The brake booster is responsible for making it easier to apply the brakes as you step on the brake pedal with your foot. If it weren’t for the brake booster, you’d be required to put a lot more pressure on the brake pedal just to slow down the vehicle. The brake booster makes braking a lot safer because it lets you use minimal pressure to slow the vehicle down instead.
The brake booster is positioned in the middle of the master cylinder and brake pedal. When the fluid pressure builds up, the brake booster contains a vacuum which allows it to handle this pressure. This allows the pressure you place on the brake pedal to be translated into pressure which activates the brake pads onto the brake discs. The result is a vehicle that slows down or stops on your command.
5 Bad Symptoms
Obviously, a good brake booster is essential for driving safely on the road. If you have a bad brake booster, then it will make it more difficult to brake the vehicle. This could spell disaster if you’re in a situation where you need to brake quickly in order to avoid an accident. That is why you need to take it seriously when you have a bad brake booster. You will know when it is bad because there are easily recognizable symptoms to look for.
Below are the top 5 symptoms of a bad brake booster in your car.
1) Brake Warning Light
The dashboards of most modern vehicles have brake warning lights that illuminate whenever there is a problem with their braking system. Of course, it doesn’t specify what the exact problem is with the braking system. But it is enough to get you to pay attention to the other possible symptoms of the brake system that may follow. Either that or you can take the brake warning light as an early sign that you need to get your braking system checked by a mechanic before something goes terribly wrong. If you have a bad brake booster, this could have caused the warning light to come on.
2) Stiff Brake Pedal
The brake pedal should feel smooth when you apply pressure to it. But if you notice the brake pedal feeling too stiff, then there is likely something wrong with the brake booster. A stiff brake pedal makes it difficult to apply the brakes because you need to exert more force onto it than usual. If you’re not expecting this problem and you need to apply the brakes quickly, it can result in a horrible situation on the road.
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3) Engine Stall
A bad brake booster will take away too much vacuum from the engine. Basically, the diaphragm within the booster may stop working properly, resulting in air getting through the seal. This means when you step on the brake pedal, the engine may stall from all the vacuum getting drawn from it. You will know this is the reason if you step on the brake pedal and your engine stalls.
4) Brake Pedal is Too High
As a regular driver, you should be used to the position of the brake pedal on the floor. But if you ever notice the brake pedal is a lot higher than usual, then it may mean that you have a bad brake booster. This can also be dangerous for driving because you won’t be used to placing your foot so high on the pedal. If you need to brake in an emergency and you don’t know to do this, then it can induce an accident.
5) Weak Brake Performance
Since the job of the brake booster is to apply brake pressure to the system more quickly after you step on the brake pedal, a bad brake booster will have limited brake pressure available. This means that stepping on the brake pedal won’t slow down the vehicle as quickly. The overall brake performance will be weak.
