Poor Brake Pressure
 

Wondering if anyone has experienced poor brake pressure in their Mazda 3's? I am driving a 2009 Mazda 3 GT. Have owned it new. In the last four years of driving it I have had 4-5 times where I loose all brake pressure in my brakes. First time it happened I mentioned it to the service dept (I work at a Mazda dealership) and I was told that it was my antilock brakes coming on. They took it for a test drive and assured me it was doing what it should be doing. The last time it occured (just a couple of days ago) I ended up hitting someone who was stopped at a stop light ahead of me. I should have had PLENTY of time to get stopped, however my brake pedal went completely to the floor with no pressure what so ever behind it. I came back to service department and told once again that it was my antilock brakes.... There was no water, no ice nothing on the road. No grinding noise (which I am now aware should happen if antilocks come into play). They are telling me they have never heard anyone complaining about this before. Now I am faced with a minor accident that will either cost me 1000.00+ (to fix the other lady's car) or put through my insurance which will in turn jack my insurance up. Car is in service today having a complete look over, however I have no check lights showing and the car itself works fine 99% of the time......

That sounds scary! If the dealer can't find anything I would find the fuse for the ABS system and pull it. See if it still happens with the ABS system disabled. If that fixes it you'll know what the problem is (ABS) if it doesn't fix it I would look into replacing the master cylinder next.

I looked in th owners manual and there's two ABS fuses, number 7 & 8. Not sure if you can pull one or both to disable it. Maybe someone else on here has done this who can chime in..?

It was scary once I realized what was happening thankfully I was not travelling very fast, however it was on a downhill grade... So it still could be ABS even though there was no grinding noise? I have heard my ABS kicking in and it was a completely different sensation in the brakes... although if it is malfunctioning maybe wouldn't feel the same as when they work properly :-) Honestly will be getting the boys in the service department to do the work as I don't "work" on my own car, but any replies I plan on directing them to :-) Thanks!!!

Just an update... Service department is replacing master cylinder. They are not sure whether that is what is causing this issue, but hopefully this fixes it!

Typical stealership, throw parts at it at the customer expense and hope it works. For your wallets sake I hope it does. Let us know what happens...

Dealership is covering it, b/c the first time it happened my car was still under warranty.... Or at least they are working on it... Considering the accident is costing me 800.00 to fix the other ladies car... Already I notice a difference even in my reg brakes so am hopeful it has been fixed.

While this is an old thread…. you might want to post your positive outcome to your break pressure issue.

Also you didn't indicate whether or not you practice preventive maintenance on your car. Sometimes simply bleeding the brake lines will restore pressure. Every third year purging and replacing the brake fluid for the entire system can be beneficial too.