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Old Feb 16, 2003 | 04:38 PM
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Loren
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Default Re: HELP! Brake Problem!!

Hey, TurboJ.

I'm surprised none of the audience of experts has mentioned this yet, but if you got your brakes that hot, it would be a Really Good Idea to BLEED YOUR BRAKES.

While your at it, when was the last time you changed your brake fluid? If it was more than two years ago, or if you don't know... better do that, too. Get some Castrol GTX at a minimum. There is better stuff (higher temp) out there if you're willing to pay for it.

Brake fluid absorbs moisture by it's nature. When you get the brakes hot, the moisture evaporates and creates air pockets in your brake lines, which will eventually be noticable as a mushy brake pedal. These air pockets don't go away on their own, this is why you need to bleed your brakes periodically, especially if you use them hard.

I agree with the Porsche dude. You just got the brakes hot enough to emit some smoke. Best thing you could do at that point would be to get back out on the road in a civilized manner to get some air flowing across them to cool them down. (see tip below)

A Really Bad thing to do at that point would be to set the hand brake. Doing so would effectively "insulate" a small part of the rear rotors with the already smokin' hot pads. The rest of the rotor would cool much quicker and possibly result in warped rotors. For the record... warped rotors suck!

Some good tech articles on brakes here:
http://www.teamscr.com/techarticles2.html

Personal braking tip: Since you know it is quite possible to cook your brakes on that car, keep that fact in mind. Unless you are truly in an emergency situation, DON'T decelerate from 100 to 10 using one long brake application. Scrub off 20-30 mph, then give the brakes a few seconds to catch some air. Then scrub off some more. On a race track, you don't have the luxury of doing that... on the street, you do. No need to cook your brakes uselessly.
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