brake failure !!

[jst2878]

how should these thrust bushings be tightened. when the car is jacked up? I have some shimmee-ing and vibration with my steering wheel during high speed70-80 or braking. im stumped

[alpac]

Originally Posted by jst2878

how should these thrust bushings be tightened. when the car is jacked up? I have some shimmee-ing and vibration with my steering wheel during high speed70-80 or braking. im stumped

The thrust bushings must be tightened only when the car is on its wheels otherwise they will fail very quickly.

[steveb]

Now i am confused ..........





calipers were no fuss at all to 'press in' ??

so if its not the calipers .... any fresh ideas ??

did come across this on the passenger side .....



however on the drivers side ..... this




passenger side has only one 'connector' thing.... drivers side a blue and black thing !!

any ideas what these are ??

agian many thanks


_________________
If Life Was Meant To Be Easy, Michaelangelo Would Have Painted The Floor

[dkl]

The extra connector on your driver side (for those on the other side of the pond) is the brake pad sensor. Not to be so obvious, but did you take out the inner brake pads while taking those pictures? I only see the outer pads installed on all of the pictures you've shown...do you have both inner and outer pads install on the rears? The piston may move as it supposed to, but does the caliper slides properly on its guides?

[Weasel]

I think you need to do a good old fashioned bleeding session with someone to help you with the process to make sure you are getting proper fluid delivery to the rear.

[Laurence]

I've noticed you started a simlar thread on x5 drivers (BMW X5 • View topic - Brake failure).
Here you also said that your brake pedal goes almost to the floor (and that you were now used to it!). If I were you, I'd stop driving the car and get the brakes checked over - this is not normal and potentially dangerous.

From what you have described, it sounds as though you have a problem with the brake mater cylinder.
The master cylinder has two pistons in the same cylinder and two "outputs"; one for the front brake circuit and one to rear brake circuit. These connect to the ABS controller, which provides seperate circuits to all four wheels.
The point of having two outputs from the master cylinder is that if one of the pipes to the front or rear wheels fail, you will still be able to stop the car. (If you look at the brake fluid reserviour, you will see there is a divider half way down the middle, this ensures that there is always a minimum amount of fluid available shoud one circuit lose all its fluid).

It sounds as though the piston associated with the rear brake circuit has failed and that would explain the complete lack of braking effort at the rear, it would also explain the very long pedal travel. Master cylinder failures are very rare as they are probably THE most important part of any car - they are also had to diagnose as they are designed not to fail, but, get your checked!

[steveb]

Thank you for all your help and advice so far

DKL..... both inner and outer pads are there....i did take them out to have a good look around though ...

Lawrence ... you may be an angel !!..... after all the checks and investigating this looks the most probable route to follow now .. cheers

thanks again all

[amacman]

Originally Posted by motordavid

Thrust arm bushings...no tech or even susp. smartie here, but I just had thrust arm bushing replaced in my '01 with 73k miles; first time.
Done by a very thorough and trusted Indie, German MotorWerks of Asheville. Their head tech went through my front suspension for almost
an hour, (he had done it a year ago in my quest to eliminate/reduce my wheel shimmy under high speed braking.). He changed them out this
time, using OE parts, and showed me the oe bushings were still firm, pliable, usable, etc. But, as my WD ext warranty was expiring this weekend,
we were afterw hatever we could "fix", w/out being a predatory azzhole.

My point is, the TA bushings on my car were still very serviceable...but replaced.
And, guess what, I still have the shimmy, lmao!



So, I guess I am agreeing with killcrap, though that wasn't my point. Nothing "wrong" with oe bushings as original parts, or replacements.
Back at the ranch, I suspect the OP has some serious other problems that aren't necessarily bushings or, simply front end related, but wtfdik.

MD , Zekhausen racing has a link to stop tech where you will learn that brake pads can burn imprint onto the disc causing the shimmy or at worst , cementite can form in the disc if it`s really cooked .

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by amacman

MD , Zekhausen racing has a link to stop tech where you will learn that brake pads can burn imprint onto the disc causing the shimmy or at worst , cementite can form in the disc if it`s really cooked .

amacman, thanks...I know of Z Racing and that info. This may or may not a be pad/rotor situ,
and in terms of new ones, (regardless of brand), fixing the situ, more than temporarily, I have my doubts.

I have had new pads/rotors, (oem), etc. Same situ.

I got new TA bushings the other day and I am getting a set of new Michey Diamaris on Thursday. The orig Bridgestone
Turanzas on my 132s, are nearly gone. I suspect the new TA bushings and new tires will cure most/all of my ills. If not,
I will live with it, as I have for the past 4+ years.
GL,mD

[amacman]

MD , it`s possible to feel shimmy from the road surface because almost everyone brakes on the same part of road and heavy braking with a heavy vehicle , if abs is activating , will cause ripples on the road .

and it`s good to see steveb making the effort to fix the brake problem.