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January 3, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR CAROL TOMAN
IN IL
Car Talk is one of my favorite shows. The setup for the question
about the exhaust system causing the brakes to fail (the pedal
gets mushy)
included the fact that the failures occur only after the car
has been
running a while. The conclusion was that the exhaust system
was
installed touching one of the brake lines. When the exhaust
system
gets hot (around 500 degrees I think) it causes the brake
fluid in the line
to boil. Any gas in a brake line (ordinary air or boiled brake
fluid)
will cause the brake pedal to feel mushy and the brakes will
not be
effective in stopping the car. You can do the same thing to
your own
car by dragging the brakes while driving with two feet or
by dragging
the brakes while driving down a mountain (NOT recommended!)
If you
ever experience a mushy brake pedal, get the brakes checked.
The air in
the lines needs to be "bled" out before your brakes
will be reliable
again.
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