Brake Master Cylinder problems of the 2001 Mazda Tribute

I own a 2001 Mazda Tribute, which I purchased used in 2007. The vehicle went through six master cylinders within the first few months we owned it. It has been an ok car, but frequently and I mean frequently visits the mechanic to get fixed, whereas my other (foreign-made) vehicle rarely has problems - I will never buy american again! Wednesday evening I picked up my 2001 Tribute up at the mechanic from getting four new engine coils which had just been replaced two years previously, which my mechanic says should not have gone bad. Thursday morning I had my two children in the car when I reversed out of my parking spot at a local church when the brake pedal went straight to the floor! the car kept going back and I had to use the emergency break to stop!!!! luckily I did not hit anything and no one was hurt. I had the truck towed back to the mechanic, which I had just picked it up from (this was the car's 4th visit in two weeks for broken parts). The mechanic said that the front left brake line had ruptured and the right one was cracked, so both were replaced. I am so thankful the brakes hadn't failed minutes later when my family would have been on the interstate!!! no recall has been made by Mazda for this problem, but I have seen many similar stories from this vehicle. It is a disgrace and threat to not only the driver and passengers of these vehicles, but to everyone on the road!!! I'm scared to drive my car, not knowing if it will get me home safely or even go. I would never have purchased the car if I could go back and only wish I could purchase something different now.

During drive home from work indicator for brake problem came on. Found brake fluid level low again. Brake fluid seems to be lost through reservoir breather/ fill cap. Alot of brake fluid has accumulated on and around the master cylinder and is dripping on the exhaust(smells bad too). Found that a recall has been issued for this but Mazda says my VIN is not in the recall range. What should I do?.

I have just replaced the master cylinder and brake booster on this vehicle for the third time. This time, brake fluid actually leaked into a puddle under the car. There was a recall on the cardone aftermarket master cylinder, but the original failed, then two others, not cardone. My vehicle does not have abs brakes and is not covered under the current recall, but nonetheless, there must be a structural defect with the vehicle that causes the leak.

2001 Tribute rack and pinion and shaft broke into pieces making it difficult for consumer to steer. The master cylinder had to be replaced due to an irreparable leak.

At 40000 mileage my rotors were replaced when the pads had to be replaced. The dealer said this was caused by hard pads. @ 65,000 my brake booster was replaced which I camplained for 1 year abouta high pitched noise. Three weeks ago the dealer had to replace that booster with another, becasue that booster failed. Now this past week the dealership had to replace the master cylinder because it failed. My rotors at 79,000 are worn out again but Mazda will not replace them this time. I feell that because the components were failing for a long time and there are other complains about this problem, Mazda should have totally rebuilt the braking system instead of bandaiding it. Also the district service manager will not approve replacing the rotors because of the mileage, yet I have had these continuing problems.

I was constantly having problems stopping on ice/snow. It seemed that no matter how I braked my abs system would activate and the vehicle would roll through stop lights and stop signs. At first I thought it was the brand of tires that came with the Tribute, so purchase a new set of goodyear snow and mud tires after only 12,000 at a cost of $300. But the problem persisted the next winter. That's when I decided to finally take it to my mechanic and was told that the master cylinder cap was cracked and that my rear brakes were not being used hardly at all. Nearly all of the braking force on my vehicle was being done by the front brakes. This would explain why I was having such difficulties stopping on ice and snow. To no surprise, my front brakes had to be replaced at only 26,000 miles and it cost me $130. I did get the master cylinder cap replaced under warranty, but you might want to watch this in the future. I hope you can see how this could cause a serious accident, especially if this is a problem with the manufacturing of the vehicle.

New master cylinder was installed 7/24/2001, and still having brake failure/abs light on.