Emtee
New Member
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I don't wish to be overly dramatic here, but my car, which was thankfully with Shiltech at the time, has had a complete brake failure and only dodged being set alight by the skin of it's teeth.
There is a brake pipe that runs from the brake pump across the back of the engine bay to the hydraulic unit. This pipe is steel apart from a section about 4 inches in length which is steel braided flexible pipe. Although correctly retained in all its clips, this braided section was in contact with the cylinder head cover and had been rubbing against it to the point where the braiding had worn through. The flexible tubing inside (which isn't designed to have any strength in itself) was then free to balloon under braking pressure.
As Shiltech had been working on my brakes they took the car for a test drive during which they stamped on the brakes to make sure there was correct braking; more than I have done under 'normal' driving conditions, but a necessary check to make sure it would be okay under emergency conditions. The flexible tube burst and all braking was lost, instantaneously. It also dumped all the brake fluid right down the back of the engine and on to the exhaust, which was thankfully not hot as the car had just left the garage, but if it had been....brake fluid is VERY flammable!
Geoff has a picture of the pipe section, which he's going to email over to me, but he asked that I post this to warn you all also.
If this is a one-off, then that's a relief, but please do yourself a favour, remove the plastic trim at the back of the engine bay and check yours. It'll take no more than 20 minutes to check.
Miles.
There is a brake pipe that runs from the brake pump across the back of the engine bay to the hydraulic unit. This pipe is steel apart from a section about 4 inches in length which is steel braided flexible pipe. Although correctly retained in all its clips, this braided section was in contact with the cylinder head cover and had been rubbing against it to the point where the braiding had worn through. The flexible tubing inside (which isn't designed to have any strength in itself) was then free to balloon under braking pressure.
As Shiltech had been working on my brakes they took the car for a test drive during which they stamped on the brakes to make sure there was correct braking; more than I have done under 'normal' driving conditions, but a necessary check to make sure it would be okay under emergency conditions. The flexible tube burst and all braking was lost, instantaneously. It also dumped all the brake fluid right down the back of the engine and on to the exhaust, which was thankfully not hot as the car had just left the garage, but if it had been....brake fluid is VERY flammable!
Geoff has a picture of the pipe section, which he's going to email over to me, but he asked that I post this to warn you all also.
If this is a one-off, then that's a relief, but please do yourself a favour, remove the plastic trim at the back of the engine bay and check yours. It'll take no more than 20 minutes to check.
Miles.