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Amateur opinion? My money is on the brake booster being bad.
Then again, what do I know? Could be a bad brake booster gasket? Could be your master cylinder or vacuum check valve? Check out these few images I grabbed from a free service manual: (They're from pages 58-61 of the service manual which can be found here. The subsequent pages talk about the master cylinder. I'd start following along in the manual and see what you can figure out)
All of those tests seemed easy enough except for the check vacuum valve. I know there's enough vacuum going to the booster but how could I make sure there's none going to the engine. I'd removed it earlier and it seemed fine so I don't think it is the problem. Thanks for your feedback any other advice?
Well, for what it's worth, I have a hard time believing it's the booster that failed, rather it could be that check valve that has failed instead. You may just have vacuum running through the booster and not accomplishing anything due to a bad check valve. I would assume it works like a PCV valve, so if you gently remove it, it should be pretty evident if it works or not.
It's a fairly cheap part and looks to be easily replaced, so perhaps it's worth a shot to do that before diving into the booster itself..
Threw the towel in this morning and had it towed to Lextechs of Atlanta in Johns Creek. They told me in the morning it'd be $50 to diagnose the issue and then whatever the fix costs. Got a call from them in the afternoon and they said they still had no idea what the issue would be and it'd cost me $330 after taxes for them to figure out the issue plus parts and labor for the fix
Threw the towel in this morning and had it towed to Lextechs of Atlanta in Johns Creek. They told me in the morning it'd be $50 to diagnose the issue and then whatever the fix costs. Got a call from them in the afternoon and they said they still had no idea what the issue would be and it'd cost me $330 after taxes for them to figure out the issue plus parts and labor for the fix
Wow! That $50 diag fee seemed very reasonable... so much for that At this point, it seems you've done everything else that you can do to try and diagnose it yourself, so it looks like you're just going to have to cough up the $$$
Here's an update for those of you that were following my misadventure as well as anyone that might end up with the same issue in the future.
BRAKE light remaining on was a stuck floater in the brake fluid.
It turned out to be a an obstructed vacuum line rather than a leak. The paperwork said on the intake.
Weird thing is the vacuum gauge I got off Amazon has the same exact reading after having them clear the obstruction but the vacuum is so much stronger I can hear it with the hose off.
Paid for them to take care of the brake fluid while I was there and it made a huge difference from the sludge I was riding around with.
Out the door about $450 poorer but I believe I still saved more than having someone do all the work that got me in trouble in the first place so I'll live
They did a pretty detailed inspection with pictures so I've got a few things to tackle next like engine/transmission mounts.
06-28-18, 01:06 AM
At this point, it seems you've done everything else that you can do to try and diagnose it yourself, so it looks like you're just going to have to cough up the $$$ 
