Your car’s braking system contains a vacuum brake booster that is responsible for creating pressure. When your vehicle suffers from a faulty brake booster check valve, you may notice several symptoms.
When you step on the brake pedal, you want to know that everything is working as it should. To help you out, we’ll take a look at the issues a faulty brake booster check valve can cause and discuss what it takes to fix it. Let’s take a look at the signs we should look for first.
The most common symptom of a power brake check valve is a stiff brake pedal. You may also notice issues such as brake problems or a check engine light on your dashboard.
Here is a more detailed list of the most common symptoms of a failed power steering check valve:
Symptoms of Bad Brake Booster Check Valve
1. Hard brake pedal
Stepping on the pedal shouldn’t be difficult if everything works as it should. If you press the brake pedal and have difficulty moving, there may be a problem with the brake booster check valve.
Normally, when the check valve wears out, it does not hold vacuum pressure in the brake booster. The brake pedal becomes firmer, requiring much more pressure to depress it. The reason this happens is because the master cylinder has more pressure inside due to a faulty check valve intended to provide regulation.
2. Brake problems
If the vacuum brake booster check valve has a small leak, it could result in insufficient vacuum pressure in the brake booster and will make the brakes much less efficient and require a lot more force to stop the vehicle.
If you think your car’s braking distance is much longer than usual, it’s definitely time to check your brake booster check valve.
If you feel like the brakes are getting worse after accelerating lately, it’s definitely a sign of a bad brake booster check valve.
3. Check Engine Light
The brake booster check valve uses vacuum pressure from the air intake to create a vacuum in the brake booster system. This air is usually measured by the MAF sensor and if the check valve is leaking it will lead to loss of measured air. This will make the car lean or rich, depending on the engine type.
Running the car too lean or too rich will result in a Check Engine Light on your dashboard and a stored trouble code. You can use an OBD2 scanner to find any trouble codes related to the air-fuel mixture.
Brake booster check valve location
Usually, the brake booster check valve is located on the brake booster. If you don’t see it there, it aligns with the vacuum hose.
The vacuum booster is a dome-shaped component that mounts near the rear wall of the engine compartment. You should be able to find it on the driver’s side of the vehicle, in line with the brake pedal. You can trace the vacuum hose that runs from the intake manifold on the engine to the vacuum booster.
The function of a Vacuum cleaner Brake booster check valve
The brake booster contains several parts, but an important aspect is the check valve. It takes the vacuum pressure from the air intake when the engine is idling and creates a vacuum pressure in the brake booster.
The check valve is a small but essential part to ensure a good connection between the vacuum hose and the brake booster. With a reliable check valve, the brakes can work as intended every time you step on the pedal to stop.
In general, the brake booster check valve should last as long as the car. In fact, it is not inspected during a routine brake check and does not require maintenance. That said, oversight means that when it breaks or fails, it goes unnoticed until symptoms appear.
Brake booster check valve replacement cost
The cost to replace a power brake check valve is between $70 and $85. In general, the labor cost will be around $30 and $45, while parts should be around $40.
If you have some mechanical knowledge, replacing the brake booster check valve is not a complicated process. You can easily do it yourself with the right tools and save a little money. You need to remove some clamps and the vacuum hose to get to the check valve.
However, there may be other services that need to be performed at the same time. For example, if air enters the pipes due to the defect, the brakes must be bled.
