brake lines went while driving

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by KyleNatolix5

Bcredliner: I should of made my self a little more clear. They are rubber lines, but I purchased stainless steel braided replacements. Saturday I plan to put her up on jacks and take care of this, needed a brake fluid change anyway. 4.4 btw, gotta figure out how to put that in my damn signature.

I see. Best to use a pressure bleeder to be sure you get out all the air. I usually change the color of the fluid so I can easily tell when the old stuff is out.

[KyleNatolix5]

Slickgt1: the original lines failed, the SS lines are going to be installed in place of the failed rubber lines. You mentioned that they must be coated, mine are just stoptech braided SS lines. In other words the braided stainless steel is not coated in any other material.

Doru: Thats a little reassuring that it wasnt another issue that caused the brake line to rupture. A heavy foot doesnt help either haha.

[FSETH]

Originally Posted by tmv

Because "break" lines LOL

[mferek]

Did multiple brake lines fail at the same time? Usually there are two different brake circuits, each controlling a front wheel and the opposite rear wheel (front left, rear right). So if one line goes out, only 2 wheels lose braking. The fact that you started rolling seems to say that either multiple lines went out or something else went out. Maybe the master cylinder or the actual pedal. I presume that when you pulled over, you saw brake fluid on the wheels and/or ruptured lines. Is this the case? If so, which corners were ruptured? Or am I totally off base and the X only has one brake circuit?

[SlickGT1]

I think it is the law to make sure that if a line ruptures, you should lose pedal pressure, but the other wheels should still continue to stop.

[bcredliner]

The likely causes of the brake pedal going to the floor:

Brake fluid loss, like a broken hose.
Traction control on the fritz
Master cylinder has crapped out.

[Doru]

Originally Posted by SlickGT1

I think it is the law to make sure that if a line ruptures, you should lose pedal pressure, but the other wheels should still continue to stop.

It's also law not to steal or kill......

The Tribby "assumingly" like any other modern car has 2 different brake circuits. Maybe, but I can call BS on that. Drove the car with the handbrake home, and going only like 10 - 15 mph max. There was absolutely NO braking, with the pedal going ALL THE WAY to the floor. 2 braking circuits....
I guess the 2nd braking circuit is .....the handbrake.

[mferek]

Originally Posted by Doru

It's also law not to steal or kill......

The Tribby "assumingly" like any other modern car has 2 different brake circuits. Maybe, but I can call BS on that. Drove the car with the handbrake home, and going only like 10 - 15 mph max. There was absolutely NO braking, with the pedal going ALL THE WAY to the floor. 2 braking circuits....
I guess the 2nd braking circuit is .....the handbrake.

The handbrake is typically completely separate from the pedal braking system for the express purpose of not having a single point of failure. If your primary brakes go completely out, as the OP said his did, the emergency brake is there to have SOME sort of way to bring the car to a stop. Also, I believe most or all handbrakes are cable actuated. I know for a fact that they are totally separate from the usual brake pedal/master cylinder/brakes lines/brake calipers system. Otherwise, what's the point?

Handbrakes need to be adjusted correctly as well. They can be adjusted incorrectly or worn down enough such that pulling on the handbrake does absolutely nothing to slow the car down. If this is the case, driving around with the handbrake on and not knowing it is entirely possible.

There are a number of possible causes for your pedal going to the floor and not providing much or any braking. Low brake fluid, old fluid, a bad master cylinder, a leak, boiling brake fluid, other reasons that I'm not aware of, etc. In most cases, these conditions would have to be taken to an extreme to cause complete loss of braking. The fluid would have to be REALLY old or you would have to have a broken master cylinder that doesn't do anything. Otherwise, you would probably get crappier braking as opposed to no braking at all.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by Doru

The Tribby "assumingly" like any other modern car has 2 different brake circuits. Maybe, but I can call BS on that. Drove the car with the handbrake home, and going only like 10 - 15 mph max. There was absolutely NO braking, with the pedal going ALL THE WAY to the floor. 2 braking circuits....
I guess the 2nd braking circuit is .....the handbrake.

Yes, there are two separate hydraulic circuits for braking. No BS. If you lose a brake line, and the fluid drains out of that circuit, you will have the other three wheels still. That assumes that there is still fluid in the reservoir (it is divided in two compartments, so that if one circuit drains it doesn't empty the reservoir) and that the master cylinder is still functioning. You do have a single point of failure, at the brake pedal (ie, if it came disconnected) but usually, right at the bottom of the pedal stroke, the master cylinder is mechanically actuated by the pedal and that provides your backup. Many people don't trust it, because the pedal is down on the floor, but that is where it works, by design. I have had people in to the shop who said they had no brakes at all, but we were able to demonstrate that they had brakes right at the bottom of the stroke, they just hadn't experienced it before and so didn't trust it. The discussion usually came up after an accident involving the loss of one brake circuit. Not saying that is what happened to you, you may have had a failure in the master cylinder, but it is worth knowing about because people naturally assume they have no brakes when it doesn't engage at the usual point in the pedal travel.

The cable-actuated parking brake is just that, a parking brake. It is not designed to slow you from speed, and shouldn't be thought of as an emergency brake.

[Doru]

I was sarcastic there, because the 2nd circuit didn't work. I understand how it works, but it didn't, in my case. Pedal went all the way to the floor without any resistance. My son's friend lives a couple blocks away in a very quiet neighborhood - no traffic, so chill out. I know the hand brake is not for driving, but I didn't wanted it towed to my house either. It would have been a different story if this happened a few clicks away.

Hope if God forbid this will happen to someone else driving the X, the 2nd circuit will kick in.
I am not waiting anymore for brake lines to get old. I just change them preventive.