Lost brakes today while driving

[dja4260]

I was driving my Hyundai in my signature this morning. I was at a stop light waiting for green when the pedal went soft. It immediately got my attention. My destination was 400'ft ahead so I limped into the parking lot with zero brake pressure. Lucky for me I simply downshifted and rolled into the back of the lot knowing I would need a tow. Just my luck that a tow truck was sitting right where I rolled up...a $75 tow later, my car is at a local shop. A brake line was gushing fluid out of from under the car, just about under the rear drivers side seat area is. I'm lucky that my family wasn't in the car nor was I traveling at a high rate of speed. I'm thinking debris on the road did me in. Who knows, but that was a scary moment...

 

[ripcord]

Thank goodness no one was injured.

Is this a rust belt car? Steel lines will eventually rust away in those conditions.

 

[JohnnyG]

When I lived up north, I developed a habit of pressing on the brake pedal extra hard before leaving my house. Revealed a problem or two from time to time. Never wanted to get into a panic stop situation and have a line rupture like that.

 

[71Chevyguy]

I have had the ABS triggering pop a line before that was rusted. Luckily was only about 10 miles from home, drove it home with no brakes in the snow. It was a good night to go slow without seeming obvious haha.

 

[beechcraftted]

Isn’t the split master cylinder on all modern vehicles supposed to prevent a complete loss of braking ? Either F/R or diagonal split ?

 

[dja4260]

I just picked the car up from the shop. They replaced a long section of each rear brake line due to rust. $417.xx later and the brakes feel great. There is a plastic cover that must protect the brake lines as it's an exposed area. The leak was from behind the cover. I would assume that snow/salt would pack behind it, which is why the rust was so prevalent in the one area.

 

[R1jake]

Isn’t the split master cylinder on all modern vehicles supposed to prevent a complete loss of braking ? Either F/R or diagonal split ?

Yes he should have still had some brakes in his case. You do still loose quite a bit of pedal but you should still have some brakes.
This happened to me on a down hill high speed red light with traffic on a 00 GTI. I tend to drive way to fast so was coming in fairly hot and had to do a second pump to get some braking more than once. I did have to steer off into the right turning lane and take the right turn as well. Definitely an ass pucker moment. Even worse without a working emergency brake.
Ever sense then I always stay prepared for such a situation. While driving my 1990 Toyota 4x4 I tend to be cautious being the brakes just ain’t up to the task with my 31x10.50x15” taller than stock tires definitely give a leverage disadvantage on the brakes to a setup that wasn’t all that to begin with. When making a stop from 50mph or so the pressure needed is definitely more than anything else I’ve driven. Definitely plan to upgrade pads and anything else needed.
I also wonder if the rears are working. It’s my winter driver so will be looking into it soon.

 

[JC1]

I had my brakes on a 1983 Tercel go out at the bottom of a steep small hill. That was Scary. Rust will do them in. My 97 Civic had that garbage plastic cage on it. I removed it a few years ago when I replaced a damage section of hard brake line near one of the rear drums.

I did the repair myself, saved a bundle. Learning how to flare the lines is something worth knowing how to do.

 

[MasterSolenoid]

To prevent my brake lines from rusting, every couple of years I will cover them with Fluid Film, Grease or a mixture of both.

One area to soak with oil are the Clips that hold the brake line in place.

At 18 years old, they look like new.

 

[NDL]

I was driving my Hyundai in my signature this morning. I was at a stop light waiting for green when the pedal went soft. It immediately got my attention. My destination was 400'ft ahead so I limped into the parking lot with zero brake pressure. Lucky for me I simply downshifted and rolled into the back of the lot knowing I would need a tow. Just my luck that a tow truck was sitting right where I rolled up...a $75 tow later, my car is at a local shop. A brake line was gushing fluid out of from under the car, just about under the rear drivers side seat area is. I'm lucky that my family wasn't in the car nor was I traveling at a high rate of speed. I'm thinking debris on the road did me in. Who knows, but that was a scary moment...

I'm glad that you're alright, but the one thing that I can't figure out: aren't most brake lines made of stainless steel? I can't remember ever hearing about brake lines that were made of regular steel.

 

[Jetronic]

most factory lines are just steel. never came across stainless.

 

[AutoMechanic]

Wow you got lucky there. Luckily nothing like that has ever happened to me I have replaced plenty of brake lines though most were not broke though just getting rusty.

 

[eljefino]

Isn’t the split master cylinder on all modern vehicles supposed to prevent a complete loss of braking ? Either F/R or diagonal split ?

It never works as well as the theory would have you believe. Typically the pedal starts doing something 1/2 inch from the floor. It has to "use up" all the fluid space between the affected pistons in the master cylinder first. People get wierded out by the "wet fish" feel of the pedal and start pumping it again. Also many people don't have the seat adjusted far enough forward to bury the pedal as needed.

The diagonal split ended with disc brakes, as they needed a proportioning valve to send different pressures fore-and-aft and it was easier to plumb this up by the axles.

 

[jeepman3071]

I had that happen once in my old 2000 Cherokee XJ. The rear brake line rusted out being a northern vehicle. I was driving down a hill on a main road, and a Subaru pulled out in front of me, close enough to where I needed to slam on the brakes. Shortly after that panic jab of the brakes, the red brake light on the dash came on. "That's not good" I thought, and pushed the brake pedal only to have it go straight to the floor. Luckily I was only a few miles from home, and had adjusted the parking brake about a month before, so I used that to coast home and ended up getting that whole line replaced.

 

[nwjones18]

Glad it happened when it did! I've only completely lost brakes once, and it was in a motorhome on the interstate exit ramp... I got very lucky that I didn't wreck because I went right through the red light at the end. Nothing I could do.

 

[walterjay]

Glad to hear everything turned out ok. A few years ago the brakes failed on a 38' motor home that I was driving. It happened at a red light. Fortunately no one was in front of me. I laid on the horn and sailed through the light without hitting anyone. I still get chills when I think about it.

 

[dja4260]

Glad to hear everything turned out ok. A few years ago the brakes failed on a 38' motor home that I was driving. It happened at a red light. Fortunately no one was in front of me. I laid on the horn and sailed through the light without hitting anyone. I still get chills when I think about it.

That is absolutely terrifying.

 

[ecotourist]

Glad to hear everything turned out ok. A few years ago the brakes failed on a 38' motor home that I was driving. It happened at a red light. Fortunately no one was in front of me. I laid on the horn and sailed through the light without hitting anyone. I still get chills when I think about it.

What you describe is the reason we should drive defensively. If someone had been blasting through the intersection at that instant there would have been big trouble.

I used to be in a big hurry. But not so much anymore, now that I have enough experience to understand the consequences.

On that note, we should give people a bit of a break. I've been "that guy from out of town", and sometimes it takes a few seconds to know where you're supposed to go.

 

[OppositeLocK]

When I lived up north, I developed a habit of pressing on the brake pedal extra hard before leaving my house. Revealed a problem or two from time to time. Never wanted to get into a panic stop situation and have a line rupture like that.

This is good practice, along with warming up the brakes before you get on it.

 

[vavavroom]

The brake fluid level light/buzzer failed to come on before catastrophic brake failure occurred?