The brake pedal on my Wife's S70 has gotten spongy and goes further down than in the past. If she pumps the pedal once it come back to normal level. This just started within the last few days. I've checked the fluid level and its between the marks. I can't find any signs of leaking and there are no warning lights turned on.
Could the problem be related to worn pads of worn rotors? Any comments or suggestion are appreicated.

Thanks Jim

As a matter of information! The cause of the brake problem was a small amount of air in the right rear caliper. How the air got there is a not clear. Could be because the car was driven a short distance with the hand brake on which over heated the rear calipers. Any way; pressure bleeding of the system restored the brakes to their original quality.

Thanks for the tips and comments that were posted.

Jim

I'd pull the wheels off an look at the pads. My 98 S70 acted the same way until I replaced the rear pads and rotors.
--
Geo

Mine did the same thing twice. Mechanic said the S70 rear calipers can take in air yet still not leak fluid. (not sure of the physics of that?) Another mechanic told me the same thing. He bleed them the first time. About a month later it happened again and the problem cleared up when I bleed them. No fluid leakage was visible. No recurrance four months later.

If both pads are not free to float in the caliper, then this brake pedal feel will happen.

Strip , clean, file for clearance(as required), lube, reassemble. It is also good to routinely (once very couple of weeks) force the pads/caliper to center on the rotor - easy to do.

Normal brake to about 2-3km/h, the press very hard on the brake and HOLD. Panic stop-type hard. Hold till the car stops rocking on the tires/suspension. Snap your foot off the brake, the reapply brakes in one smooth squeeze to panic brake pressure. Hold for 3 count. Snap foot off brake.

That rocking of the car helps to move the front caliper on its mount, while the steady high pressure forces both pads to the rotor. Snapping your foot off the brake insures the most fluid will be pulled past the brake piston assembly (taking up any slack in the system).

The cause of the imbalance is simple - normal gentle smooth braking can let the caliper hang up (front) or let one pad move more than the other (rear).

Try it. You will notice a change in the pedal feel, and an increase in initial "bite" as the brakes are applied. The trick is to be rolling just fast enough to induce that front/back/front/back oscillation in the chassis when VERY firmly press/hold the brakes. If the tires slide - you were going too fast. The car should just STOP and shake front/back, like a glass of water jerked to a stop.


MAT