Rear brakes gone?

[MaverickDaKid]

I was going about 100kmh down a freeway and I had to come to an emergency stop QUICK because of an accident ahead.

So I press the brakes hard because I read that pumping won't help with ABS so I just nail it down and I smell a horrible smell and the pedal hits the floor. I am slowing down but not as fast as I usualy do and I'm not feeling the pulsing the ABS usually gave me before.

I quickly downshifted (its an auto so it wasn't as effective) and manipulated the E brake luckily the left lane had no one and I avoided a collision.

Anyways my question is are my rear brakes gone? Last i changed my front ones 3 weeks ago, the mechanic said my rear brakes were at 50% and they would hold out a whlie. And that bad smell I smelt fromt he rear, was it really the brakes or something else?

I waited about 10 mins in the hazard lane and then tested the brakes and they felt totally normal after.

Thanks.

 

[mrboyle]

Were you in your '93 or '96? If you were in the '93 does it have 4wheel ABS or Rear ABS only?

 

[MaverickDaKid]

AGH, dumb of me not to say.

In the 96 with 4 wheel ABS


Thanks for the reply, this is really bothering me.

 

[MaverickDaKid]

I replaced the rear brake pads and the front and im still getting the same problem.

At high speeds when I slam the brakes on I get a really bad smell and it brakes very slowly. I took the brake pedal all the way to the floor.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what it could possibly be?

I have already done a search on the forums and I can't really find anything.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[mhn3773]

well brakes stink as they get hot when mine stink i hit the fade limit shortly after that and notice a huge loss in performance usally takes some stupid driving on my part witch makes me stop hard and alot.....mabey u could describe ur normal dricing habits like do u speed are u ruff on the car

 

[Robb]

huh?

 

[Crankcase]

Originally posted by Robb
huh?

I think I actually understood that one!

When Brakes get really hot, they do smell....
The "fade" is just super hot brakes loosing their abilty to stop quickly, due to expanding parts....

 

[MaverickDaKid]

No usualy I am very gentle to the car unless a situation arises which calls for extreme measures. The reason I even got in this situation was because I needed to make an emergency stop on the freeway going at about 65+ MPH. I needed to make a complete stop A.S.A.P

Now that I saw what happened I am testing it out here and there to see if the problem is still there which it stlil is.

The thing is when I press the brake down I hit it all the way to the floor like if the sensitivity was extremely low, but it is not. I am literly making the pedal hit the floor. Before when I had to stop quick I would press down and the pedal would give a pulse and the X would come to a stop quickly, you could even hear the tires squeel on and off as the ABS took affect.

But now its just press and stop slowly with a horrible stench, with pedal to the floor.

 

[Howard]

Are you loosing brake fluid? If not then I would say the master cylinder has failed. If you are then find where and fix it. It could also be one of you flexible hoses has failed and is just expanding. It's not that unusual for this to happen in an emergency situation when there is a sudden high pressure. Given that you normally brake gently and therefore at a lower fluid pressure.

 

[MaverickDaKid]

I already checked all hoses around the brakes and there are no leaks at all. I'm going to change the master cylinder and hopefully that will fix my problem. Don't want my GF using my truck and having her loose the brakes.... would not be cool

 

[rydinhigh]

After your brakes got done did the lines get bled? If there is still air in there it could explain why you need to push the pedal all the way to the floor.

 

[boominXplorer]

is there a way that he could of streched the cable? Because the way he says that seems like it might just be.

 

[Howard]

You may not have a leak from the flexible hoses but they could still be faulty. They expand under pressure and therefore the brakes do not come on. Get someone to put their foot hard on the brake and then look at them. You may find a small balloon in one of them. If so change it. If any of them look cracked then they need changing.

 

[mhn3773]

i know that brakes dont like to stop and stoping hard wears on them fast...also puts alot of black crap on the rims...grrr i hate that crap