Yes I know, dumb move. I actually took my car up to 60 Kph for a good 5 minutes, before realizing it was on. I disengaged the brake while driving, and the car performed normally from then on, except for the smell of what I think was burned break fluid coming in through my AC vents.
I found an open stretch of road and I tested my breaks. They appear to be working normally. The car stops like it normally does and no abnormal sounds can be heard during breaking. I still have some break fluid left.
Any idea how badly I have (or may have) damaged my breaks/car? Should I take it in to my mechanic?
2007-07-02 07:32:26 · 8 answers · asked by winback 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Safety
what i would say is open EVERY car window and leave your car on until u cant smell the smell anymore, replace the fluid and it should be fine!
2007-07-02 07:38:11 · answer #1 · answered by David 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your parking break is not fluid driven. It is actually a mechnanical cable driven break in the rear wheels. What you are smelling is mostlikely your parking break shoes burned up a bit. They are on the inside of the rotor(if disk breaks in the rear) and cannot be seen from the outside. You probably didn't do any real damage to anything but it's always better to have someone look at it. If both your normal breaks behave properly and your E-brake still stops the car on a hill you should be OK.
2007-07-02 07:42:46 · answer #2 · answered by Kyle G 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Parking brake (not break) is applied only to the back tires of the vehicle. You warmed up the linings, and that is what you smelled, not break fluid. You wore off some of the lining of course, but if it stops like it should and doesn't shudder it's probably not damaged. I'm surprised you didn't notice the bright red "BRAKE" light that should have been lit up with the parking brake on.
2007-07-02 08:10:49 · answer #3 · answered by oklatom 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The only thing you could have damaged would be your Parking Break. The Parking Break and your regular breaks are two different things.
I've driven with my parking break on before, and it didn't seem to affect it. You should check it out for yourself though. Engage the Parking Break, put your car into drive and take your foot off the gas. If the Parking Break is working you shouldn't move. If the car rolls forward, you should get the Parking Break fixed.
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2007-07-02 07:43:28 · answer #4 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well i would say that the smell was just from burning brakes and you probably dont need to get them checked, but you can if your really worried about it, the most i think it would have damaged is your pads other than that the rotor may be a little more wore but everything should still be fine.
2007-07-02 07:42:31 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My idiot ex drove my lil' red sports car for quite some time when he came to a intersection and realized the brakes werent working.
Lol... It was , because he didn't put the e-brake down and it got all heated up and enabled the brakes. Lol...
It was funny, to me. Needless to say I kept letting him drive my car and eventually the retard totaled it.
I kinda miss the car...
2007-07-02 07:47:39 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It never hurts to have tham looked at once this happens however you probably didn't damage anything. The smell was from the friction material getting hot.
2007-07-02 07:43:05 · answer #7 · answered by hotrod1 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What should happen is the brake should release as soon as you put it into Reverse. Have it checked by a mechanic
2007-07-02 07:43:42 · answer #8 · answered by rockon1442 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋