Smoked my brakes

[Chris142]

A few months ago we were in the mountains.had a family emergency at home and had to rush home.

Coming down I goofed and got my brakes real hot.they were smoking and the pedal faded.

Ever since that day the brakes don't seem to stop well.takes more pedal effort to stop the jeep now.

No shaking or anything like that. Do pads change composition if over heated?

 

[dustyroads]

Maybe just cooked the brake fluid. I'd start with a fluid flush/ replacement. I'm not sure about the pads being affected.

Edit- I reread and see that you said more pedal effort. I guess maybe that could be entirely different than what I was thinking.

 

[bdcardinal]

Fluid could be boiled and you could have glazed over the pads. Also check the rotors for heat spots, some claim you can machine them out, I prefer to just replace.

 

[Chris142]

I did change out the fluid. Didn't make any difference.

 

[PeterPolyol]

Next time downshift broski. Don't be afraid

 

[supton]

I wouldn't suspect the fluid as bad, due to overheating. Changing it may be due anyhow. Perhaps the fluid changed properties, but that wouldn't affect initial braking.

I suspect you cooked the pads. There are resins in it, holding the friction material together. I do believe the pad material can and does change.

If they feel bad, change 'em. I don't think the rotors would need replacing, but if they show discoloration, I would. If they have grooves in them, I'd use the overheating as a good excuse to replace instead of turning. But I'm pretty sure cast iron shrugs off the heat, it's the pad material that can change properties.

 

[09_GXP]

Sounds like the pads are glazed at minimum. If they have significant pad left you can take some sandpaper to the pads and remove the glaze. If they are getting thin now would be the time to replace. Pads do change composition but if you can scrape the glaze off, the backing plate is still connected, and the pads don't crumble when removed you should be okay.

For the fluid; does the pedal get firmer if you pump the brakes? If so, you have air and need to bleed. If not, I would bleed anyways with a block of wood behind the brake pedal during the process.

 

[Bgallagher]

Originally Posted By: PeterPolyol
Next time downshift broski. Don't be afraid


+1 your transmission can help vastly for situations like this. Also, it sounds like your pads are glazed over. I would consider taking them off. scuffing up the rotors and pads and reapply or scuff the rotors and put on new pads. Depending on your budget.

 

[mazdamonky]

What pads did you have on the vehicle? It sounds to me like you overworked them and caused them to become glazed. I would look into grabbing some brake pads rated gg or at least ff if you are just running cheap pads that are generally rated EE/ef/fe. The Duralast gold max seem to do pretty well for an autoparts store pad. I might look into the raybestos EHT for your vehicle also. Brakes are extremely important and it is worth spending some extra money for a better performing brake because you never know when an emergency will occur.

 

[slug_bug]

I believe pads, rotors and drums can all become glazed. I saw several links for repairing glazed rotors when I googled it.

 

[Jimzz]

Are they ceramic pads or metallic? If they are ceramic then take them off and see if they have been cooked. Ceramic pads can't handle heat as well as metallic and when they cook/overheat they will not work well again.

I am betting they are ceramic and just overheated them. If so replace and check the rotors for build up.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
Originally Posted By: PeterPolyol
Next time downshift broski. Don't be afraid


+1 your transmission can help vastly for situations like this. Also, it sounds like your pads are glazed over. I would consider taking them off. scuffing up the rotors and pads and reapply or scuff the rotors and put on new pads. Depending on your budget.
I always downshift! This was an emergency and I was hurrying home. The pads are autozone gold. I got 90k out of the last set and these have 70K on them and they still have lots of pad left. I have some bendix pads i'll throw on and I'll see if I can turn the rotors tomorrow.