My brake pedal is stiff and car wont start jeep

Private First Class

Drives: 08 titanium silver e90 335i

Join Date: Mar 2016

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*Urgent* car won't start. Brake pedal very very stiff!!!

I needs some assistance guys. My car won't start and the brake pedal is extremely stiff, when I press the star button nothing happens . No sounds or anything it just dosent start. It appears it won't let me push down tue brake pedal to activate the switch or wat not to start the car.

I found a vacum line that broke off that runs of the brake booster main line. so I replaced it.

What can I do to start my car. It's my only means of transportation

Please lmk asap!

Ty!

Last edited by Jmore92; 06-10-2018 at 02:08 PM..

Private First Class

Drives: 08 titanium silver e90 335i

Join Date: Mar 2016

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Ok guys after mutiple attempts to start it. It finally started. I let it sit for about 10-15 mins after replacing the vacum. I pumped the brakes alot.

Out of no where I went to start it and it started.

What does this mean? Has anyone had similar issues?

Last edited by Jmore92; 06-10-2018 at 03:07 PM..

Lieutenant

Drives: 2007 Bmw 335i 6 speed manual

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I would be looking at the starter

Private First Class

Drives: 08 titanium silver e90 335i

Join Date: Mar 2016

Location: Ca

The starter starts up instantly. There's no signs of it failing as far as turning over. Is that how these starters typically act? Out of nowhere they just stop? Car started up perfrctly mutiple times last night and today morning. But I will swap It out to rule it out. Lmk

Also could it be a bad ground?

Last edited by Jmore92; 06-11-2018 at 08:39 AM..

Driving cars and riding bikes really fast

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Location: Indianapolis

Swapping the starter will be a huge waste of time. That's not your issue. Are you auto box or manual?
I'm guessing you have a sensor or switch going bad.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmore92

Ok guys after mutiple attempts to start it. It finally started. I let it sit for about 10-15 mins after replacing the vacum. I pumped the brakes alot.

Out of no where I went to start it and it started.

What does this mean? Has anyone had similar issues?

You probably have a vacuum leak on your master cylinder line.

Private First Class

Drives: 08 titanium silver e90 335i

Join Date: Mar 2016

Location: Ca

Car is auto. Yes the vacum line to the brake system was the first thing I addressed. So far the car has been cranking over fine. But I don't know if a simple vacum line is causing my issue. I will look at grounds as I read it's also a possibility

As far as the brakes go, I will say there still a bit of the stiff side . Sometimes they are very soft when starting the car. But still the car has been able to crank over with no problem.

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Mine has been like this for years, very common issue with the booster vacuum line getting a leak, fixed twice, now just used it it. It bleeds down overnight, brake is very hard to press in the morning as there is no vacuum left and if you don't press really hard, you don't hit the interlock switch and then the car will not turn over, just press the brakes harder and hit the button.

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Private First Class

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When it didn't want to start, it got to the point where I used all my force with my back pushing against the seat and still it wouldn't start. I think there's a switch or electrical issue.

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You need to check the gasket for the brake booster line. It is known to leak.

Private First Class

Drives: 08 titanium silver e90 335i

Join Date: Mar 2016

Location: Ca

First Lieutenant

Drives: e92 335i

Join Date: Jan 2013

Location: queens, nyc

Yes, you have a vacuum issue which is causing the brake pedal to get stiff. Make sure there are no leaks.

Major General

Drives: 08 335i,22 X3M, 2012 C63 Black

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Location: Boston

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmore92

When it didn't want to start, it got to the point where I used all my force with my back pushing against the seat and still it wouldn't start. I think there's a switch or electrical issue.

There is a switch and if you don�t move the pedal far enough to hit the switch it can�t start. I would fix the vacuum line issue first and see if you ever have any starting issues after that as i suspect it is not being able to move the pedal far enough to hit the interlock switch.

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Your brake switch needs to be activated in order to start the car. This is done by depressing the brake pedal (obviously). Once you depress the brake pedal far enough, you can engage the brake switch and engage your starter and start the car. Your issue, however, sounds like you're unable to activate that brake switch because your brake pedal does not go down far enough. The starter has nothing to do with this at this point of the process. Your issue sounds like a vacuum issue. You may have corrected one part of the vacuum issue right now but there may be additional vacuum problems along that system... why not just replace the lines. They're not expensive at all.