Catastrophic brake failure
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,163
Likes: 19
From: Not far from COTA
Catastrophic brake failure
Went for a drive and brakes were fine until one application where the pedal went to the floor.
No brakes at all and no codes or warning lights.
Thought about it and decided had to be the master cylinder. Took it apart, and it was. The pistons in the master have a beveled edge on each end. On the front brake piston, the bevel was worn almost away – look at pics here.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2094347965
Look at the size of the 3 holes in the beveled portion, and how one hole is distorted by the wear.
This must have made the seal break, which meant no brakes at all.
Anyone else heard of this sudden and complete brake failure? No rear brake safety net. No codes, no warning.
35,xxx miles on a 2003 Z06. No funny brake fluid changes, only used recommended type of fluid when routinely flushing system.
No brakes at all and no codes or warning lights.
Thought about it and decided had to be the master cylinder. Took it apart, and it was. The pistons in the master have a beveled edge on each end. On the front brake piston, the bevel was worn almost away – look at pics here.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2094347965
Look at the size of the 3 holes in the beveled portion, and how one hole is distorted by the wear.
This must have made the seal break, which meant no brakes at all.
Anyone else heard of this sudden and complete brake failure? No rear brake safety net. No codes, no warning.
35,xxx miles on a 2003 Z06. No funny brake fluid changes, only used recommended type of fluid when routinely flushing system.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,163
Likes: 19
From: Not far from COTA
update
installed new master cylinder and car back to normal
still can't believe there were no brakes, not even rears
talked to local dealer and they never heard of it happening
they searched some GM data base of reported problems and found nothing
installed new master cylinder and car back to normal
still can't believe there were no brakes, not even rears
talked to local dealer and they never heard of it happening
they searched some GM data base of reported problems and found nothing
Last edited by NealB; Mar 20, 2007 at 05:00 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,995
Likes: 61
From: Fort Wayne IN
Friend of mine w/ a 01 had huge brake issues after power steering fluid was mistakenly put into the brake fluid master cylinder reservoir but instead of no brakes the brakes started locking up after a mile or 2 down the road. The seals in the master cylinder were 3x normal size. He was lucky the PS fluid had not migrated past the master cylinder. $.02
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,521
Likes: 146
From: Watertown CT
Friend of mine w/ a 01 had huge brake issues after power steering fluid was mistakenly put into the brake fluid master cylinder reservoir but instead of no brakes the brakes started locking up after a mile or 2 down the road. The seals in the master cylinder were 3x normal size. He was lucky the PS fluid had not migrated past the master cylinder. $.02
I was going to say, maybe at some point someone put the wrong fluid in there that broke down the seals, leading to this failure!! WOW, good thing you didn't have the car cranked up!!
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,300
Likes: 6
From: San Antonio Texas
I have found that, in the case of a complete break failure (from a bad internal seal in master cylinder), pumping the pedal will generally restore breaking power. Keep in mind that this kind of a seal failure does not mean a loss of fluid. If you had a broken brake line or a major leak in a wheel cylinder, you can relay on the other half of the master cylinder for the unaffected wheels.
Ed
Ed
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,163
Likes: 19
From: Not far from COTA
bought new
no incorrect fluid ever used -- period!
no loss of fluid at all
pumping the pedal did nothing, believe me it was tried
only had ebrake and lower gears and turning off the engine to use to stop
no incorrect fluid ever used -- period!
no loss of fluid at all
pumping the pedal did nothing, believe me it was tried
only had ebrake and lower gears and turning off the engine to use to stop
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,347
Likes: 4
From: Slidell La
Went for a drive and brakes were fine until one application where the pedal went to the floor.
No brakes at all and no codes or warning lights.
Thought about it and decided had to be the master cylinder. Took it apart, and it was. The pistons in the master have a beveled edge on each end. On the front brake piston, the bevel was worn almost away
Look at the size of the 3 holes in the beveled portion, and how one hole is distorted by the wear.
This must have made the seal break, which meant no brakes at all.
Anyone else heard of this sudden and complete brake failure? No rear brake safety net. No codes, no warning.
35,xxx miles on a 2003 Z06. No funny brake fluid changes, only used recommended type of fluid when routinely flushing system.
No brakes at all and no codes or warning lights.
Thought about it and decided had to be the master cylinder. Took it apart, and it was. The pistons in the master have a beveled edge on each end. On the front brake piston, the bevel was worn almost away
Look at the size of the 3 holes in the beveled portion, and how one hole is distorted by the wear.
This must have made the seal break, which meant no brakes at all.
Anyone else heard of this sudden and complete brake failure? No rear brake safety net. No codes, no warning.
35,xxx miles on a 2003 Z06. No funny brake fluid changes, only used recommended type of fluid when routinely flushing system.