dynamomarl

Brakes..Where I go I need brakes.

16 posts in this topic

So I was getting back from town, going home when I smelt this wicked tar like smell. It kept up for a while and I thought it was from outside. Then I noticed my brake pedal bottoming out and barely braking. Luckily I was able to get home in one piece (avoided the steep slopes). Anybody shoot ideas my way? How screwed am I? My smart is beached on my driveway. :( 

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Check the brake fluid reservoir to see if it is empty.  If so, you have a fluid leak to find, I would inspect the metal lines first..

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Why would the brake warning light not provide an alert?  Anyway it sounds serious!

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Brakes were binding and overheating. 

Cause:  Owner has ignored to carry out required maintenance.  

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Don't hold back Tolsen, tell it like it is...lol   More than likely correct I will admit...lol

Sorry buddy, but I would be looking into a complete brake job, or damned good inspection.  Possibly a broken brake line resulting in the loss of pedal...?  It is repairable....I may know someone who could look at it...?...lol

Is there any brake fluid leaking from car in driveway? Pools underneath..?

 

Does the emergency brake work? IF so you could get it to the shop or where ever to have it looked at. Just leave plenty of space to slow her down.

 

 

Edited by Willys

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41 minutes ago, Willys said:

Don't hold back Tolsen, tell it like it is...lol   More than likely correct I will admit...lol

Sorry buddy, but I would be looking into a complete brake job, or damned good inspection.  Possibly a broken brake line resulting in the loss of pedal...?  It is repairable....I may know someone who could look at it...?...lol

Is there any brake fluid leaking from car in driveway? Pools underneath..?

 

Does the emergency brake work? IF so you could get it to the shop or where ever to have it looked at. Just leave plenty of space to slow her down.

 

 

As far as I can tell the emergency break works. No pooling from what I can tell but I can't see this late at night. I took a pic (see link) This is a major bummer. https://photos.app.goo.gl/ymCZFyzPdHTRTf53A

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I don't know whether my brake incident might apply to your car, but I found the cause of my brakes failing to be unusual. My car suffered a ruptured brake line after an emergency stop.

 

The brake lines are predominately on the left side of the car, but cross over at the rear of the front body pan and the rear of the rear body pan.

 

The rupture was in the middle of the front brake line where it crossed over from left to right.

 

Although my brake lines appeared to be in good shape, this line had ruptured where a wire cable had been tied with a nylon tie to the brake line. 

 

For a repair, the line was cut with a pipe cutter and a compression fitting was inserted at the rupture.

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It could be binding calipers leading to boiling brake fluid, although that would be hard not to notice when driving....the lack of speed, the bad fuel consumption, the smell.  That problem would disappear when the car cools off again.  I had front brakes on a new Renault 5 TC boil their fluid descending the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse in Austria although I was not riding them on a descent....

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Binding brakes get hot so those of us that are sufficiently smart can easily identify which wheel is binding.

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This week there was a post on thesmartclub regarding brake light warning lamp being on.  The original poster stated in a later post that bracket holding brake fluid reservoir was broken and reservoir was hanging suspended from hose and fluid level wiring.  Makes you wonder what planet some of these people live on.

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4 hours ago, tolsen said:

  Makes you wonder what planet some of these people live on.

 

Its sad to say, but I would bet that the majority of the drivers here don't even keep up with basic maintenance of their cars.

They get in, turn the key and go.

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8 minutes ago, smart142 said:

 

Its sad to say, but I would bet that the majority of the drivers here don't even keep up with basic maintenance of their cars.

They get in, turn the key and go.

Yes, I live with two of them here.....oh, I was supposed to check the oil?   But the pedal didn't go to the floor yesterday...???   What grinding sound?  I thought I smelled something strange, I thought it was that farm..?


Seriously.......some folks...lol.

 

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Frankly I think we live in a world in which it is getting harder for your average person to do their own car maintenance. Especially with more modern vehicles. Our society, for the most part, doesn't encourage DIY car maintenance. You HAVE to take it to a mechanic and pay excessive amounts of money and hope you don't get shafted.

 

Also many people aren't mechanically inclined or they weren't brought up/given the chance to be (like many women). They have other qualities which frankly some people who may be mechanically inclined are sometimes lacking. Like politeness, compassion, understanding, supportiveness, thoughfulness etc.

 

I think if someone is actually asking for help, it's not helpful to try and make them feel like an idiot just because they don't know.

That would just encourage them not to learn which would just perpetuate what seems to have become the discussion here.

 

To the person who is having brake difficulties.

Have you ever done your own brakes? Are you familiar with the process?

Turn the front wheels all the way each way and look at the calipers and pads

Are the brakes metal on metal? Discs heavily scored?

If it is not your thing then i would take the car to a competent and TRUSTED mechanic.

get a second opinion or a third if you feel you can drive your car around safely.

 

I've done brakes on lots of cars and I'll be doing my brakes soon. 

I'll be curious to figure out the quirks and pitfalls (if any ) of the smart car brakes.

 

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5 hours ago, Toxophilite said:

Frankly I think we live in a world in which it is getting harder for your average person to do their own car maintenance. Especially with more modern vehicles. Our society, for the most part, doesn't encourage DIY car maintenance. You HAVE to take it to a mechanic and pay excessive amounts of money and hope you don't get shafted.

 

Also many people aren't mechanically inclined or they weren't brought up/given the chance to be (like many women). They have other qualities which frankly some people who may be mechanically inclined are sometimes lacking. Like politeness, compassion, understanding, supportiveness, thoughfulness etc.

 

I think if someone is actually asking for help, it's not helpful to try and make them feel like an idiot just because they don't know.

That would just encourage them not to learn which would just perpetuate what seems to have become the discussion here.

 

To the person who is having brake difficulties.

Have you ever done your own brakes? Are you familiar with the process?

Turn the front wheels all the way each way and look at the calipers and pads

Are the brakes metal on metal? Discs heavily scored?

If it is not your thing then i would take the car to a competent and TRUSTED mechanic.

get a second opinion or a third if you feel you can drive your car around safely.

 

I've done brakes on lots of cars and I'll be doing my brakes soon. 

I'll be curious to figure out the quirks and pitfalls (if any ) of the smart car brakes.

 

I agree totally, I tried to teach my kids what I know and they both took to it well, up to a point, then it was simply easier to take it in.  Both now basically all but flown the coup so they are now on their own, last one leaves this coming wednesday.....party time...lol

 

I agree, that mechanics are now far more complicated when you look under the hood of most vehicles so much so that you may not even be able to see the engine under all the plastic covers hiding the essensials. They simply do not want the average Joe or Jane to touch them. They want to fleace you of every penny for simple reapirs most educated willing people could do themselves.  Yes you also need a good aray of tools to get these jobs done also. 

As for brakes, they are still basically the same with a few added twists, but again with the right tools and a bit of basic knowledge, easy enough. IF you want to tackle the job, simply take one side apart at a time so you have a working model to copy when it comes time to reassemble them. You need to know what new brakes and old brakes feel like and set them within these specs so to speak so the end result is right.  If you break open a line then it may be more than the basic owner wants to deal with also. Bleeding them correctly may also be something past their wishes...?

Machines are simply a jig saw puzzle. They come apart one way and should only go back together one way and IF you lay out all the parts on a clean piece of cardboard as you take them off and simply reverse the order when installing them you should be fine.  We all had to learn one day way back when.  This is usually how people learned....then decided they liked it and did some schooling to get the finer skills and a piece of paper to hang on the wall.  It makes a difference what that piece of paper says also.lol.

Most mechanics who have to do this work generally are hard skined folks as they have had to deal with people asking idiotic questions over and over again....resulting in a hard outer shell to stop them from killing their customers. There's a reason there's a waiting room for customers don't ya know....it's for their safety...lol

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20 minutes ago, smart142 said:

This site is by far the best site I've seen to date for our cars technically speaking.....and they can show you where to source those hard to find  for a good price items. I found my brake parts on the shelf at Canadian Tire.....I personally buy good rotors and cheap pads, usually simply because pads are cheaper than rotors same with drums and shoes.  To each their own, I also am not a speed freak any more so don't think I need competition brake parts any longer.  It is what it is, a Smart Car after all, not a formula one racer...lol.   It wieghs almost nothing also. It has very good brakes for what it is. It's far over designed as well imho.

 

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