(GT350) Initial Stop Hard Pedal in cold/wet weather

[Phoenix]

So its finally winter in texas. It hasnt gotten above 50 degrees since sunday evening when the cold front came through. we have also had a ton of rain as well. in the morning or as i leave work, if im on the freeway and need to stop the pedal gets hard and i have to apply more pressure than normal in order to get the brakes to work. Its like the brakes are stuck or the power assist may be going out? a few stops and they seem to work ok.

is this a common thing with the GT350? something i need to get looked at?

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[BlueThunder]

Sounds like, given it works fine after a few stops, that it might just be a little rust building up on the rotors that needs to be rubbed off before everything matches up.

 

[Phoenix]

so i got on the access road and hit the brake from 50-40 again this morning. first stop was hard pedal and no brakes. stops after that were normal.

spent 15 mins on the interstate and when i went to brake to take the exit, hard pedal no brakes. tapped the brakes a few times and all normal.

ever since ive gotten the car ive gotten a squeaky brake if i hit the pedal to stop in normal traffic, if i apply more pressure the squeak goes away.

very confused about this.

 

[nastang87xx]

Northern guy here so hear me out. Our brakes are very sensitive to temperature but that's where the performance comes from. They like some heat. If you're around 50 degrees or so ambient, you need to be careful on your first stop or two. Start stopping early and drag the brakes a bit to the intersection or whatever. If you're on the freeway and it's cold, give yourself some room. If you're getting off on an exit, you should start feeling your brakes work better and better as you come to your first intersection if you're dragging the brake a bit. Just be mindful about temperature and you'll be fine. No need to overthink it.

 

[Phoenix]

Northern guy here so hear me out. Our brakes are very sensitive to temperature but that's where the performance comes from. They like some heat. If you're around 50 degrees or so ambient, you need to be careful on your first stop or two. Start stopping early and drag the brakes a bit to the intersection or whatever. If you're on the freeway and it's cold, give yourself some room. If you're getting off on an exit, you should start feeling your brakes work better and better as you come to your first intersection if you're dragging the brake a bit. Just be mindful about temperature and you'll be fine. No need to overthink it.

thank you! this is the first time its been below 60 in texas since april so i had wondered if maybe "racecar brakes" were the issue. i am leaving myself more and more space it was just unexpected. i didnt know if the high humidity had anything to do with it either.

 

[Tank]

If it’s raining and in the 50s, it’s not winter

 

[honeybadger]

This doesn't sound normal to me. I've never had a "hard" pedal before and I've driven in everything from 25* to 105* in this car. I'd get it looked at.

 

[Phoenix]

This doesn't sound normal to me. I've never had a "hard" pedal before and I've driven in everything from 25* to 105* in this car. I'd get it looked at.

i sent an email to autofanatic on youtube and he said to bleed the brakes to 35psi. ill have to do that maybe sunday if i have time.

 

[honeybadger]

Also - quick edit. To the folks laughing at the talk of winter when it's 50* outside, I get it now. After like 100 days above 85* (most of which were at least 95*), this 50* feels legitimately frigid. My internal regulator is completely upside down right now.

 

[Demonic]

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "hard pedal"? Do you mean the pedal feels hard to push (high resistance), or that you have normal resistance but have to push the pedal harder to get the same braking effect?

 

[Phoenix]

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "hard pedal"? Do you mean the pedal feels hard to push (high resistance), or that you have normal resistance but have to push the pedal harder to get the same braking effect?

hard to push/high resistance.

 

[Austinj427]

Do you have any track days on your car? Any super aggressive braking?

I doubt it will fix the issue but a brake fluid flush might not be a bad idea.

 

[Phoenix]

Do you have any track days on your car? Any super aggressive braking?

I doubt it will fix the issue but a brake fluid flush might not be a bad idea.

i purchased the car used from a ford dealer at the end of augsut. ive not tracked it or anything since. ive done a hard braking test once just to see how the brakes performed but didnt even get into ABS.

 

[swamp_gas]

Kind of sounds like new pads(squeak) + brake fluid issue. Perhaps the dealer or previous owner slapped a new set of pads and flushed/changed the break fluid, then maybe didn't flush the system correctly/air bubble/hydraulic issue. The service record would probably tell you, or they might confirm if you ask. As mentioned previously by others, that's where I'd start.

 

[torque124]

I just changed my fluid to Motul RBF600 and pedal became hard as a rock, stops much better.... Start with fluid flush (20 PSI is plenty) and take it from there.

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