Cannot push the brake pedal?

ROBINHUFF

MEMBER
2007 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE
4 CYL
2WD
MANUAL
112,545 MILES

I rolled up to a stop on an incline and held the clutch in and the brake. All of a sudden, I heard a pop, and my car started rolling backwards. I had to take the car out of gear and put both feet on the brake to stop it. I drove home Using only my gear shift to slow me down. I got into the garage, turned the car off and back on again, and the brake pedal was still impossible to push down. What did I break?

Saturday, July 19th, 2025 AT 7:27 PM

1 Reply

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
15,233 POSTS

Hard to say without inspecting it. A pop would normally mean a brake line failing, but that would drop the pedal to the floor and the brake pedal would still work but the pedal would be low, not that it cannot be pushed. What happens if you take the pedal in your hand and pull it up? Where is the pedal now? The same height it usually is or on the floor? You say that you put both feet on the pedal and you could stop but it's VERY hard or you cannot stop at all? My first suspicion would be a failed brake booster. That would make it extremely hard to brake. The other thing would be if the vacuum from the engine failed for some reason. Does the engine run like it was before this happened?
It's also possible the ball socket on the master cylinder came loose but that takes special tool to deal with that. Does the parking brake work?
Could you maybe take a video of the pedal and then up under the dash where the pedal mounts? Also, one under the hood?

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