[JCosper]

Not long after I purchased the car, I went to 18" wheels.. and shortly after the cars brake light came on. It was annoying to see, but the brakes functioned fine and I didnt act on it. Now.. the brake pedal is "spongy" and I am pushing it further and further towards the floor to get the same effect.

Car has under 20k miles on it... I wonder if I voided the warranty on the brakes with the wheels?? and.. I wonder what the problem could be?? Any thoughts?

 

[1low6]

i have had 18" wheels on my car for over 20k miles and have never once had a problem. do you tend to ride the brakes at all or drive the car hard enough to heat up the brakes? cuz you can burn your brake fluid from getting your brakes to hot and that well cause a spungy peddle. i would check your fluid and see if it looks or smells burnt. as for warrenty if you still got your stock wheels throw them on and take it in.

 

[arch4life]

you probably ran yourself out of fluid. check your brake fluid, refill, and bleed your brake system. dont drive on it long, a dry master cylinder isnt a good thing to be driving on. at all.

 

[DennisW]

Not long after I purchased the car, I went to 18" wheels.. and shortly after the cars brake light came on. It was annoying to see, but the brakes functioned fine and I didnt act on it. Now.. the brake pedal is "spongy" and I am pushing it further and further towards the floor to get the same effect.

Car has under 20k miles on it... I wonder if I voided the warranty on the brakes with the wheels?? and.. I wonder what the problem could be?? Any thoughts? [/b]

Unless you mucked around with your brakes while the wheels were off, putting 18" rims on the car has nothing to do with whatever your current problem is.
spongy pedal is evidence of air somewhere in the system, possible causes of that could be opening a bleeder valve or disconnecting a brake hose and reconnecting it without bleeding the system to name a couple.
extremely hard use of your brakes such as track days could boil the fluid, that will give you a spongy pedal

I'm guessing that you bought the car used? Perhaps there were some already developing issues with the brakes before you even put the wheels on that just happened to show up after the new wheels.

If you're not comfortable and capable of doing your own brake system work I would suggest taking it to a reputable shop, pronto. As a matter of fact that's exactly what you should have done as soon as you saw the brake system warning light come on instead of just "putting up with" the "annoyance" and continuing to drive as if nothing was wrong. Those lights are usually for a reason.

On second thought, cancel my previous suggestion that you tackle this yourself. Your reaction to the warning your car was giving you tells me you're not exactly inclined to take good care of it's mechanical condition. Seek professional (mechanical) help ASAP, before your brakes fail completely and you cause an accident with some innocent bastard who just happened to be unlucky enough to be in your path. At least you don't live close enough that I have to worry about it being me.

And you're an Insurance Agent...? Good Grief.!! :nono:

 

[JCosper]

Unless you mucked around with your brakes while the wheels were off, putting 18" rims on the car has nothing to do with whatever your current problem is.
spongy pedal is evidence of air somewhere in the system, possible causes of that could be opening a bleeder valve or disconnecting a brake hose and reconnecting it without bleeding the system to name a couple.
extremely hard use of your brakes such as track days could boil the fluid, that will give you a spongy pedal

I'm guessing that you bought the car used? Perhaps there were some already developing issues with the brakes before you even put the wheels on that just happened to show up after the new wheels.

If you're not comfortable and capable of doing your own brake system work I would suggest taking it to a reputable shop, pronto. As a matter of fact that's exactly what you should have done as soon as you saw the brake system warning light come on instead of just "putting up with" the "annoyance" and continuing to drive as if nothing was wrong. Those lights are usually for a reason.

On second thought, cancel my previous suggestion that you tackle this yourself. Your reaction to the warning your car was giving you tells me you're not exactly inclined to take good care of it's mechanical condition. Seek professional (mechanical) help ASAP, before your brakes fail completely and you cause an accident with some innocent bastard who just happened to be unlucky enough to be in your path. At least you don't live close enough that I have to worry about it being me.

And you're an Insurance Agent...? Good Grief.!! :nono:
[/b]

Didnt ask for the safety lecture but thanks anyway.. :nana:

you probably ran yourself out of fluid. check your brake fluid, refill, and bleed your brake system. dont drive on it long, a dry master cylinder isnt a good thing to be driving on. at all.
[/b]

Anyway.. I assumed that the light was thrown bc of the wheels being larger or heavier. Im not good eneough mechanicaly to bleed the system, what are the odds that adding fluid alone will do the trick? If not.. I'll have to take her to a shop and have her worked on.

I bought the car new and have around 20k on it... should be under warranty; but I have no idea what they will say about the wheels. I sold the stock set.

 

[Joebob]

Didnt ask for the safety lecture but thanks anyway.. :nana:
Anyway.. I assumed that the light was thrown bc of the wheels being larger or heavier. Im not good eneough mechanicaly to bleed the system, what are the odds that adding fluid alone will do the trick? If not.. I'll have to take her to a shop and have her worked on.

I bought the car new and have around 20k on it... should be under warranty; but I have no idea what they will say about the wheels. I sold the stock set.
[/b]

You should be safe about the wheels. Mazda even sells a set of 18s for the car aftermarket so they shouldn't complain. Just adding fluid may fix the problem temporarily, but there is no excuse for the car running low on fluid already. I am assuming that you use your brakes like normal and don't ride them constantly.

 

[JCosper]

Called the dealer this morning... they are saying there is likely a leak in the system and that I should add fluid bc its likely low. ( still havent checked it as its pouring the damn rain here )

Anyway it goes there 8AM tomorrow to get looked at.

 

[Waldo]

I agree that it has nothing to do with your wheels. But for next time, remember, any RED light on the dash means DO NOT DRIVE your car until you figure out what the problem is. Yellow lights are more "advisory" to tell you something is up that you should think about. But the whole point of the RED light is to tell you that even though you might not notice it, something is wrong. If the dealer found out you ignored the warning for a period of time, they could deny warranty coverage, but they should not be able to deny coverage because of the wheels.

Almost certainly the fluid level has dropped which turned on the light and has now alowed air into the system. I do think it is strange that it would drop that much under regular use, so the dealer is likely correct that there is a leak somewhere.