|
|
|
Mar 28, 2006 18:06:07 GMT
|
|
Is there actually any worse feeling in your motoring life than that long slow agonising but relentless march of horror when your hydraulic brakes fail on you?
Driving into work today in the Olds I was thinking that brakes felt odd. When I pushed the pedal nothing seemed to happen initially and then they would grab on quite hard. Nothing toooooooo unusual as old yank brakes can be a bit "grabby". Well, on the way home the pedal got spongy, and then started going full travel.
Imagine the delights of cruising Nottingham's rush hour in a 2.25 ton barge with a 7 litre engine, automatic box and almost no brakes. The "almost" is almost worse than no brakes at all. Every push on the pedal you wonder if that was the last breath of a dying master cylinder, your minds' eye visualises every push of the pedal squirting about half a pint of fluid out of a leak somewhere....
Well, appart from every hatchback in the county wanting to cut me up and pull out in front of me I made it home safe, if a little sweaty.
So tomorrow its time to see whats up with the juice.
Bum biscuits.
|
| |
1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2006 18:32:05 GMT
|
|
thats some scary curse word,my old xantia lost its main pump one day, how about no brakes steering or suspension all of a sudden going down hill towards a large roundabout!!! stragely enough it started working again moments later.
later that day it was gone to the strange lad i got my new skoda off ;D ;D
|
| |
"quote hairnet"
I'm not paying nine pound for a pi$$!
[/quote]
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2006 20:35:09 GMT
|
|
Having also experienced brake failure a while ago, I'm very glad to hear you managed to get the car home safely!
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2006 20:58:39 GMT
|
I had a total brake failure in an Imp a few years ago, it had been having some problems with the brakes previously, and I thought I had just fixed them, and was driving it round the waste ground next to the lockup I had at the time to test the brakes, and when I was happy that they were working I went to put the Imp back in the garage, only to find that when I went to slow it down as it went into the garage the brakes had completely failed while I was travelling at much faster than I'd like to drive with no brakes and no seatbelts (the car had lots of work to be done and the interior consisted of a steering wheel and column, a seat, a rollcage and some of a dashboard, and absolutely nothing else. ;D ), and by the time I had found this out I was heading straight for the open garage and wouldn't have been able to turn to avoid a collision, so I had to just head straight for the back wall of the garage bracing myself against the seat and steering wheel and screaming obscenities (according to an eyewitness the obscenities could be heard from a surprising distance away! ;D  ) Surprisingly I didn't get hurt, (beyond being embarassed and surprised a fair bit and my arms hurting from hanging on for dear life, ;D ;D ) but the Imp certainly did. ;D The bonnet was shot, the indicators/sidelamps bent and broken beyond repair, the front bodywork required a fair bit of work (although it was in a poor state and made mostly of filler already by this point! ;D ) and you should've seen the mess it made of my lockup, it hit the brackets for the shelf I had on the back wall, launching various things on it into the air in a slightly comedic fashion. ;D I know what you mean about the feeling you get, but for me it wasn't so much a slow, relentless march of horror as a moment of sheer terror where the most coherant thing your mind can muster is along the lines of "What the f*ck?!" or "Aaaaaaargh sh*te!" uttered at extremely high volumes!  ;D ;D |
| |
"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2006 20:59:22 GMT
|
|
I've had the brakes go too. Horrible feeling. Worse feeling was I was next to a black turbo hatch and I was about to anihilate him off the lights in my 100E but the throttle cable jumped off. Grrr, the humiliation, but as soon as I jumped back in to pull away the brakes were gone. Eek.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2006 21:14:46 GMT
|
 nasty stuff, glad you were ok! and Rev, sorry mate but i couldnt help myself actually lol when i read about hitting the shelf etc ;D
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2006 21:28:30 GMT
|
It's alright, I laughed myself at the time when I had stopped being sick from the shock. ;D ;D |
| |
"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2006 21:44:04 GMT
|
Thank Gawd ya alright, have a good look at that, sounds like a sabotge story. Seriously though, i have repetitive nightmares about no brakes loads. scary $hit, time for a service...  |
| |
 it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts |
|
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2006 21:58:29 GMT
|
|
'Brakes are for gays' etc.
|
| |
1972 Fiat 130 1985 Talbot Alpine 1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 + 1986 Mazda 929 Koop + Wagon 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 BEST CAR EVER!!!!!!!! 1979 Datsun B310 Sunny 4-dr 1984 Audi 200 Quattro Turbo 1983 Honda Accord 1.6 DX GONE1989 Alfa 75 2.0 TS Mr T says: TREAT YO MOTHER RIGHT! |
|
Ed
Part of things
Posts: 600
|
|
Mar 28, 2006 22:06:26 GMT
|
nasty stuff, glad you were ok! and Rev, sorry mate but i couldnt help myself actually lol when i read about hitting the shelf etc ;D me too ;D ;D ;D ;D comedy moment! |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I've had a car sabotaged before. Nasty business.
Oh well, off to take a look at the darn thing now. Hopefully it will be something simple and not too expensive. The brakes have alledgedly all been rebuilt on this car by a previous owner so I'm thinking it could well be the MC as the looks like the original and people usually say "rebuilt brakes" when they mean "full set of wheel cylinders fitted"
|
| |
1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
had a very similar experience a while ago in my discovery - trying to slow a disco down on country lanes from 65-70 with a hitherto unnoticed kippered master cylinder was an experience to live long in the memory....  |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
had a very similar experience a while ago in my discovery - trying to slow a disco down on country lanes from 65-70 with a hitherto unnoticed kippered master cylinder was an experience to live long in the memory.... Had a similar experience on both my V8 range rover and also on my Pajero when a pipe burst not long after buying them. Pajero wasnt too bad as they have a decent conventional handbrake. Not recommended trying to use a Landrover handbrake for slowing a car down though. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2006 10:06:59 GMT
|
Not recommended trying to use a Landrover handbrake for slowing a car down though. indeed not kind of upsets things a bit. |
| |
|
|
|
|
That sinking feeling...BenzBoy
@benzboy
Club Retro Rides Member 7
|
Mar 29, 2006 10:13:51 GMT
|
|
I feel for ya mate - horrible business brake failure. Happened to me some time ago in my Mazda 929 Estate-of-Doom, on an approach to a roundabout. Luckily there was no-one ahead of me and I managed to bounce over the kerb onto a grass verge.
I think you were lucky that they didn't just go with someone in front of you!
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2006 11:02:15 GMT
|
I've had a car sabotaged before. Nasty business. Oh well, off to take a look at the darn thing now. Hopefully it will be something simple and not too expensive. The brakes have alledgedly all been rebuilt on this car by a previous owner so I'm thinking it could well be the MC as the looks like the original and people usually say "rebuilt brakes" when they mean "full set of wheel cylinders fitted" Sounds pretty likely to me, I've had cars like that before, the owner assures you that he's 'replaced all the brakes', and sure enough the brake cylinders and maybe even the drums and linings/discs, calipers and pads have been changed, but for some reason they haven't even bothered to look at the master cylinder, which is quite often the source of the problem.  It's made all the worse by the fact that on the Imp, the brake and clutch master cylinders are located just underneath the petrol tank, and to replace them you have to remove the tank, meaning that not only do plenty of people have no idea where they are, but plenty more people just can't be bothered changing them. |
| |
"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2006 11:07:57 GMT
|
Don't talk to me about sinking feelings at the moment  I'm nothing else but one giant sinking feeling.... |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2006 11:08:39 GMT
|
|
Is it just me that is concerned by the number of people, myself included who have had there brakes fail?
Luckily mine went gradually on the chevelle, due to a split flexi and i coasted to a stop in next doors hedge. ;D
|
| |
|
|
Nathan
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,627
Club RR Member Number: 1
|
That sinking feeling...Nathan
@bgtmidget7476
Club Retro Rides Member 1
|
Mar 29, 2006 11:36:14 GMT
|
|
Lewis Tell us more,
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2006 11:51:21 GMT
|
nasty stuff, glad you were ok! and Rev, sorry mate but i couldnt help myself actually lol when i read about hitting the shelf etc ;D me too ;D ;D ;D ;D comedy moment! Yep, that's the first time in a long time I've actually let out a great big belly laugh about something I read on the internet! |
| |
|
|
|
|
) Surprisingly I didn't get hurt, (beyond being embarassed and surprised a fair bit and my arms hurting from hanging on for dear life, ;D ;D ) but the Imp certainly did. ;D The bonnet was shot, the indicators/sidelamps bent and broken beyond repair, the front bodywork required a fair bit of work (although it was in a poor state and made mostly of filler already by this point! ;D ) and you should've seen the mess it made of my lockup, it hit the brackets for the shelf I had on the back wall, launching various things on it into the air in a slightly comedic fashion. ;D
;D ;D 
nasty stuff, glad you were ok!
It's made all the worse by the fact that on the Imp, the brake and clutch master cylinders are located just underneath the petrol tank, and to replace them you have to remove the tank, meaning that not only do plenty of people have no idea where they are, but plenty more people just can't be bothered changing them. 
I'm nothing else but one giant sinking feeling....
