Sudden brake failure in mk3 VW Golf

Perhaps it's someone planning an insurance job, then, and trying it out for leaks here?

Ian

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

I think, to be fair, that the treatment I gave it prior to this was outside of normal parameters...

Let's put it this way, you don't get mud in the master cylinder without really trying...

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

You can just accept you were wrong, y'know, instead of weaselling about and trying to change the subject away from the cockup you made.

Why is the steering heavy? The engine is still turning and driving the power steering pump. And why would there be a lack of servo assistance? The vacuum is still there as the pistons are still drawing in air.

And you call me thick?

Almost right, but not quite. Even with perfect 50:50 weight distribution,there will be a lot more braking at the front.

Do you have any evidence to back that up?

Do you know how they work, then? Do you know what happens if you try it with a front handbrake?

Ian

Who in their right mind would think the steering pump and servo doesn't work when engine running. Clue: You didn't work out I was replying to the post from 'Stuffed' who thought turning off ignition is a good idea. I was giving reasons against doing that.

-- bucket

So you not only know next to f*ck all about mechanics, but also about reading comprehension. Try reading my post again, slowly and with the aid of a dictionary if it helps. Concentrate on the words "gear" and "in" when looking for a clue.

but here is no point turning

"just-about-able-to-drive"

You don't want to debate the turning the key doesn't lock the steering for what reasonexactly? Other than to prove you're easily gagged by sitting you on a soft chair? And how malnourished do you have to be to need power steering at speed? Not to mention the PAS will still be working if the ignition is off but the car is in gear. Oh, as will the servo assist, not that you seem to understand the basic principles of how the vacuum the servo relies on is generated in the first place.

First gear will

1st will decelerate you safely to a standstill if the engine is turning but not firing... And still leave you with all the limp wristed assistance you require. Though ramming the car into first if you're doing a fair old speed may result in loss of steering as you lock the front wheels, throw bits of box over the road, etc. Working down through the gears, with the ign off, would seem a far more sensible option to me.

The thinking here is totally black and white. The brakes have

experience,

The brakes would suddenly go from not working after many pumps, to working perfectly without any major change in circumstance? And you'd be willing to endanger others (and to a less important extent, yourself) in the hope of this happening?

If my brakes failed the last think I would want is the

But they wouldn't. Just how much of a clue do you need to have spoon fed to you? Engine off, in gear - What do you think the steering and brake assisting mechaisms are doing at this point? Do they have a primitive AI that tells them if the ignition is off they can defy the laws of physics?

And even if they did disengage somehow when you switched the ignition off, I'd rather you had a rapidly decelerating lump of potentially lethal metal approaching me, than a steerable but unstoppable under power one. Call me odd, but the thought of you crunching away trying to find first as you hurtle towards me doesn't fill me with hope.

Finally, something we both agree on.

You seem a little confused. You do realise, don't you, that turning of the ignition doesn't stop the engine turning and that it's the engine turning which supplies servo assistance and power steering?

Ian

God in 'eavens. YAWN. You cannot understand shit can you. Who was talking about slowing to zero. First gear speed is the aim then handbrake. Why do you guys need everything explaining in such pedantic detail when its so obvious? The op was a girl so that is the reason lack of power steering is an issue. It simply boils down to being sensible. Turning off the ignition is not a good move for the average joe. I still do not see the point, Any half competent driver could stop with wheels squealing by shifting down through the gears if needed and I can certainly stop to a few MPH. All this talk about actually stopping dead to 0MPH is theoretical clap trap and not needed. Yeah the engine being forced to turn by the road will probably keep the servo vacuumed and the steering pump running, but its all a bit risky for a average driver to diss the ignition. I wouldn't give that advise to anyone I love or care about. Us on here may be a bit more agile with our driving and be able to perform all sorts of tricks while going sideways on a roundabout, but most drivers aint that confident or competent and would not know what to do if a warning light came on, let alone loosing control.

Let get practical for once and stop all this pedantic single issue shit. Driving is dynamic. Shame the one-dimensional communication on here wasn't a bit more dynamic.

Now, haven't you got some homework to do?

-- bucket

I'm not trying to change the subject. I've tried several times to get back to the OP's predicament, and how I correctly pointed out that her pulling on the handbrake was the correct action to take. I also didn't get involved in a willy waving "I've had a better one than yours" contest descending into ludicrous bollocks about steam coming out of bleed nipples and cars passing MOTs for 10 years with no brakes because of a missing brake pipe.

Steve

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

Yes, you are. You still are.

Indeed. Away from your cockup over a front-wheel handbrake making a spin MORE likely, which is what we're picking you up on.

despite the OP claiming that she did, but it didn't work. Oh, and then you complain that nobody but you's actually reading this thread.

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

Keep diggin'.

Clue: Conor's talking about the engine being switched off, too.

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

The OP.

The handbrake didn't work.

Why the sexism?

Why not?

I think the stationary traffic in front of the OP may beg to differ.

for the very short distance until the car comes to a safe, controlled stop.

Why?

You'd rather they just bimbled slowly into the stationary traffic ahead?

I replied to your post and the text qouted is yours.

Which were all wrong. THe engine is still turning at the same rate it normally would as long as it is in gear and the clutch pedal isn't pressed down.

Turning the ignition off would achieve the same but allow you to actually stop to zero.

There was no c*ck-up. You simply refused to enter the world of normal driving as opposed to giving it welly, handbrake turns etc. What I was referring to was that the OP had been told that applying the handbrake was the wrong thing to do. This was incorrect.

I used an analogy, keeping it simple for the OP. You disagreed with it. You have that right, but it does not make you right. You aren't.

Whether it worked or not is irrelevant, it was the right thing to do.

Oh, and then you

Where did I say that? Oh, I didn't. I asked if you had read it, because you were so far from the OP's predicament.

I also didn't get involved in a willy waving "I've had a better one than yours" contest descending into ludicrous bollocks about steam coming out of bleed nipples and cars passing MOTs for 10 years with no brakes because of a missing brake pipe.

Steve

Given your comprehension of mechanical principles and reading, I imagine shit is about all you do know. So I'll have to bow to your greater knowledge on faeces.

Who was talking

Everyone who understands that at some point a body in motion will come to rest? Or maybe even the OP, who slowed to a halt with the aid of other cars, rather than using an element of clue.

First gear speed is the aim then handbrake. Why do

Because a simple "switch the engine off and let it and the box do the braking" failed to sink into your fuzzy little mind. Though with hindsight, using detail was probably self defeating in explaining it clearly to you, given your inability to understand.

The op was a girl so that is the reason lack of power steering is

1) There would be no lack of power steering. 2) At any appreciable speed power steering is a non-issue, as the assistance shouldn't be that great on the move (given your failure to grasp the basics, I won't baffle you with the reasons as to why) 3) Your comment is offensively presumptious and sexist. A "girl" is no less likely to be able to steer a moving car without PAS (though that's already been negated as the PAS would indeed still be working) than an man.

It simply boils down to being sensible. Turning off the ignition

For reasons you have yet to not have shot down in flames.

Any

A half competent driver wouldn't be squealing the wheels crunching down through the box...

And last time I checked, a car is either stopped or not. Stopped to a few mph is a nonsense. And ignoring your gross twuntism for a moment, do you then propose she finds herself being a part of a perpetual motion machine? Or are you suggesting rather than stopping in a safe controlled non-impact manner, she "stops" to a few mph, then collides with someone or something? Very competent and safe...

Yeah the engine being forced to turn by the road will probably keep

There is no probably. There simply is. Go learn how the servo works, and what turns the PAS pump, then try again.

but its all a bit risky

Why? Turn the key from "engine on" to "engine off, radio still on". Even someone as clearly clueless as you should be able to manage that, let alone any average driver.

I wouldn't give that advise to

Thereby, with luck, evoking Darwinism. Hopefully nobody outside your shallow end will be injured though.

Us on here may be a bit more agile with our

Switching the engine off is as skillful and dextrous as controlling a 4 wheel drift and kicking the back end out with a dab of handbrake? Do you equate drinking a glass of milk with eating a steak?

Because you're incapable of grasping the concepts of the single issue, and are utterly unable to prove yourself right?

When trying to come up with a clever one line put down, it helps if under scrutiny it makes sense. Driving is dynamic, however you singularly refuse to understand the dynamics of it.

And I thought my various *tard slanders were weak. Your insulting skills are second only to your mechanical savvy I see.

Look. This is quite simple. You stated, categorically, that a car is more likely to spin if you brake using a handbrake on the front wheels than if you brake using a handbrake on the rear wheels. You're wrong.

The right thing to do would have been to stop, not plough into the cars.

We were discussing YOUR COMMENT, not the OP's predicament.