I have a 2000 Ford Taurus with adjustable pedal, @ 87000 miles. Recently had it checked out before a road trip, no problems. Some 300 miles from home, the brakes failed. Hit the car ahead. Stranded…
Was told both brake lines rusted and that my mechanic would not have been able to tell that before the failure. Accurate? Nearly ruined the vacation, cost more than I have
Without seeing it I could not say if the mechanic could have seen it.
I suspect that it was rusting from the inside out. This the mechanic could not have seen.
When was the last time your 9 year old car had the brakes fluid flushed/changed? Brake fluid normally should be changed every two or three years. Many people miss this. Brake fluid absorbs moisture and over time there is enough to cause the rust.
I hope no one was injured, sorry about the cost and inconvenience. If you have not been in the habit of doing all the recommended maintenance, I suggest now would be a good time to start.
This is one for the books,your first hint of brake problems was when they failed completly and you hit another car. The first thing that comes to mind is why did you lose all braking and not just the section related to the rusted line.
I hope no one was hurt.
While it’s not impossible, it’s unlikely that both brake circuits failed simultaneously. The brakes are set up on two circuits to prevent this from happening. If one circuit fails you should still have brakes on two wheels, one front and one rear. It would take longer to stop the car this way, but you still have some braking.
It’s unusual to lose all brake function at once with no warning.
The cat, the kid, the driver, and I were not hurt. The woman in the car ahead is claiming injury, headache, neck ache, despite no damage to her car, bent license plate on mine.
I, too, am surprised the brakes failed. I was not driving at the time, so I don’t know if there was warning. I had the car in the shop to be checked on a Wednesday, then drove and stopped without problems many times on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. My friend then drove on the highway about 100 miles and was able to slow down and stop as we waited to go through the toll booth. The car then started rolling forward despite the brake pedal being depressed.
I had the brakes cleaned and adjusted less than 7000 miles ago, rear brakes replaced less than 20,000 miles ago, front less than 30,000 miles ago, and was told to have the front pads checked again in a few thousand miles. Not sure if I’ve had the fluid flushed.
If this happened to me there would have been a very detailed accident investigation performed. There would not have been one question that could not be answered. The first one being ,were both sections of the brake fluid resivoir empty when the inspection immeditaly after the accident was performed?
Many of today’s brake hoses are also rust traps due to the big steel ends. If it was a brake hose that rusted out; any mechanic could have noticed the metal flaking off. Stainless should be used on brake hoses. Todays brake lines are trash and should always be checked.