jan 2008 05:59:49 GMT, Tony Hwang stated:

[...]

Thank you, everyone! That was very helpful. Next time I get to my Really Wonderful Mechanic, I'll have him replace the check valve (I'm pretty sure he's already tried changing the brake fluid).

-Allison

Reply to
Allison Turner-

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