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Posted by: skline Jul 24 2005, 01:38 PM

So here I am, driving the Chalon in a short stint with an Elise on the 73 freeway, those are pretty fast little cars first off, I did beat him but then went to exit the freeway and there is K railing down the ramp and I hear this strange noise coming from my car, I kept slowing down to about probably 70 or so still just using the gears, the light is red at the end of the ramp so I go to hit the brakes and they go way down, still not quite in panic, I do a quick pump up and it still isnt stopping, instead I hear this terrible grinding sound. Now I start to panic as there are cars ahead of me and the car is not stopping as it should, I downshift into second and let the clutch out still pumping the brakes and the car grinds to a stop just short of the cars in front. My heart is going about as fast as I was on the freeway and I think "Shit, well, I am only a block or so from the house, I will just not use the brakes the rest of the way" So I go really slow to my house and pull in the driveway. My heart is still beating pretty fast and as soon as it calms down, I will go see what the hell went wrong. I hope none of you ever have to experience what I just did. I will cut your life by 10 years and make your hair turn gray. The Chalon is down till I figure this out.

Posted by: olav Jul 24 2005, 01:48 PM

Holy sh*t, I'm glad you made it and nothing happened.

Tell us what the problem was...

Posted by: skline Jul 24 2005, 01:53 PM

Well, I have not pulled it apart to look at what went wrong yet, I just keep going over in my mind what that noise was. It sounded like the brakes were metal on metal so my first guess would be I lost a brake pad or something along those lines. It is way hot outside right now so I am going to wait for the sun to go down a little before I pull the rear wheels off to check. Any bets on it? Maybe I should start a poll.

Posted by: SirAndy Jul 24 2005, 01:59 PM

QUOTE (skline @ Jul 24 2005, 12:38 PM)

I hope none of you ever have to experience what I just did.

going over the bay bridge at about 60mph, guy cuts me off bad so i had to jump on the brakes.
all i hear is a loud POP and *no* brakes, pedal just goes to the floor.
i avoided hitting the guy by changing lanes (thank god there was an empty one).
then i hit backuped traffic on the bridge and all i have left is the parking brake.
i manage to get the car across with just the parking brake and had to call AAA to get it towed.

turned out the MC had exploded on me ...
Andy

PS: that was 5 years ago, right after i had gotten the car.

Posted by: skline Jul 24 2005, 02:02 PM

Well, that explains what happened to your hair.

Posted by: Brando Jul 24 2005, 02:05 PM

How do you 'lose a brake pad'? They shouldn't be worn down that far, and with those huge volvo calipers... Yikes...

Posted by: skline Jul 24 2005, 02:06 PM

Rear calipers are stock 914, the front wasnt the problem. I got pedal after pumping but it was grinding really loud. Like metal on metal. The pads were all new all the way around BTW.

Posted by: bd1308 Jul 24 2005, 02:20 PM

maybe you have something caught between the pad and the rotor, something small that wouldnt allow for good braking.

complete guess.

Posted by: neo914-6 Jul 24 2005, 02:23 PM

QUOTE (skline @ Jul 24 2005, 11:38 AM)

So here I am, driving the Chalon in a short stint with an Elise on the 73 freeway, those are pretty fast little cars first off, I did beat him

How? Elise 0-60 time of 4.88 seconds, 0-100 mph in 12.57 seconds and 141 mph top speed.

Glad you lived to tell...

Posted by: anthony Jul 24 2005, 02:30 PM

I'm glad you're ok. Please don't race on the street. Join the PCA or another club and do autocross and track days.

Posted by: goose2 Jul 24 2005, 02:35 PM

I'll take a guess....friction material became "unbonded" from the a pad's backing plate? Glad you're ok.

Posted by: jr91472 Jul 24 2005, 02:41 PM

QUOTE (goose2 @ Jul 24 2005, 12:35 PM)

I'll take a guess....friction material became "unbonded" from the a pad's backing plate? Glad you're ok.

that's my vote!

Posted by: bd1308 Jul 24 2005, 02:45 PM

QUOTE (jr91472 @ Jul 24 2005, 02:41 PM)

QUOTE (goose2 @ Jul 24 2005, 12:35 PM) I'll take a guess....friction material became "unbonded" from the a pad's backing plate? Glad you're ok. that's my vote!

how does that happen? they are like riveted with platnium rivets

Posted by: neo914-6 Jul 24 2005, 03:00 PM

Just pulled this off the Elise forum:

QUOTE

So here I am, driving my Elise on the 73 freeway and this funny looking Porsche comes along side me.  I just about had my mascara done when he accelerates ahead of me.  Well, I drop it into 5th and climb to 140 before I get to putting on my lipstick.  Anyway, I threw my compact out the window and it must have done something to his car because he quickly exited and seemed to come to a stop on the ramp. Brittney Pink ’05 Elise

Posted by: anthony Jul 24 2005, 03:36 PM

Posted by: BIGKAT_83 Jul 24 2005, 03:53 PM

Thats great Felix!!!!

Posted by: redshift Jul 24 2005, 03:55 PM

Posted by: ! Jul 24 2005, 04:06 PM

QUOTE (SirAndy @ Jul 24 2005, 11:59 AM)

QUOTE (skline @ Jul 24 2005, 12:38 PM) I hope none of you ever have to experience what I just did. going over the bay bridge at about 60mph, guy cuts me off bad so i had to jump on the brakes. all i hear is a loud POP and *no* brakes, pedal just goes to the floor. i avoided hitting the guy by changing lanes (thank god there was an empty one). then i hit backuped traffic on the bridge and all i have left is the parking brake. i manage to get the car across with just the parking brake and had to call AAA to get it towed. turned out the MC had exploded on me ... Andy PS: that was 5 years ago, right after i had gotten the car.

Wasn't MY fault.....

Posted by: Lou W Jul 24 2005, 04:10 PM

QUOTE

jr91472   Posted on Jul 24 2005, 01:41 PM QUOTE (goose2 @ Jul 24 2005, 12:35 PM) idea.gif I'll take a guess....friction material became "unbonded" from the a pad's backing plate? Glad you're ok. that's my vote!

Posted by: skline Jul 24 2005, 04:15 PM

Good try Felix, it was a black Elise and 2 guys in it. Of course, they may have been gay? Not that there is anything wrong with that. Anyway, Clayton calls and says he os on his way over to find out what went wrong, has me walk over to check to see if the caliper fell off at the top, I look under there and the pad is out of the caliper and rubbing on the wheel leaving a nice shiny line on the inside of the wheel. So now I know what it is. Time to pull it and fix it.

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jul 24 2005, 04:29 PM

sheet dood....

Posted by: ArtechnikA Jul 24 2005, 04:45 PM

QUOTE (bd1308 @ Jul 24 2005, 04:45 PM)

how does that happen? they are like riveted with platnium rivets

do you just make this stuff up?
have you ever actually *seen* a 914 brake pad?

show of hands - who here has rivited pads...

me either...

there is a reason they call that brake many guys leave off their cars an EMRGENCY brake...

Posted by: bd1308 Jul 24 2005, 04:46 PM

i read it in a book....i havent ever seen a rear pad, but the fronts werent riveted.

Posted by: Brando Jul 24 2005, 05:27 PM

The pads are attatched to their metal backings by an adhesive. If they were riveted you'd eat through the rivets before getting the pads down.

Damn scott, I'm glad it's not a bad MC (i voted for that). At least pads are cheap. What kind do you want/need?

Posted by: bd1308 Jul 24 2005, 05:33 PM

no warning either.....

Posted by: scotty b Jul 24 2005, 05:44 PM

Brake SHOES are riveted! Maybe the book was about 356's ??? There you go Britt that's your out. Thank me with a $50.00 bill

Posted by: bd1308 Jul 24 2005, 05:45 PM

okay....

should i paypal it to you, or give you my nigerian money order?

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jul 24 2005, 06:01 PM

howabout you spend that 50 bucks on some haynes manuals....

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jul 24 2005, 06:02 PM

and some pushrod seals

Posted by: VegasRacer Jul 24 2005, 06:06 PM

See Scott. That was just a warning.
Don't ever try to leave the 914 Club again.

Posted by: ! Jul 24 2005, 06:07 PM

I did stay at a really fucked up hotel one night recomended by my insurance company....and my pads aren't made by a fem pad maufacturer....the box says 9 eleben....

However....I was able to pop the top off of a cold one after i Skidded to a stop at the bar......

Posted by: spare time toys Jul 24 2005, 06:55 PM

How come NO ONE is all over him about the fact he is talking about going over 100. Busy freeway.. old car .. BAD breaks. It just aint right I tell you. Glad to read you are OK but do keep an eye on the wear marks on the rim. You do not want a rim to split at over 100.

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jul 24 2005, 06:56 PM

QUOTE (spare time toys @ Jul 24 2005, 05:55 PM)

How come NO ONE is all over him about the fact he is talking about going over 100. Busy freeway.. old car .. BAD breaks. It just aint right I tell you. Glad to read you are OK but do keep an eye on the wear marks on the rim. You do not want a rim to split at over 100.

he didnt have kids in the car larry LOL

Posted by: SirAndy Jul 24 2005, 07:04 PM

QUOTE (ArtechnikA @ Jul 24 2005, 03:45 PM)

there is a reason they call that brake many guys leave off their cars an EMRGENCY brake

where i come from, they call it a handbrake or parkingbrake ...

but it does help to have a working one in emergencies,
Andy

Posted by: TimT Jul 24 2005, 07:19 PM

QUOTE

I'm glad you're ok. Please don't race on the street. Join the PCA or another club and do autocross and track days.

werd

Before I got the brake bias in my 914 corrected, I left the track at over 100mph a few times

Turn one a Watkins Glen, and big bend at LIme Rock Ive gone off more than I care to admit

BUT I got the bias corrected, and now my rear brakes dont lock first!! YAY!!!

oops I digress

We had did track support a few years ago for a guy that was really hard on his brakes....

At Summit Point once he complained of losing brakes.. The friction material on his front pads started to crumble, and the paint on his big reds started to discolor!!

Brake pads can fail... but only at the extreme..dont install cheap pads

Posted by: spare time toys Jul 24 2005, 07:28 PM

QUOTE (anthony @ Jul 24 2005, 03:30 PM)

I'm glad you're ok. Please don't race on the street. Join the PCA or another club and do autocross and track days.

If you do "race" or go fast on the street dont bring it up here especially if the kids are along.

Posted by: skline Jul 24 2005, 07:38 PM

Well, in response, I wasnt on the street, I was on a freeway, a freeway that doesnt usually have much traffic on weekends and today was no exception, there was very little traffic out on the 73 when we did this, the car itself may be old but I have redone just about everything on this car including the brakes. I cant explain how the pins came out that retain the pads in there, the only thing I can think of is I could have forgotten to put the retaining clips on the brake pins. I am sure I had intended to but it is possible that I forgot. I am not perfect by any means so it is quite possible. I would not however forget to install the pins to hold the pads in. I probably didnt have any at that moment and when I did get them I put them on the desk and forgot about it. And I was alone in the car. I only have the drivers seat installed so there were no passengers. Its still not a good thing to do in anycase, but the kid in me still likes to play sometimes.

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jul 24 2005, 07:49 PM

i have 3 sets of extra retaining clips... find some pins