Serious brake fade - advice wanted
I just experienced severe brake fade after driving down a mountain road in the Alps. I have a 1992 463 which has recently been restored, which has included changing the disks, pads and brake lines.
The fade was luckily noticed when I stopped for petrol at the bottom of the pass, the brakes were obviously boiling, with a lot of smoke coming off the disks. When I restarted the car, there was no return pressure on the brake pedal, meaning that I could push the pedal all the way in without any real effect on the brakes - not fun.
Once the brakes cooled, they did normalise again, but I certainly don't want to go through that again, especially whilst in the alps.
So any tips, advice or experience regarding this would be much appreciated.
if you've a manual you could help the brakes out by using a bit of engine braking. How steep was your descent and were you heavily laden? If you were heavily laden and have an auto its something we must all look out for but we don't really have proper mountains in these islands, do we? Part of the excitement of a continental excursion perhaps? :wink:
Hi brake fluid should be changed every two years because of the natural ingress of moisture from atmosphere..repeated pressure of the pedal puts heat into the fluid causing the moisture to react and give you a spongy pedal.if you have not replaced fluid in the last two years. 3 years at most...do the brakes. clutch if manual diff locks and abs using .4+ hydraulic oil.....ASAP!! damage to the internal parts of the system by corrosion from the moisture may cause leaks which could result in having to replace master cylinders. slave cylinders.callipers.wheel cylinders and diff lock rams... a very expensive exercise and all for 5 litres of brake fluid and an hour or 2 of effort.....
Stainless steel braided flexi hoses are worth fitting as well and were available a while back as a club special offer.
Hi simple with the right equipment... all modern main dealers have to do this every two years to maintain the warranty conditions...can be more complicated with a G' because of seized nipples which can shear off if a heavy hand is applied..no good just topping up the reservoirs! the water is down at the lowest levels.....and ALL the contaminated oil requires purging from the systems....correctly done with a pressure vessel is the only way...
When on a descent, don't rely on auto box in drive, hold it in low gears manually, even in bottom gear as this aids engine braking, all though harder in petrol autos it helps a lot , and pulse the brakes, dont just hold them on ,heat dissapates quicker that way.
When on a descent, don't rely on auto box in drive, hold it in low gears manually, even in bottom gear as this aids engine braking, all though harder in petrol autos it helps a lot , and pulse the brakes, dont just hold them on ,heat dissapates quicker that way.
The original poster did not mention engine braking at all. Was it used or was it not? If not, that would be the first bit of advice, hold it in a lower gear, it works well even on autos, very efficient.
I also got my pads smoking in the Alps, however was using the brakes a lot,and mine is a manual, but they were genuine pads. Though my brake pedal didn't sink. What quality pads did you use? Also, it might be wise to investigate the state of the front pads, check they haven't broken up.
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The G was fully loaded, it's an auto and the decent was steep, twisty and long, so the brakes were certainly being tested. Is it a fairly simple job to change the fluid in the brakes/ ABS/ diff lock, basically, is this something I can get easily done before the long drive home? Thanks for the advice.