nearly killed....

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Active member
Joined
Apr 9, 2011
Messages
31
Reaction score
16
Location
boca raton,FL
My Car
73 convertible, 351c 2bbl,red/white roof.
73 convert.2bbl cleveland,

So, I am running down the I 95 a few days ago,beautiful

FL fall day, top down, sons dog in front pass seat, cruising at 70 + ,such a great day I went past my exit on purpose.No probs.

I had noticed a few

drops of ? engine oil, or PS fluid on the garage floor over the last few outings-checked PS-fine. Went to the beach with family in 2 cars,Wednesday-dropped of my 3 and went to look for parking. On the way to beach, noticed pedal down a bit.

Turned to park and brake light bulb went on and I lost 95% of braking.

Crawled to my indy, 4pm....he found a burst(rusty?) rear brake line and a failed pressure switch. Had it fixed by the next day.

I thought...could have happened at 75mph, the other day---could have been killed.

Moral....check all new leaks....

Also, rear brake bulb(original ) is out, BTW, seems to have ? yellow paint on it but the glass is black with age....Is it a regular 1157 bulb?

Adrian

 
I'd recommend replacing all of your rubber brake lines. Relatively cheap piece of mind. Mine looked like they would tun to dust if I touched them so I had them all replaced.

 
73 convert.2bbl cleveland,

So, I am running down the I 95 a few days ago,beautiful

FL fall day, top down, sons dog in front pass seat, cruising at 70 + ,such a great day I went past my exit on purpose.No probs.

I had noticed a few

drops of ? engine oil, or PS fluid on the garage floor over the last few outings-checked PS-fine. Went to the beach with family in 2 cars,Wednesday-dropped of my 3 and went to look for parking. On the way to beach, noticed pedal down a bit.

Turned to park and brake light bulb went on and I lost 95% of braking.

Crawled to my indy, 4pm....he found a burst(rusty?) rear brake line and a failed pressure switch. Had it fixed by the next day.

I thought...could have happened at 75mph, the other day---could have been killed.

Moral....check all new leaks....

Also, rear brake bulb(original ) is out, BTW, seems to have ? yellow paint on it but the glass is black with age....Is it a regular 1157 bulb?

Adrian
Glad you could talk about it today and remind us of how important it is not to take brakes lightly. About the bulb, just a standard clear lens brake light 1157 bulb for the rear brakes.

 
Hi Adrian. Wow, talk about a close call! I can honestly say that I have never had the experiance of having a brake line pop while driving the car. I guess having a dual master cylinder on your car ( no matter what year of manufacture your car is ) is definately a very wise and safe part of the braking system, so in case of a broken line, you should always have some brake pedal left, although a greatly diminished one at that!!

The bulb that you took out of your tail lights sounds like someone put in a 1157 A, instead of the correct 1157

Dave

 
Glad all turned out well ; I have also heard of engine bay fires caused old power steering pipes bursting and igniting on hot headers.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
funny how things like this make you step back and take a look at things.

If you are going to keep the car I would suggest stainless steel brake lines.A little pricey but easy to install and peace of mind. Got mine from mu.

good luck.

 
Remember also that on loss of brakes at 70+. Try the emergency brake and should that fail/freeze up there's always downshifting to reduce speed. Blow a motor, save a life.

 
I don't know why they even have a warning light on the brakes. When its bad you know it and don't need a light to tell you.

 
great advice.... we MUST never forger we are driving beautiful but OLD CARS that needs this kinda atenttion.... We, XXI century guys are not used to check those vital things in our rides

 
Glad your OK and the brakes didn't go out at the wrong time. I usually keep more distance in front of me when driving my 73 just for general precaution for avoiding any fender benders or bad brakes. Every once in a while I will practice pulling my leg and foot up to hit the emergency foot brake just as a test. Kind of hard for me since I'm 6'4", not much room to react.

 
73 convert.2bbl cleveland,

So, I am running down the I 95 a few days ago,beautiful

FL fall day, top down, sons dog in front pass seat, cruising at 70 + ,such a great day I went past my exit on purpose.No probs.

I had noticed a few

drops of ? engine oil, or PS fluid on the garage floor over the last few outings-checked PS-fine. Went to the beach with family in 2 cars,Wednesday-dropped of my 3 and went to look for parking. On the way to beach, noticed pedal down a bit.

Turned to park and brake light bulb went on and I lost 95% of braking.

Crawled to my indy, 4pm....he found a burst(rusty?) rear brake line and a failed pressure switch. Had it fixed by the next day.

I thought...could have happened at 75mph, the other day---could have been killed.

Moral....check all new leaks....

Also, rear brake bulb(original ) is out, BTW, seems to have ? yellow paint on it but the glass is black with age....Is it a regular 1157 bulb?

Adrian
I just got exact car in sept. Two weeks ago i had the left front line burst backing out of the drive way. i got the stainless replacements this week, glad you're safe

 
Yeah, brakes..... I remember a few years ago, I knew even less about cars than I know today and I replaced my master brake cylinder, bled all the brake lines etc. Everything was working fine when I drove the car until the next day, I get to a roundabout, the van in front of me brakes..... and my brake pedal goes to the floor with no resistance at all. Complete brake failure!!

I aged 7 years in one second that day! :-/

I managed to get pass the truck, over the sidewalk (no pedestrians there!), put the car sideways and stopped one inch short of a wall surrounding a front yard, with no scratches on the car or anything else.

Somehow no one had told me that, besides bleeding the brake lines, you need to get rid of the air inside the brake cylinder too.

Since that day, I refuse to work on the brakes. Lesson learned.

I might attempt other jobs on the car I've never done before, but NO BRAKES!

I'm glad you did not get hurt and everything and everyone is ok!!! Take care!

 
Might be a good place to mention changing your brake fluid, most recommend at least every 5 years, bleed till clear fluid. It is a great way to save your brake components.

 
MY WIFE AND I LIVE IN FLORIDA ALSO AND WE WERE HEADED TO RAMONA FLEA MARKET WHEN I LOST ALL BRAKES AND I KNOW THE FEELING I THOUGHT ABOUT EVERY RESOURCE POSSIBLE TO GET MY CAR STOPPED AND JUST MISSED A CAR I TOOK IT HOME REDID ALL THE BRAKE BLED EVERY THING AND IT JUST NEVER FELT RIGHT SO I REPLACE THE MASTER CYLINDER AND I HAVE BEEN GOOD AND EVERY SINCE BUT EVERY TIME WE GO OVER TO THE FLEA MARKET I THINK ABOUT IT FUNNY HOW LIL THINGS CAN BE SUCH A BIG MEMORY

 
Let me tell you about no fun. Try over heating your brake when you have 24 tons of sand behind you. Back in 2007 the switch that controls the Jakebrake (engine brake) on the Peterbuilt I use to drive went bad. I was hauling Plaster sand out to Brawley CA. For a new JacknBox. You have to go threw the San Diego mountains to get their. The darn switch stops working at the worst possible place, heading down from 4 thousand feet to the desert floor that below sea level. The grade is about 8 miles long threw a canyon. About 3/4s the way down I got the Pete shifted down to 6th and I cant hold it back so I can shift down again. I was only doing 20-25 mph, but it would not stop. The trailer brakes got so hot they caught on fire. Trying to keep the motor from over revving and driving threw the corners was no fun. I finally got to the bottom and was doing less than 5 mph and still could not stop even after shutting the motor off. When I got stopped ,me and another truck driver had to extinguish the burning trailer brakes. The smell was nasty. What a helpless feeling even at 5 mph when you just cant stop. :angel:

 
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