Brake Master Cylinder Problems of Honda FIT

The incident occurred on a cold day in February of 2019 when my wife was driving the car on her way to work in the morning. She backed out of her parking spot like normal and then proceeded to an intersection where she found that her brake pedal had become hard and would not depress and she could not slow down. The vehicle continued moving into the main street at approximately 15 mph, where cross traffic was present. She narrowly missed hitting other vehicles and was grazed by another vehicle as she turned left onto the road (t intersection). Further inspection of the brake system by a Honda dealership did not yield any findings, but I have tested and witnessed the brake pedal becoming hard and not depressing on cold winter mornings here in the northeast. This same problem occurred in an older Honda accord hybrid that I had owned and the solution was to replace a faulty brake booster vacuum hose with integrated check valve. We were very lucky that nobody was fatally injured in this incident but this type of failure has happened twice to our family already. I suspect that other incidents involving a failing brake booster check valve resulted in the total destruction of the car or that diagnostic services by mechanics would replace the master cylinder or brake booster and finally all the hoses, thereby eliminating the problem. I'm reporting these two incidents because I hope that this will inform auto manufacturers to add the inspection of brake booster check valves to required maintenance schedules to help avoid future injuries or fatalities as a result of the failing part.

See all problems of the 2009 Honda FIT 🔎.

Brake concerns: I have a 2008 Honda Fit that intermittently has a hard brake pedal and often will not stop with 2 feet on the brake pedal. It feels to me like the master cylinder or brake booster linkage is somehow binding, this usually occurs after driving on rough roads and making a right turn, my local dealer will take it for a 5 minute drive and give it back to me stating "no problem found" even after several complaints. I feel this car is unsafe to drive. Honda and it's dealers don't seem concerned about brake problems but I'm afraid to drive this car.

See all problems of the 2008 Honda FIT 🔎.