Hello! I'm between a rock and a hard place with my beloved 2000 Stratus ES. Is most of the braking done in the front or the rear?

Long story short: Monday after working overtime at work I stopped at my usual gas station to get gas since I was running low. Turns out the fuel neck (not exactly sure of it's real name) rusted or broke in half. Had it towed and looked at the following day. Mechanic called and told me the problem and added on that my brake light was on when it wasn't the day before.

At the end of this lovely fairytale I'm told my brake lines are rusting and it has a leak that apparently decided to happen while it was being towed. Altogether they said it would take around $1,300 to fix her up. After talking it through with my Dad (the only thing I know about cars is when I have a stuck caliper ) we decided to just replace the fuel neck and that he would replace the brake lines for me soon.

I picked up my Stratus this morning and it was no surprise when the brake went all the way to the floor. They said the leak was near the right rear tire. Fun drive home, by the way!

Okay, that wasn't quite a short story. But now my Dad is telling me it must be something else since I should still have front brakes and he claims (95% of the braking is done by the front). I don't exactly believe that so...

IS most of the braking done by the front?

Thanks!

 

OK, you drove home without brakes.... you rely on your dad for information which BTW is incorrect and ..... wow.

Does it matter if most of the braking is done in the front? Get your car towed somewhere that knows about them and have the leaky line replaced, and get the rest of them checked out, too.

Don't push the brake pedal to the floor, either. It may be fun, but it also puts the piston in the master cylinder into territory it doesn't get to and if it's rusty, corroded or anything messy can damage the seal. Think of it as the rubber part in a syringe that only goes in half way for a full stop. You're pushing it in all the way and only forcing any remaining fluid out. Stop, no pun intended. And brake lines don't burst while being towed, there's no pressure on them.

 

Your mechanic fixed the fuel neck, KNEW the brakes weren't going to work, and let you DRIVE it off his lot?? I would find a new mechanic while you're at it.

Pushing the brakes to the floor is pushing the remaining fluid out of the broken line, and possibly damaging the master cylinder. These cars are setup with an X setup. The master cylinder has two chambers. Front Right/Rear Left on one, and Front Left/Rear Right on the other. This keeps the braking even, even if there is a problem with one of the brake lines.

I would be leery about the mechanic and towing company telling you the brake line broke during towing. Likely (since your fuel neck rusted and broke) the brake line was on it's way out, and it's very possible that the rest of the lines are on their way out too.