daveallen1999 Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Had a major scare when my brakes virtually failed when doing a experience day on a old airfield today. It wouldn't of surprised me if I had been on standard pads, discs and brake fluid. But I have DBA T3's, Ferodo pads, a six brake line kit and Motul 600. It must of been my first experience of brake fade. The instructor, sitting next me to me was pushing my car too hard me thinks ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPhoboS Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Did they firm up some time after cooling down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Possibly, but driving style impacts this too. Now you kinda know what to look for (though we can't tell if you overheated the pads or the fluid based on your description) you should be able to feel it coming on sooner. Pad fade = it stinks awful, might get smoke too if you do a good job, but pedal still feels solid Boiled your fluid = long spongy pedal, feeling of no brakes (Take a second quick stab at the pedal and you'll feel it bite harder.) In both cases, the only short term cure is cooling. Longer term - buy disks and pads that stand up to the heat better, be gentler with your braking style, bleed your brake fluid. Brake fluid absorbs water, get your brakes hot enough and this boils to create steam, which is obviously a gas, which compresses differently to a liquid and that's why you get a long pedal and no brakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveallen1999 Posted April 12, 2015 Author Share Posted April 12, 2015 Did they firm up some time after cooling down? No, I had to push all the way down on the pedal to get a small amount of braking. I had done a number of cool down laps and started to push it hard again. I should of stopped and allowed it to cool down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveallen1999 Posted April 12, 2015 Author Share Posted April 12, 2015 Possibly, but driving style impacts this too. Now you kinda know what to look for (though we can't tell if you overheated the pads or the fluid based on your description) you should be able to feel it coming on sooner. Pad fade = it stinks awful, might get smoke too if you do a good job, but pedal still feels solid Boiled your fluid = long spongy pedal, feeling of no brakes (Take a second quick stab at the pedal and you'll feel it bite harder.) In both cases, the only short term cure is cooling. Longer term - buy disks and pads that stand up to the heat better, be gentler with your braking style, bleed your brake fluid. Thank you for the advice. Brake fluid absorbs water, get your brakes hot enough and this boils to create steam, which is obviously a gas, which compresses differently to a liquid and that's why you get a long pedal and no brakes. Thank you for the advice. It sounds like my brake fluid boiled. Changing my brakes in a few weeks to Ksport 256mm big brake kit and new fluid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Don't know if the car is susceptible to it as I've done this too. Had a similar feeling in the clutch too but they share the same fluid don't they? Brake didn't smell, just the pedal was very very soft and clutch gave no resistance at all to being depressed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 (edited) Don't know if the car is susceptible to it as I've done this too. Had a similar feeling in the clutch too but they share the same fluid don't they? Brake didn't smell, just the pedal was very very soft and clutch gave no resistance at all to being depressed. They can use the same fluid - they do not share it. Separate reservoir for the brake and clutch, You can boil the clutch fluid but it's not that common - Buster managed it at combe, along with his PS fluid - bloody nutter You can also overheat the clutch plate - cooling should bring it back but if pushed when really hot you start to damage the flywheel and you can glaze the clutch plate then you get slip until it's replaced. Most of this can be avoided by 1. Driving style/technique 2. Allowing adequate cool down time between runs. At least your doing it in the right place and hopefully having fun - no better place to learn your car than on track IMO Edited April 12, 2015 by Keyser 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveallen1999 Posted April 12, 2015 Author Share Posted April 12, 2015 Don't know if the car is susceptible to it as I've done this too. Had a similar feeling in the clutch too but they share the same fluid don't they? Brake didn't smell, just the pedal was very very soft and clutch gave no resistance at all to being depressed. They can use the same fluid - they do not share it. Separate reservoir for the brake and clutch, You can boil the clutch fluid but it's not that common - Buster managed it at combe, along with his PS fluid - bloody nutter You can also overheat the clutch plate - cooling should bring it back but if pushed when really hot you start to damage the flywheel and you can glaze the clutch plate then you get slip until it's replaced. Most of this can be avoided by 1. Driving style/technique 2. Allowing adequate cool down time between runs. At least your doing it in the right place and hopefully having fun - no better place to learn your car than on track IMO I completely agree about the fun bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nissanman312 Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Don't know if the car is susceptible to it as I've done this too. Had a similar feeling in the clutch too but they share the same fluid don't they? Brake didn't smell, just the pedal was very very soft and clutch gave no resistance at all to being depressed. They can use the same fluid - they do not share it. Separate reservoir for the brake and clutch, You can boil the clutch fluid but it's not that common - Buster managed it at combe, along with his PS fluid - bloody nutter You can also overheat the clutch plate - cooling should bring it back but if pushed when really hot you start to damage the flywheel and you can glaze the clutch plate then you get slip until it's replaced. Most of this can be avoided by 1. Driving style/technique 2. Allowing adequate cool down time between runs. At least your doing it in the right place and hopefully having fun - no better place to learn your car than on track IMO I completely agree about the fun bit. yeah im going to go and do the same when i get mine back learn the car again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Cooked my clutch fluid on the autobahns last year, but we were making full use of the de-restricted bits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPhoboS Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 If you're going to be tracking it a bit, get a couple of cooling ducts, cold air feeds made (demon tweeks sell the parts), that should help out a fair bit as well. If you search on the US forums, you'll see plenty of pics. When was the last time you bled the rbf600? (As iirc that fluid is meant to be done every 6 months!) Lastly I thought it was ideal to do one cool down lap and bring it in for 10-20 mins and then head back out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveallen1999 Posted April 12, 2015 Author Share Posted April 12, 2015 If you're going to be tracking it a bit, get a couple of cooling ducts, cold air feeds made (demon tweeks sell the parts), that should help out a fair bit as well. If you search on the US forums, you'll see plenty of pics. When was the last time you bled the rbf600? (As iirc that fluid is meant to be done every 6 months!) Lastly I thought it was ideal to do one cool down lap and bring it in for 10-20 mins and then head back out. I never thought about the air ducts, I will have a look on the web. The last time the rbf600 was bled was about 12 months ago, never knew that either. Thank you for info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJRamze Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Wow that must have been a pretty intense day to overheat that setup, intense for an experience day at least. I lost my brakes at 100 just before a tight right. Nearly sold the car after that . spent 1200 on floating discs, pads, lines and fluid Never doubted the car after that. Is there much difference between the t3 and t4? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetpilot Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I did a track day at Combe when I first got my 350 with some mates, one also had a 350. Me and my mate were on pretty even terms, halfway through the day his pedal was falling to the floor after a session, mine was fine. We were both running the same std set up. The only conclusion was, either his fluid was shot, or it was something to do with his driving style. Nothing else was different, same set up, same day, same number of sessions etc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docwra Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Aye, having given my car mega brake death on a number of occasions I think something aint right here, Id definitely flush the fluid through and replace with new 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveallen1999 Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 Aye, having given my car mega brake death on a number of occasions I think something aint right here, Id definitely flush the fluid through and replace with new To be done ASAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.