You asked what happens when you get grease on brakes, well I imagine itās similar to getting lubricant sprayed on your brake pads and drums.
It was the mid-90s and I got a call from one of my supervisors who said that one of our young Sergeants (weāre Air Forceā¦) and he was involved in an accident, but the Sergeant claimed it wasnāt his fault, he had no brakes and the police were thereā¦
So the First Sergeant and I take off to check it out. The Sergeant told us that he backed out of his driveway and in hindsight, he remembered that the car did not slow down when popped it into drive. He thought it funny but still accelerated towards the intersection at the end of the street. The light was Red so he hits the brakes and they barely responded and really was not slowing down, he is pressing harder and still almost nothingā¦
Heās running out of room and there is cross traffic so he runs his car into the curb trying to slow it down, but not enough and he hits the car parked on the side of the road.
I got in his car and pressed the brake pedal and there was plenty of peddle, I was lost for an explanation, but I look under his car and I can see that the back of both of his rear brake mounting plates (drums on the rear of his car) and the hole where you adjust the brakes is wetā¦ I rubbed my finger on it and it was slick; but that didnāt make sense, his brake pedal was solid so it could not be blown brake cylindersā¦
I then check his front brakes (disc brakes on the frontā¦) and all the discs were slick with oil or some lubricant.
We showed the police what we found and he checked and then agreed the car had been vandalized and had the car towed to the police station.
They investigated and our Sergeant had a big blowout argument with a civilian neighbor about the Sergeant working on his car late at night and playing his stereo when the neighbor was trying to sleep just a couple of days previously.
The police visited the neighbor and found an empty can of some spray lubricate (maybe WD-40, donāt rememberā¦) in the trash. His fingerprints were all over it. He claimed he used it up working on his own car, but there was no proof of him ever using it on his car.
He ultimately pleaded guilty to some Misdemeanors and paid a fine and before the Sergeant could sue him for the deductible in the insurance, he skipped townā¦
So, you ask, what actually happens when you put grease on brakes? Well, nothing actuallyā¦ The Brakes do not work!
