Urgent! Brake Fade, Near Miss Accident

[Celeborn]

Hey guys,

I'm needing some advice asap, earlier today I was almost in a deadly collision in my 1997 Mountaineer on a road with a speed limit of 70mph. I was cruising along at 65mph, and was forced to put all of my weight on my brake's because an ambulance cut out in front of me and stopped. I had so much force applied, I don't know how my bumper valance didn't brush against the pavement.

Luckily my ABS system is still functioning, so I was able to safely stop just 2 feet from the ambulance, however I had MAJOR brake fading shortly after slamming on the brakes. I know when heat builds up, brakes fade, but it just happened far too soon in my opinion.

Is there anything special I can do to improve upon the stock brake setup? All of my rotors/pads are less than a year old, and are not worn out.

It just worries me that had I been a little bit closer, I might not be typing this right now.

 

[koda2000]

When's the last time you had your brake fluid changed?

Brake fluid is hydroscopic, that means it absorbs moisture from the atmosphere. Water boils at a much lower temperature than brake fluid, so if you don't periodically flush your brake fluid (every 2-3 years) the percentage of water builds up and during hard stops the water boils and causes brake fade.

There's nothing wrong with the stock brake setup. The biggest problems with stock brakes is lack of owner maintenance.

 

[XLTrunner]

X2. Bigger question I have is why would an ambulance pull out onto a highway with a speed limit of 70 and just stop? Was there an accident just ahead that you didn't notice?

 

[Celeborn]

When's the last time you had your brake fluid changed?

Brake fluid is hydroscopic, that means it absorbs moisture from the atmosphere. Water boils at a much lower temperature than brake fluid, so if you don't periodically flush your brake fluid (every 2-3 years) the percentage of water builds up and during hard stops the water boils and causes brake fade.

There's nothing wrong with the stock brake setup. The biggest problems with stock brakes is lack of owner maintenance.

I have yet to get around to flushing the brake fluid. I self-service all of my vehicles ( 68 Nova, 77 Trans-Am, 85 C10, 97 Town Car, 97 Mountaineer ) on a regular basis. I actually just got done with a fresh oil change, filter, plugs, wires, and coolant flush.

Guess I'll go ahead and do a brake fluid change this weekend and see if it aids the problem.

 

[Celeborn]

X2. Bigger question I have is why would an ambulance pull out onto a highway with a speed limit of 70 and just stop? Was there an accident just ahead that you didn't notice?

There was nothing at ALL. I asked myself the same question, but wasn't about to get out and investigate. Better have been a very good reason though.

 

[Flash]

What Koda said.

If a bit of water gets into the brake fluid it will lower the boiling point of the fluid and produce steam.
Steam can be compressed, brake fluid can't so if you have steam in the system the brake pedal goes to the floor.

That's why silicone brake fluid is only good on the track.

Water doesn't dissolve in silicone like it does in regular brake fluid. Good thing? No.

Like I said earlier, if a bit of water gets in the boiling point will reduce but if a bit of water gets into silicone the water will boil at 212 degrees F. Far too low.

If you put your foot on the brake pedal and it doesn't fall to the floor but your brakes aren't stopping then you might have an outgassing problem with your pads.

That's where the pads get very hot and release gas; the pads then float on this gas cushion. That's what drilled and slotted rotors are for, to release this gas.

Drilled and slotted rotors aren't a good thing for the street.

I try to get TRW/Lucas pads when I can because they handle high temperatures well, not quite track pads though but they have good bite and feel even when cold and low dust.

 

[1997XLTRollover]

I disagree with the above that drilled/slotted are bad for the street. There is some truth to that, but we won't get into it because there are arguments for both sides. I run drilled/slotted on a lot of my vehicles and they stop on a dime. Either way I'll just voice my opinion on how I got my 96 stopping as good if not better with 32x11.50x15's than it did on my stock 235/75/15's.

1) Replaced ALL factory rubber brake lines with new factory replacement rubber lines.

2) Full brake fluid flush with quality dot 4 (dot 3 is probably just fine too).

3) Bought power stop brake kit "PWR-K1861" from Summit Racing and BROKE THEM IN PROPERLY. You could even jump it up to the tow package brake kit which is even more aggressive but I find it unnecessary.


*** Replace metal lines too as needed. I replaced all of mine just because the truck was 20 years old and rusted, and I've blown out enough metal lines to have learned to replace them before they blow.***


The only downsides to this setup are that they make a little bit of noise and need one stop to get some heat in them before they work 100%, but as long as you know that, it's not a big deal. I usually just give the brakes a medium hit for my first stop out of my driveway, then they are fine the rest of the trip. I also only notice this during winter months when it's below 40 degrees out. Summer they work just fine on the first stop. Also the noise is not squealing, just a shhhhhh noise when you stop that you hear from any high performance brake pad, it's almost not noticeable.

 

[Robman]

I'd be checking your brakelines over for any small leaks or anything.

Check your fluid and see if it's going down( level is decreasing)

A good hard brake will blow fragile lines. In my experience the brakeline over the rear axle is the first to rot out.

OR!

What Koda said.

 

[Celeborn]

I found my problem, upon first glance, my brakes looked fine. But I removed the rear wheels, and the back pad on my passenger side was completely metal to metal. I went ahead and replaced all of the pads so they wear out evenly, and replaced the right rear caliper as I believe it was failing, and with my boyfriends employee discount I got it all done for $35.

Problem solved, stops on a dime with no apparent fading.