HOlY Crap I almost Died This Morning!!

[static]

So I'm Driving on the Highway this morning... going about 70.... then traffic starts up pretty rapidly... There is a BMW M5 ahead... not even sure how far... I have to slow down to crawl speed pretty quick... So I hit the brakes.. not super hard.. maybe half power... the brake pedal goes have way and then POP!!!!!

My foot hits the floor and I'm heading straight forr the back seat of the M5!! I swerve crazy style onto the shoulder with my foot burried on the floor on the brake pedal and I'm dropping gears...

I eventually slowed to a crawl and stopped.... I checked my brake fluid and its at the min line.. it was at the max before... I have almost zero pressure on my brakes.. I get an initial pump when I press.. then only a bit of pressure when I have my foot on the floor..... my brakes are 90% gone... WTF Happened!!!

I'm so damn glad to be allive right now....... or at least to be here and not in some accident.....

[Carbonadium]

Good thing you kept your wits and stayed relatively calm. Glad you are OK.

[Baldhead_J]

Christ, man...........Glad you are okay. Did you take pics to assess the severity of the situation? Sorry, I couldn't resist a little levity. Thank God you are ok, though. Pinched brake line? Does the e-brake work? Master Cylinder go out?

[jotan82]

damn... good thing you're ok...

so your brakes just gave out?

[BumBum]

I'm scared now.....could you elaborate on what happened to the brake fluid so we can all check and make sure we don't lose pressure - is there a leak :confused:

[static]

Originally posted by jotan82
damn... good thing you're ok...

so your brakes just gave out?

Yes completely with an Audible POP..... almost no pressure now... and its all around.. not like there is more pressure on certain wheels.. or front or back.. just totally basically out..... and brake fluid almost all drained.

[static]

Originally posted by BumBum
I'm scared now.....could you elaborate on what happened to the brake fluid so we can all check and make sure we don't lose pressure - is there a leak :confused:

Almost definite there was no leak before hand.. my fluid has been at the max line forever.... ever since I changed to stainless steel lines and motul brake fluid.... then after my incident.. it is at min.. but there is no fluid by my wheels!! so its not the stainless lines or connetions!!!

[Chaos007]

Glad to hear that all went well and that your OK. Just be happy that it happened this morning going at a steady pace instead of if I was in town when we're doing 120+.
Way to stay calm and stay safe buddy!

[Johan]

It sounds to me that you have some air in your brake system.

There might be a small hole in the system and after hitting the brake the vacuum in the system will pull some air into it.
I've heard that story before.

Glad you are safe and had a good reaction on the situation......

[Jesse IL]

Damn, if there is no fluid leaking, I wonder if the brake master cylinder failed and it is leaking internally

[static]

Originally posted by Johan
It sounds to me that you have some air in your brake system.

There might be a small hole in the system and after hitting the brake the vacuum in the system will pull some air into it.
I've heard that story before.

Glad you are safe and had a good reaction on the situation......

yeah.. but how would that explain the massive fluid drop?

and thanks..

[Johan]

Okay, a way to check the system.

As I understand you have almost no pressure on the break paddle.

So, turn of the engine and hit the paddle. Do you have pressure now ? I guess you will have.
Now keep your food on the paddle and sart the engine. What happenes ???????????????

[static]

Originally posted by Johan
Okay, a way to check the system.

As I understand you have almost no pressure on the break paddle.

So, turn of the engine and hit the paddle. Do you have pressure now ? I guess you will have.
Now keep your food on the paddle and sart the engine. What happenes ???????????????

Well, I'll have to try that.. I'm at work right now... what am I looking for and what will it mean?

[Johan]

I guess that after you start the engine the pressure on the breaks will be gone in about 5 - 10 seconds. THAT will mean that you have some air in the system ( my daughter had that problem two weeks ago with her Celica AT 162 ).

Where all the fluid went you can only guess, but probable lost a drop every time you hit the breaks. You won't find something back from that little spill................

[autxr]

There is no correlation between air in the system and if the car is running or not (Johan is talking about the vacuum booster, but that isn't the problem here).

The fluid went somewhere, hopefully not onto a painted surface....

My guess is there was a failure in one of the stainless lines somewhere. The pop you heard was that failure.

Any car made since a long time ago (at least 1973) is required to have separate fluid reservoirs for the brakes. Most cars are split front-rear, others are split on the diagonals.

The fluid reservoir has a divider in it, but it doesn't go to the top. The front brakes are drawing fluid off of one side, and the rear brakes off the other. You sprung a leak so all the excess fluid above the divider is gone, all that is left is the fluid on one side (so the level looks low).

Had you pumped the brakes a lot odds are you would have generated enough pedal pressure to stop the car particularly if you used the hand brake atht same time (that is why they also call the parking brake an "emergency" brake).

Look hard enough and you will find a leak. Regardless, until then, your car isn't safe to drive (duh).

Scott

[Fiero]

I had almost the exact same thing happen to me once in my Camry. I had just got tires put on, and the idiots split the rear brake lines. It wasn't immediately a problem. But the brake fluid drained out really quickly and when I went to stop I had almost nothing. Had to use the parking brake.

Cost about $300 to fix at a Toyota dealership.

[WillyK]

Glad to hear your ok Static. Way to stay calm in the situation. I hope you get it worked out soon.

[LoCore]

Holy crap.

Good driving and quick thinking Static. Glad to hear that excitement was all that happened.

Keep us posted on what you find. How many miles on your car?

[static]

Originally posted by LoCore
Holy crap.

Good driving and quick thinking Static. Glad to hear that excitement was all that happened.

Keep us posted on what you find. How many miles on your car?

49K.... I'll keep u all posted.. thanks for all the concern...

[chico]

that sucks man, atleast you and your car are OK.

[DVDA]

my brakes went out on me too the other day. apparently they had locked at one point and i was driving around with the brake stuck, till i melted it down to nothing, and i almost crashed trying to stop

[David Draper]

Whatever happens, call Toyota. Unless it's the lines (sounds like it's not), that's a major problem that they really should know about.

And, ya know, you should be compensated for your harrowing experience....

[static]

Originally posted by David Draper
Whatever happens, call Toyota. Unless it's the lines (sounds like it's not), that's a major problem that they really should know about.

And, ya know, you should be compensated for your harrowing experience....

Yeah.. compensation would be nice.. but from my experience with toyota.. I might get a free oil change out of it if I"m lucky.... what sort of compensation do u propose?

[autxr]

At this point, with non-OEM brake parts (not even aftermarket that are the same specs as OEM), I don't think Toyota would care, nor do I think that they should.

This is just one of the many prices you pay for modding a car.

Scott

[Vroom_Vroom]

whew glad your ok man!!!!!

[xi KiNG ix]

holy crap that sucks.. glad the m5 is ok! lol jk

[QWKsilvr808]

Thank God you're ok tho. Hope you get everything straightened out.

[David Draper]

I guess it kind of depends on what exactly failed....

If the brake master suddenly fell apart, that's their problem, aftermarket lines or not.

But, if it's anything remotely related to the lines, Scott's right, you won't get a dime....

[static]

OH hahah.. get this.. perfect!! So I"m getting out of the parking garage.. my car all limpin, just trying to get it to the nearest dealer here in Downtown chicago... AS you can imagine... traffic is heavy during rush hour, and here I am trying to baby my car out on the street... so I got my window down and all of a sudden I hear two sweetie female voices going 'HI'.. 'Heyyy'... LOL WTF why NOW?!?!?! These two girls were in line next to me getting out of the parking garage and they start smilin and hitting on me while I"m sitting here just trying to keep my car from running into something... CAN THIS STUFF EVER HAPPEN ON A NORMAL DAY???

LoL... I just smiled shook my head and drove away.. jeeze... figures!!! lol....

[Tikked Again]

Yeah....if the car had been working properly you could have picked those "sweeties" up. :wiggle:
Hehe....sorry couldn't resist.


Tik

[ghostface]

my friend had a classic corvette that he had just restored and he put new brakes in the car..he was driving and the same thing happened to him ..... he coulkdnt stop and went over a divider and took out a stop sign...he got out and checked the brake lines and right where one of the rubber hoses connects to this little nub for the fluid the line had popped off becasue the person who installed his brakes never put that little metal clip/braket on the hose to clamp it to the nub..so the pressure after a while just pushed the brake line off and there was no pressure becasue when he would hit the brakes fluid would just shoot out...maybe thats what happened....how the heck did u get home after that....complain to toyota..

ghost

[NoCones]

Originally posted by David Draper
And, ya know, you should be compensated for your harrowing experience....
Puhlease. :wtc:

If a part was faulty, it should be replaced by the manufacturer free of charge (or a comparable replacement should be provided/paid for). Period. No "harrowing experience" money.

[atehrani]

It most likely was your brake lines. I would inspect them all and see where the point of failure is. Thankfully no one was hurt.

[fluids_gts]

Static,

Did you ever get the hardline/ss connection at the body mounted to your satisfaction? I seem to remember that when erok had trouble w/ his ss goodridge lines, you had some questions for him about how his fitment was working out with the spring clip tab, like yours would no longer mount tightly. What happened to you totally sounds like a line failure (erok described a similar failure when his blew), but I think you would see the fluid somewhere in the wheel well.

Please post once you know what went wrong. I went and immdiately looked for weak spots once I read your post... glad you survived it intact.