md40022 Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 (edited) 2010 Fusion Hybrid. About 135,000 miles. So, about 2 weeks ago I am driving very slowly in a grocery store parking lot and as I apply the brakes to stop at a stop sign I feel a little bit of a "jerk" as the car comes to a stop. As this happens I get the ABS light, the sliding vehicle light (don't know the actual name for this) and the "service advancetrac" lights all popping up on the dashboard. I live in the Chicago area and the weather was kind of nasty at the time so I attributed the jerky feeling at the stop to a patch of ice and being that all 3 warning lights turned off on their own about a block later - I assumed all was fine. Figured it was an ice patch, no big deal. Fast forward to within the last few days. I have now began to notice fairly often when I come to a stop the brakes almost seem to "slip" for a very brief moment during the stopping process. It almost feels as if I briefly hit a tiny patch of ice and the deceleration stops for just a fraction of a second and then it picks back up again. Brake pressure on the pedal felt fine though. And occasionally I will get the trifecta of those 3 warning lights mentioned above coming on right around the same time that this happens. The lights quickly go away on their own though as I start driving again. Since the first time this happened 2 weeks ago I attributed to the weather and it only again started happening within the last 2 days or so, I just checked my brake fluid last evening. The reservoir was virtually dry. I added fluid last night for the sake of being able to get to and from work for a few days until I can take it into the mechanic. Even after adding fluid last evening though, the same issues mentioned above remain. Though I know after adding fluid the system should be bled and I know if there is air in the system that could still be an issue. I know that I need to get the brakes checked and serviced. Obviously. I do have a few questions though.... The actual brakes themselves have checked "OK" in the dashboard system check. The only dashboard warnings I've had with this issue have been those 3 lights; Service Advancetrac, ABS, and sliding car icon. Wouldn't being low on fluid give an actual brake failure notification of some sort and not ABS / Advancetrac notifications? In all of my Google searches of this type of symptom people seem to point to speed sensors and wheel sensors triggering these 3 notifications, but at the same time the fact that I was very low on brake fluid makes me think that I'm totally over analyzing it with all these sensors and it's GOTTA be brake related, right? I mean "if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck..... it's probably a duck". If I'm having stopping issues and I'm low on brake fluid, hey dummy get your brakes checked..... but the google world seems to say everything revolving around that trifecta of dashboard notifications is sensor related. Ultimately I'll be heading to the mechanic within the next few days --- but any opinions here would be welcomed. For the record, I had my rear brakes done (pads, rotors and calipers) in August of 2021 and at that time the mechanic said the front brakes looked really good. I've owned the car for just over 2 years and have never had the front brakes done - unsure of how old they are. Edited February 1, 2023 by md40022 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
md40022 Posted February 24, 2023 Author Share Posted February 24, 2023 (edited) Giving an update here in hopes that maybe some of the new info sparks some opinions of others.... A day or two after my original post, we did a brake bleed and found a TON of air in the 4 brake lines. Bled out the air. Added brake fluid. No signs of fluid leak at any of the 4 calipers. At that point, after bleeding the system, about 2 weeks passed and all was great. No issues at all. About a week ago though, the issue returned. Same exact scenario as noted in the original post. Just as I'm coming to a complete stop the brakes seem to "slip" just for a split second and the pressure in the pedal decreases. It's a split second thing and then all returns to normal. Maybe 25% of the time when the problem occurs, I get the trifeca of ABS, Advancetrac, and Traction Control lighting up on the dashboard. All 3 lights shut off after about a block of driving though. And it's only maybe 25% of the time when the problem occurs that the lights do come on...... Maybe 2 or 3 days ago we bleed the brakes again (fluid level is fine time) and once again more air in the system. Also within the last 2 or 3 days I'm now occasionally getting a knock or clunk noise from what seems to sound like the center area under the hood. Would seem to be in the area of the master cylinder. This has me thinking master cylinder at this point. Knowing that I found my fluid reservoir dry a few weeks back when I first checked and being that there was no sign of fluid leak at any of the 4 wheels, that seems to put the master cylinder in play. Also, knowing that a ton of air was in the lines and after bleeding the lines more air got into the lines 2 weeks later. Now factor in the newly developed "clunk" noise from the center area under the hood when the problem occurs ------- master cylinder, right? Any opinions are very appreciated. Edited February 24, 2023 by md40022 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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