Brake problems and more! Please help

[Dirtjump9]

Yesterday night I was in my '91 Corolla with my friend looking for his dogs who ran away. After about 40 minutes of slow driving, the brake pedal went super soft. I would have to press the pedal almost all the way down to get the brakes to grab. This has also happened a few weeks ago when I was just driving around. Was it just the brakes overheating or is there another problem?

Also, today another problem started. I went to the store with a friend and the car sounded fine when I parked. When we came back about 15 minutes later, I started the car and it sounded like someone had jacked my stock muffler and installed a fart can. It turns out that a crack had developed where the flex fitting on the exhaust meets the piping which goes to the cat. The car is now basically undrivable because of the sound. Can anyone give me an estimate on how much it is going to be to get this fixed. I guess they are going to wind up replacing the flex fitting and the pipe going to the cat.

One more thing... The other day I came out to my car to find the headliner fabric coming off it's backing. Would some heavy duty spray adheasive hold this?

I think eventually I am going to sell this PIA and get myself a decent used sports car. I can't stand everything breaking and underperforming all the time. I am aware of what the car was intended for but it seems like it is one thing after another with this thing and I don't even drive it hard.

[thespud]

Sounds like you may have air in the brakes... Take a look at that too, and give them a bleed.

As far as the crack goes, they will have to replace the flex & pipe from the manifold to the cat. Some may try to fix it by welding but this is really just a band-aid fix and he whole thing will need to be replaced. Just to give you an idea - I paid AUD$450 for the bit for mine, but that is a 2-1 setup for the 20v. I would assume that a single pipe would be a little cheaper. Remember though, you will need to get or make new gaskets too. Because they are floating gaskets, these will set you back around AUD$40 each for genuine, or ditch the floating gaskets and a sheet of Exaust Gasket paper will cost around AUD$25.

As for the headliner - Get an upohlster(sp) to do it, as it needs to be tight and to get to the bit that is falling off you will need to un-stick the entire thing. Will be much easier.

Be aware too - that your car is now 15 years old. Even a sports car that is that old will have the same problems....