hoskib

iTrader: (1)

being generally dim and totally thick with the workings of cars maybe this is normal, but it's only started doing it in the last few weeks. is there groves in the pads that are letting the water get between pad and disk?
not a problem now i know it's gonna do it, just left foot brake down the road until the brakes work again,brakes seem fine in the rain though

John WRX

coz they are absolutely drenched mate after washing the car, just takes a few yards of left foot braking after washing it to warm them up which removes the water then they should be fine.

hoskib

iTrader: (1)

i agree, just wondering why it's only started to do it recently?
worrying over nothing i know, but thats me

ZIPPY

Its because of the salt on the roads mixed with the water and the cold weather, this creates a layer of rust film on the discs very quickly and subsequently your first press of the pedal is cleaning them and not stopping you very much.

Left foot brake at least twice before you use them properly.

Zippy

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I used to get this on standard discs and pads. It scared the crap out of me....I had absolutely no brakes when I tried to stop at the bottom of my road

You could hit the pedal as hard as you like...nothing!! I'm glad the handbrake works

The dealers said there was nothing wrong, and the pads and discs had another 10K miles left in them.

I swapped for some fast road pads and discs afterwards and never had a problem since, no matter how wet I get them

[Edited by ALi-B - 12/30/2003 8:43:42 PM]

b14grf

race pace

greasemonkey

You'd expect a certain amount of reduction in effectiveness, but they shouldn't disappear completely.

The pads don't need "grooves" to allow water to get between them and the discs. There's obviously no form of sealing around the discs and calipers in the first place, so water is free to get in and around the whole assembly.

When you're talking about "left foot braking", what exactly do you mean? There's no need to use your left foot to dry the brakes out, as (if you're keeping the throttle open with your right foot as you do so), this puts unnecessary stress on the turbo and transmission. All you need to do is slow the car conventionally (i.e. with your right foot) a few times to get a bit of heat into the calipers.

hoskib

iTrader: (1)

but they do disappear completely greasemonkey, i live in a close and the first time it happened i carried on going into the joining road
i only left foot brake coz i'm a lazy bugger and i can't be arsed to move my right foot.

LIDDO

Im this bleedin weather, the water on ya discs is probably freezin straight away!

barneyrubble

I never have the problem as bad as this after washing - it would concern me? A second or so of normal braking and they're fine as greasemonkey says!

Wilster

Interesting - was going to post somat similar. I gotta MY02 and have jet-washed twice in the last coupla weeks. Drive off through fore-court, touch brakes and yes the car slows but hardly!! It did make me think 'Flippin' 'ell' ' Then it disappears completely, so answer is: be ready for it and touch the brakes as soon as after cleaning. Sod this left-foot business thats only for the experts

BOBBY G

I find 5 minutes on each disc with the hair dryer works a treat.

Hope this helps.

cheers

Bob.

Miniman

iTrader: (2)

Think my neighbours would look at me funny if they saw me going outside down by the wheel arch and sticking a hairdryer in there.

Just be aware this happens and be ready for it, but using the brakes.

Burble

Add a little less oil to the bucket when you wash the car - see if that helps. Failing that, use a frequent wash shampoo instead or exfoliate the pads twice a day.

GarethE

iTrader: (1)

I always dab the brake pedal a few times with my left foot on leaving the jet wash, and yes if your not expecting it, it can be a bit worrying.

Reminds me an incident when I was a kid and I put a few blobs of vasaline on the wheel rims of my bike to stop the brakes squeaking. Stopped the squeaking, but didn't stop the bike, allowing me to become rather intimate with the wall at the bottom of my street . Learnt a lot from that

[Edited by GarethE - 1/2/2004 3:24:42 PM]

Wilster

Wots all this left foot **** - does it make you feel like McRae or somat?