Mazda 3 brake problem
 

I have a 2004 Mazda 3 2.0 manual. I am having issues with the braking system. My pedal is very spongy and goes to the stop but if I double pump it it is a good pedal. I am a mechanic myself but I can't worked out whats going on. I have replaced theaster cylinder, stripped the calipers and inspected them. Bleed the brakes a few times. Even when I block off all the lines the pedal is still not good. It also makes a really quiet whistling noise when you release the brakes. If you have had a similar problem or have any ideas please help.

spongy brakes = air in the lines, though if it's gotten worse over time it could be the rubber hoses going to each wheel getting soft.
Bleeding the brakes may not be enough, as if air got in at any time it could need to be flushed through the system. Also remember that the clutch uses the same fluid resivoir, so if that was letting air in it could be a problem too - though I doubt that's the case.
The whistling could be the brake booster, can you hear where it's coming from? You should be able to do that with the engine off to see if it's the mechanical stuff or part of the booster assembly.

Hi there!!! I have the same problem!!! I have a Mazda 3 2006 automatic and the description of my problem it's the same ... Please anybody knows something about it? Thank you!!!

$1400 dollars later it was the abs pump and the booster. Good luck

Thank you for your answer
 

Whoau!!! That hurts my pocket ... Any reasons as why the abs pump went bad ... Is that the unit with the conectors and 6 pipes near the battery? ... Thank you again!!!

Nikka1, I'm having the same exact problem with my 2006 mazda 3 automatic. The pedal initially feels fine, but as you slowly apply the brakes, it becomes spongy and ineffective, until it regains authority after about 1" of travel. So you replaced both the abs pump and brake booster and it fixed it? If so, can you describe what part I need to look for, I'm not too familiar with the ABS pump? Thanks!

Was anything done to the brakes recently? I was researching a problem where my pedal would go soft at an immediate brake creating a ABS event. What I read was that if work was done on your brakes the ABS may need to be reset. From my research on the net I read that if you take the car out and simulate about 5-6 ABS events, sudden hard breaking it should set the brakes back in and it should get hard again. Just a thought.

ABS Reset
 

Wildcard26, that was the exact fix for my problem. I had not had any brake work done recently, and the pedal sponginess really came out of nowhere; however, after replacing the master cylinder and the brake booster with no success, I went out and initiated quick stops at around 35mph to get the ABS to kick in, and after about the 4th initiation, the pedal felt like normal again, and has been working great since.

I know this is an old thread but I'm really grateful for this advice from Wildcard, I too was having spongy brakes after an ABS event, I did exactly what you suggested and it fixed the problem! This single advice saved me a lot of time and money, thanks again!!

Great to hear. Cheers!

Wow! My kids 08 did the same thing..a whistling sound and spongy brakes after an ABS situation occurred. I will have him do this for sure if I get his car fixed from another issue!

Fixed it differently
 

flushing fluid worked, but my observation and theory...
 

I know this is an old thread, but perhaps my experience will reduce someone's confusion/stress/anxiety.

2004 Mazda3 S Manual transmission, but I had same symptom after replacing rear pads and pin sleeves.
Based on this thread, I tried the slamming on brakes 4 to 8 times to activate the ABS (which did not work) because I couldn't conceive that changing pads would effect the fluid!

However, flushing brake fluid did the trick.
My best guess is that in the horrible process of trying to twist and compress the piston, (where it didn't seem to be working right and I smacked it, tried to compress with a c-clamp slightly, and backed it out by turning counterclockwise) some air got into the system. Just insanity.

Many thanks to Wildcard26 and everybody contributed to this post
 

I was looking around for some ideas to fix up my 2007 Mazda 3 GT. Few mechanics told me different things but either way would cost me a fortune. then i wandered into this post....Brought car out for a few hard stop and i could feel The ABS were engaged. and then i feel the difference. Man never though it could be this easy to fix the weird spongy brake problem. I’ve been having this soft brake issue for a quite sometime but been lazy fixing it as the brake still works. Feels like life is beautiful again! Thanks a million!

Same problem, stomping on brake doesn't help
 

I just bought my dtr a 2010 that has the same spongy brake problem. I tried trying to activate the ABS many times as mentioned but no change. Not only did it not fix it, but the ABS didn't work since at least 1 tire locked up and was skidding. So spongy brakes, no ABS, and no ABS warning light.
I see many complaints about this, and someone says there's even a TSB for it so obviously it's a manufacturing problem. but Mazda won't do sh!t without the customer paying about $2k. What the hell?