Deer accident, now brakes feel spongy.. need input.

[halloo]

My wife hit a baby deer accidentially as it darted out onto the street. not much damage to the car aside from a bent license plate and the back passenger pastic fender trim falling out.

But the weird thing is now her brakes feel spongy. The car still stops but it seems like you have to really press on the brakes to get it to stop and the brakes feel like they go down deeper compared to before she got into an accident. I quicky checked for a brake leak but found none. No leaks around her car. Her brake fluid was a little low so I topped that off. After searching google, i now think it might be the vacuum hose to the brake booster.

so here's my question, would it be possible for a the vacuume hose to be compormised by running over something? in this case a baby deer?

thanks for any input!

 

[Canadian-ES-GT]

If your wife slammed on the brakes for a long period of time, she could have glazed the brake pads. I haven't ever glazed mine (I don't drive a CX-9 though), but they should just feel less powerful and responsive. You could ask the dealer to resurface the brakes or replace them (I don't know how long the warranty is for brakes). For the sponginess, I don't know what could have caused that.

 

[nuru]

Take it in and get Mazda to check out. The car might at least need to have the system bled. It could be just a coincidence too.

 

[IslandTractor]

I would imagine your brakes are exactly the same as they were before the deer incident. Not uncommon to have user perceptions thrown off by an event like that but it really is almost certainly just a psychological phenomenon. No way braking for an animal (2 seconds??) would glaze the brakes. Besides, the car has antilock braking so glazing is highly unlikely in almost any circumstance other than racing or towing a trailer down the Rockies.

The brakes may have a problem but not related to the deer incident.

 

[table5511]

The only thing close to where the deer might have hit is the caliper and brake hose & line. But you have to get through the wheel first so.... don't think the deer would have anything to do with it. I agree if she slammed on the brakes that might make a temporary difference in the feel of the brake pedal. Let's face it, CX-9 strong point is not brakes.