What's happening to my baby? I'm getting worried...

[lofapoo]

Alright, something wierd happened tonight, for the second time, although I wasn't there to witness it this time. Coming down a hill (although the first time it happened it was on a flat road) the RPMs rised suddenly, around 2k, and the brakes lost power. They did not COMPLETELY lose power, but the car was unable to completely stop, it slowed down to 5-10 MPH. So as someone is about to side-swipe us I pop the flashers to avoid looking like an ******* on the road. Now, this first happened after the e-brake light stopped turning off, even when the brake was deployed. I just checked under the console, and fiddling with the switch there was nothing I could do to make the light go off. Though the car was not turned on, I just turned the key in the ignition to ON so the lights would turn on to see if it would go away. I'm not sure if the lack of the light turning off has anything to do with the problem, but it only happened after the light stopped turning off. Now I love my baby, although she is not perfect mechanically. The VSS needs replacement, sounds like the valves are ticking or the lifters are tapping so I'm going to try to add some oil conditioner and throw in some 93 octane to make her a bit happier, her idle sometimes bounces around from 500 to around 900 every so often causing the headlights to dim and brighten as the idle jumps, the exhaust stinks perhaps the cat needs replacement, and worst of all it has an automatic transmission. Now I'm not sure if any of these of my baby's flaws could contribute to what happened tonight and once before, but it's not very comforting knowing that she likes to **** her pants like that sometimes.

I'm going to try reading the ECU codes to see if it senses a problem with the car, but until then I'd like to hear what my fellow NICOnauts have to say about some of the crap going on with my car.

Please help

[Silvia007]

Sounds to me you have a hole/leak either in your brake booster vacuum line or the booster itself. I'd check both, your engine spiked and you lost braking power because your engine is getting extra air from that leak and your brakeing lost vacuum which in turn make your brake lose power.

[lofapoo]

Sounds... great :P Any advice on checking for leaks?

Also, anyone know how the f to turn the e-brake light off? I pulled the switch off of the brake and nothin' Must be a problem starting at the source of the wire for the switch... where ever that may be.

[rexhunta]

Sounds... great :P Any advice on checking for leaks?

Also, anyone know how the f to turn the e-brake light off? I pulled the switch off of the brake and nothin' Must be a problem starting at the source of the wire for the switch... where ever that may be.

for the hoses, fill up your sink with some water, remove the hoses from the car, cover 1 end of the hose, put it in the water and blow.. you'll see bubbles come out of it..

even easier way... turn your car on with everything still connected and spray water slightly mixed with dishwashing liquid, see any bubbles, you'll know where it is..

[lonelywanderer]

i have the same problem with my light staying on i just keep driving it like that.... i was told it might be the fluid level just being low but you may have a leak....