Prang :'(

Hey y'all,

I had a prang today; I ran up the arse of someone. Just wondering if I can get some light shed on something that happened...

So the cars in front of me braked hard, I braked hard for about a second the wheels didn't lock up/ I didn't skid or anything. Just before you'd expect the wheels to lock up then the pedal went soft and I stopped braking and continued to drive forward at speed into the car in front of me. After the accident the brake pedal was still very spongey and I could push it basically to the floor. Even the tow-truck driver mentioned there was no brakes when he was backing it of the truck, they did still kind of work cause he had to brake when rolling off the tow-truck but the pedal was very very soft.

Did the brake booster give out or something? I'm by no means saying it's not my fault; I just am wondering if this had something to do with it?! I'm pretty devo'd but no one was hurt, just not happy :(:(

busted brake hose, busted/banjo bolt somewhere, busted hardline, brake booster leaking, brake master cylinder leaking internally through seals
loads of stuff could have happened if it involves the brakes unfortunately

have you done any work on the brakes recently yourself? replaced anything etc?

Check your brake fluid reservoir, if it's not full or wherever it was last then you probably busted a hose or it's leaking somewhere.

Is it possible that the ABS failed/malfunctioned? I know the ABS's job is to release small amounts of brake fluid when the wheels are about to lock and recycle it back through the system, so maybe it's stuffed and is constantly releasing fluid...? I know it's a long shot because ABS is supposed to be a "failsafe" unit, but I guess every machine/device wears out eventually...

I'm sorry to hear about your accident, thats terrible luck.. Is it fixable?

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Originally Posted by 98vtir

Hey y'all,

I had a prang today; I ran up the arse of someone. Just wondering if I can get some light shed on something that happened...

So the cars in front of me braked hard, I braked hard for about a second the wheels didn't lock up/ I didn't skid or anything. Just before you'd expect the wheels to lock up then the pedal went soft and I stopped braking and continued to drive forward at speed into the car in front of me. After the accident the brake pedal was still very spongey and I could push it basically to the floor. Even the tow-truck driver mentioned there was no brakes when he was backing it of the truck, they did still kind of work cause he had to brake when rolling off the tow-truck but the pedal was very very soft.

Did the brake booster give out or something? I'm by no means saying it's not my fault; I just am wondering if this had something to do with it?! I'm pretty devo'd but no one was hurt, just not happy :(:(

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it would lok a lot better for you if you had a better title

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Originally Posted by Super-DA9

Check your brake fluid reservoir, if it's not full or wherever it was last then you probably busted a hose or it's leaking somewhere.

Is it possible that the ABS failed/malfunctioned? I know the ABS's job is to release small amounts of brake fluid when the wheels are about to lock and recycle it back through the system, so maybe it's stuffed and is constantly releasing fluid...? I know it's a long shot because ABS is supposed to be a "failsafe" unit, but I guess every machine/device wears out eventually...

I'm sorry to hear about your accident, thats terrible luck.. Is it fixable?

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my right foot is my 'ABS'

The ABS has never engaged since I've owned it and I only found out it should have ABS recently. I'll hear from the assesor today hopefully, damage wasn't overly bad on my car, the lady I hit was worse off since I rammed her into a tow ball. Mine was pissin out a bit of steam but still drove and started up etc.

I hadn't done any personal work on the brakes but I did get it serviced a couple weeks ago; I gotta check the receipt when I get my car back. If I remember correctly there as no work done to the brakes, only two new front tyres.

Thanks for the info everyone!!!

When ABS comes on, which only happens when one or more of the wheels has locked, you feel the pedal start to vibrate as the ABS continually releases brake pressure from the locked wheel(s) and then applies it again so that the wheels rotate. The only time it's ever come on in mine in 12 years of ownership was once when a schoolboy tried to catch his friends up after they'd just run across the road, and ran straight in front of my car, and I had to brake hard to avoid running him over, particularly as he lost his nerve and stopped straight in front of me when he realised I was there!

The brake pedal shouldn't go soft or spongy unless you have a loss of fluid, or air getting into the fluid, so you obviously have a problem, apart from the accident damage! It could be a leak that's occurred due to the extra pressure from hard braking, or a burst hose, or something like that, but only a mechanic can check it out properly.

yeah i jsut called my insurance mob. the brakes did fail so that's why i had the accident... gotta wait for the mechanics report but damage is repairable. I shold go talk to my mechanic cause i got it services a couple weeks ago. bloody spent $850 on repairs too... probably coincidence though..

An update for those who are interested or care.

Apparently left hand front tyre was rubbing on brake line which wore thin and heavy braking caused it to fail. Since I got two new front tyres fitted is clearance or whatever something that should be considered by the mechanic? I don't necessarily want to screw over my mechanic and do him out of 4 cars of repair bills but surely since it was serviced three weeks ago there's something I can get compensated for?

Looks like someone's going to get sued. The mechanic would have his own insurance to cover mistakes like that. Have a chat with him.

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Originally Posted by 98vtir

An update for those who are interested or care.

Apparently left hand front tyre was rubbing on brake line which wore thin and heavy braking caused it to fail. Since I got two new front tyres fitted is clearance or whatever something that should be considered by the mechanic? I don't necessarily want to screw over my mechanic and do him out of 4 cars of repair bills but surely since it was serviced three weeks ago there's something I can get compensated for?

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This was EXACTLY what happened to me way back in 2000, in my DA1 Integra!

I felt the pedal getting spongy the day before, but didn't think much of it. Then as I was driving along, came to a roundabout at about 50km/h, pressed brakes, felt the normal resistance, then suddenly the pedal lost all resistance and shot straight to the floor. I nearly shat myself.

Luckily the roundabout have very little traffic. I flipped on the hazard lights, pulled the handbrake hard and pulled over to the side. That was bloody lucky. Because I was about to go on the freeway. If I had lost brakes at 100/km/h... Well I would probably be dead.

Tow truck came. My mechanic was at a loss because the brake master cylinder and booster were fine. Then he found that the front tyre had rubbed through the brake hose because some noob mechanic has mangled the hose mounts on the front shock absorber when the shock was replaced by the car's previous owner.

So for others reading, this problem is not a one-off. Check your cars.

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Originally Posted by curtis265

Looks like someone's going to get sued. The mechanic would have his own insurance to cover mistakes like that. Have a chat with him.

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Ahh true, I had a chat with him yesterday and told him what I knew. He was pretty good about it and just said let him know what they find. It might be why it's been over a week and the repairs haven't even started on my car yet...

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Originally Posted by dinorider

This was EXACTLY what happened to me way back in 2000, in my DA1 Integra!

I felt the pedal getting spongy the day before, but didn't think much of it. Then as I was driving along, came to a roundabout at about 50km/h, pressed brakes, felt the normal resistance, then suddenly the pedal lost all resistance and shot straight to the floor. I nearly shat myself.

Luckily the roundabout have very little traffic. I flipped on the hazard lights, pulled the handbrake hard and pulled over to the side. That was bloody lucky. Because I was about to go on the freeway. If I had lost brakes at 100/km/h... Well I would probably be dead.

Tow truck came. My mechanic was at a loss because the brake master cylinder and booster were fine. Then he found that the front tyre had rubbed through the brake hose because some noob mechanic has mangled the hose mounts on the front shock absorber when the shock was replaced by the car's previous owner.

So for others reading, this problem is not a one-off. Check your cars.

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Wow that could have been very very bad. I know my accident could have been way worse; I was on the freeway in peak hour traffic and the flow had started to slow right down hence the heavy braking. At least it wasn't a school crossing or something like that.

My invoice for repairs is in my car but I recall my driveshafts got tightened or something. Do they need to do anything with the brake hoses or the bracket to do anything to them? I probably should just read the service manual haha.

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Originally Posted by 98vtir

My invoice for repairs is in my car but I recall my driveshafts got tightened or something. Do they need to do anything with the brake hoses or the bracket to do anything to them? I probably should just read the service manual haha.

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Could be that the brackets for the brake hose were accidentally pushed or bent to the side by whoever was messing around the wheel well.

Or maybe you drove over some big/heavy debris one day and the crap shot up into the wheel well, clanged around abit, and knocked the brake hoses into contact with the tyre.

oh ok, I'll find out soon enough! I definately didn't drive over anything, I make it a point to avoid debris since I've become unstuck numerous times due to the ride height...

Thanks for the input everyone :)

feel your pain man :( hope everything works out and your not too out of pocket!

and to who posted ABS should be a fail safe unit. if they were failsafe, there wouldnt be an ABS light :P

ironically when abs does fail it deactivates the pump and you have brakes as per normal