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Sudden brake failure in mk3 VW Golf

You almost certainly had a faulty brake master cylinder, but since the car has been scrapped, we'll never know for sure. You did the right thing in attempting to stop by using the handbrake: this will not cause a spin unless you were doing something stupid like still driving the front wheels or trying to do a boy racer handbrake turn; or as in the case of some Citroens, the handbrake operates the front wheels rather than the rear.

The handbrake isn't meant to provide braking ability for a moving vehicle, it's meant to keep a stationary vehicle from moving off unintentionally. The handbrake warning light warned you to put the handbrake fully down, and you did, therefore the light was doing its job.

The stuff you've read about brake fluid boiling and causing brake fade is IMHO a red herring in this instance. If you were driving hard, repeatedly braking fiercely for bends etc, or towing a loaded trailer down a bendy winding hill, then maybe, but nothing in your posts suggests this may be relevant.

Steve

Reply to
shazzbat
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shazzbat ( snipped-for-privacy@spamlessness.fsnet.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Sorry, are you suggesting that's MORE likely to spin the car?

Either of those are far LESS likely to spin the car by using the handbrake for retardation.

Nobody's yet mentioned just turning the ignition off, either.

Reply to
Adrian

Sounds like you boiled your brake fluid.

The delay in it having an effect may be due to the time required for "heat soak", i.e. the time taken for the heat to diffuse through your pads & pistons to your brake fluid.

This would certainly explain why the police didn't find anything wrong afterwards.

Tim

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Reply to
Tim Downie

Thanks for that. I've checked and the brake fluid was last checked 13 months previously, and certainly hadn't been changed for at least 2 years.

Reply to
moriarte

Great idea, after all, who needs steering or brake lights when they're trying to avoid crashing?

Nobody suggested pulling the bonnet release to increase drag either.

Reply to
Willy Eckerslyke

Certainly on a MK3 golf it would. The only car I've really experience brake failure because of water was a Mini with all drums, and fortunately, I tested the brakes straight after the flood. They took some time with left-foot braking to dry out though.

Reply to
Chris Bartram

:-)

Wouldn't make much difference if it were....

Reply to
Chris Bartram

Oh yeah, that'll help!!! Adding lack of brake servo assistance to failing hydraulics.

-- bucket

Reply to
bucket

Willy Eckerslyke (oss108no snipped-for-privacy@bangor.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Oh, Pur-leeeeze! Quote... "several hundred yards", "traffic lights".

Brake. No brakes. Fuck. Definitely no brakes. Arse. Handbrake. FUCK. Nothing much there. Shove the friggin' hazard lights on, turn the ignition off, leave it in gear, watch the damn thing stop fairly bloody quickly.

As for the steering - I don't seem to recall the OP stating that she was descending the friggin' Stelvio pass...

Or, indeed, doing 120 down the A1 towards Scotch Corner in a shed of a 318 "with a stuck throttle, ossifer"...

Reply to
Adrian

bucket ( snipped-for-privacy@nospam.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Ummm, lack of servo...? Relevance...? Remind me what the problem was in the first place...?

Reply to
Adrian

On almost all cars the braking force is mainly at the front anyway.

Point of Information. On the Citroen DS the handbrake /is/ intended to stop a moving vehicle. The hydraulic brakes are fully powered, not just assisted, so if something goes wrong with them you only have the handbrake left. Hence bloody powerful handbrake.

Ian

Reply to
Ian Johnston

It will indeed.

It'll replace "non functioning brakes" with "engine braking".

What, precisely, do you expect the servo to assist when the brakes aren't slowing the car down at all?

Reply to
David Taylor

Given a choice between a) having brake lights and b) avoiding someone ...

Ian

Reply to
Ian Johnston

I certainly would sacrifice my brake lights to avoid plowing into a queue of cars in front of me. Wouldn't you?

As for steering, it didn't do much good in the situation being discussed, did it? The car still drove straight into the back of the cars in front.

Plus, my steering wheel is still connected to my wheels, even when I turn off the ignition.

At low speeds wind resistance is negligible. All bonnets have safety catches to prevent that happening. The driver's forward vision _is_ more important than displaying brake lights to the rear, or having vacuum assisted (but non functional) brakes or even power steering.

Reply to
David Taylor

Ian Johnston ( snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Brake lights still work with the key in the first position, anyway. The position where the steering lock doesn't come on...

Reply to
Adrian

Ian Johnston ( snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

You've never owned a CX.

Reply to
Adrian

Actually, unless you removed the key you'd still have steering with power assistance unless you dipped the clutch. Evin if you dipped the clutch, you'd have non-assisted steering (this of course assumes the car had PAS fitted). The PAS pump is engine driven, and you're using the engine as a brake because its turned off, so the engine, and the pump, are turning. IIRC Mk3 brake lights will work without ignition too, but who cares?

Reply to
Chris Bartram

A MK3 won't lock the steering with the key *in* the lock anyway, IIRC.

Reply to
Chris Bartram

Wrong. A front hand brake? The front end is braking and the rear isn't? Rear overtakes front.

But back to reality for a moment. Am I the only one who gets the gist from the OP that this was fairly undemanding urban/suburban driving, rather than giving it welly and trying to do tricks?

Reply to
shazzbat

Point of information 1 The handbrake is correctly known as the Parking brake, a opposed to a service brake. It may be bloody powerful, but it's still a parking brake. Point of information 2. If you lose all the service brakes on *any* car all you have left is the handbrake. Sorry, parking brake. Point of information 3 It's a golf.

Steve

Reply to
shazzbat

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