Diabolis

Er - I am resurrecting an old thread here, but there are several things missing from this story. First, there is a rather HUGE WARNING that lights up on the instrument cluster in red (two of them actually... the red warning light in the tach and the much larger text on the center display between the speedo and tach) once the brake fluid level drops below a certain point, which would have happened well ahead of the fluid completely leaking out. Second, the brake system is designed in such a way that even if you were to completely lose the fluid through one wheel, the other wheel on the same axle and the one diagonaly opposite it on the other axle will still brake as they are on a separate circuit. Third, there;s the e-brake, which does not depend on the presence of brake fluid for its operation. Lastly, if there was a puddle of fluid that came out of the bleed nipple, there was still plenty of fluid in the system. All that happened is that the brake pedal went a little soft or perhaps travelled a little bit further, but the car could still easily stop.

So - what likely happened here is that (a) the OP failed to notice two warnings indicating a potential brake failure, and (b) had to exert a little more pressure on the brake pedal. Yes, the dealership tech may have screwed up... but if the experience was so traumatic, may I recommend some introspection first?

StanNH

This incident took place in November and it's now January. The OP has never provided an update, nor any response to questions that were asked.

The dealer apparently made a potentially catastrophic error during service, and the OP was lucky to get out of it with no damage to the car or personal injury. The car was fixed and the dealer apologized for the mistake. That's all we know.

It would very helpful if we knew how this all played out, but the OP has not told us how, or if, this was resolved.

Diabolis

Thanks Stan. The point I was trying to make is that the OP drove the car for two days after the service, which would mean that he was ignoring brake failure warnigns on his dash for at least a day and a half, and that furthermore the brakes could not have completely stopped working as he indicated. If he is having nightmares and sleepless nights as a result of the experience, I am afraid they are of his own making... so what he shoud ask for from the dealership is a course on how to safely operate a motor vehicle and react to changes in vehicle performance, emergencies or road conditions. If we all had nightmares as a result of driving on snow-covered roads (which would roughly have the same effect on the braking performance of the car as the worst-case scenario here - i.e. it would take up to twice as long to come to a full stop), there would be no cars on the road where 2/3rds of the world's population resides. Imagine the horror if his engine died or stalled and he had no power assist on either the brakes or the steering...

Biggreenogg

What he said.

eddieo45

Now I'm curious: what Mass. dealership was that?