(No, not literally suck, suck as in not work well :-) )

I was driving today and I got off of the highway and I noticed my brakes weren't as responsive as they usually are and I had to push the pedal with some extra effort to get it to stop. My brake pedal typically has a pretty spongy feel but it seems to have stiffened. It is now to the point where I have to push very hard on the brake before anything even happens. And there is an audible constant "pshhhhh" sound when the brake pedal is depressed. Yes, you say that is normal, but this is a constant sound, ie I can hold the pedal down all the way and it just hisses until I let off of it. Any ideas? I'm thinking it may be a problem with the power brake booster or something, but I'm no mechanic.

 

Your power brake booster is bad. That is why it is hard to stop and the petal is stiff and that sound is the sound of vaccum leaking out of the brake booster.

 

Okay, thank you for confirming this. My almighty Haynes manual has instructions for replacing it, but I'd really rather not unless I have to (price-wise). Would it be terribly expensive to have this done in the shop? I wouldn't want to pay $400 and have the part cost $20 or something stupid like that.

 

oh yeah, one more thing... providing that I'm careful, is the car safe to drive for now? The power brake booster is just that, a booster, correct? The brakes aren't going to completely give out on me or anything will they?

 

If the brake boster is bad it can cause inconcistant petal feel and cause you to wreck. If you have the ability do it yourself a shop would probably charge about $300 to replace it. It isn't too bad of a job if you have a friend to help you do everything.

 

Dang, that much? Okay, well the part is like $80. I guess I'm doing it myself. :-)

If I understand correctly, as long as I don't unhook the hoses from the master cylinder I don't have to bleed the brakes or anything, right?

 

My dad had to take his in to get the booster fixed because I didn't have time to do it and it cost him $240 in a truck. The part cost him $190 and then the rest was labor.