QuestionI have an 85 Volvo with 250'000 miles on it. Its been taken very good care of by one owner but its till an old tired car. a few times the brake failure light has come on and the brakes have gone out. Like the pedal goes to the floor. This is a real occasional thing but its not safe, I'm wondering if it might be somthing I could fix rather than taking to a shop. Thanks for your help.
AnswerIf you have an understanding of the brake system and have performed brake srvice including bleeding brakes, then it is not too hard. But if you haven't, you'd best bring it to a brake expert. The complete system should be inspected for any external leaks, check hoses and pads and caliper operation.
Your problem should be a bad master cylinder. Replace the master by removing brake lines and removing master cylinder. Replacement is the reverse, but before installing, the master must be bench-bled before installing,otherwise the system would have air in it and the pedal would feel spongy. Then bleed the brakes at all the wheels.
Unless you've done this before, I'd recommend going to a shop. Reason is, the car being this old, the bleeders may be rusted shut or the calipers are worn, it may get quite involved.
Also recommend replacing brake junction at this time.
