TD6 2002 L322. Brake failure.

[BRUMMY]

Hi All.
Scarey moment yesterday.
Came down the steep Bulli pass yesterday, heading to Thirroul NSW.
Had the brakes on all the way down doing 50 kpm, got to the bottom...no brakes.
pumped the pedal..minimum stopping power.
Parked the car at The Headland Hotel, had a feed, three hours later started it up and all seemed OK.
Booked it in with the mechanic.
Anyone have any suggestions.?
Cheers Paul.

[Roverlord off road spares]

Hi All.
Scarey moment yesterday.
Came down the steep Bulli pass yesterday, heading to Thirroul NSW.
Had the brakes on all the way down doing 50 kpm, got to the bottom...no brakes.
pumped the pedal..minimum stopping power.
Parked the car at The Headland Hotel, had a feed, three hours later started it up and all seemed OK.
Booked it in with the mechanic.
Anyone have any suggestions.?
Cheers Paul.

My Dad had the same thing doing the Bulli Pass in his Old HK holden boiled the brake fluid on the way down, He had no brakes. When it cooled down they worked.

[BRUMMY]

Thanks Roverland.
For a 4wd as expensive as these, this should not really happen.......
There was a cement truck behind me....... i was wearing brown pants........He he.....

[Laurie]

Brummy
If pads, discs and booster are ok ! it definitely sounds like the effects of hygroscopic brake fluid. As Mario said the fluid has most probably boiled [bigwhistle]; due to the moisture content. Most rarely change their brake fluids regularly enough these days, especially with the need to have a IID Tool etc to bleed the modern ABS systems. Where you using sport mode with the gearbox ?

Laurie

[350RRC]

Assuming it is an automatic, did you have it in D for drive?

The auto in my ancient POS will crawl downhill if put in 1 or 2 high or low range without using the brakes, depending on how steep the slope is.

DL

[rick130]

Did the pedal get long or was it hard/normal and just didn't pull up?

If it got long, youve boiled the fluid.
With a long pedal you need to pump the pedal to bring it up to normal height.
If the pedal remained firm and just didn't pull up you've overheated the pads.

[theelms66]

If you rode the pedal all the way down the hill ,they will have been cooked.

[donh54]

?............
For a 4wd as expensive as these, this should not really happen............

Even in a Rolls Royce, riding the brakes down a hill will a) bugger the brakes, b) get you and your family killed!
The gearbox is there for a reason.
The truck behind you would have been using his/her gears, and an engine brake, that's how truckies stay alive to scare you another day!
I travel Cunninghams Gap regularly in both cars and trucks. If I do it right, there are only two stretches of about 100 metres each, that need the brakes.

[350RRC]

I guess some are missing the point................

surely in an L322 with an auto box you can select a low gear in the auto box, not drive [bighmmm] (in low or high range if they have both ranges) and then the motor will provide engine braking without the need to use the brake pedal whilst proceeding down a steepish hill.

Do L322 drivers even understand this basic concept?

DL

[FisherX]

Do L322 drivers even understand this basic concept? DL

Oh them there are fighting words!

Do I see some model snobbery going on here?

[p38arover]

Had the brakes on all the way down doing 50 kpm, got to the bottom...no brakes.

kpm?

[p38arover]

surely in an L322 with an auto box you can select a low gear in the auto box, not drive [bighmmm]

Yes, you can. Even though the gear lever only has PNRD - no L, gears can be selected manually by moving the gear lever to the left.


...(in low or high range if they have both ranges)

They do.

[BRUMMY]

Thanks for all the replies.
I have not been down anything as steep as Bulli pass, in more than 15 years, out of habit i left it in drive.
The pedal when i tried to stop was a fair way down, but not at the bottom.
As i said before, when it cooled down, the brakes were OK, but the pedal felt different.
The fluid was replaced two years ago.

[350RRC]

Oh them there are fighting words!

Do I see some model snobbery going on here?

No snobbery, I just wanted to know if people used the lower gears in the auto on steep downhills instead of riding the brakes.

Especially given the weight of them.

cheers, DL

[irubix]

Pop into an indy or a tyre + service shop and ask for them to quickly test your brake fluid. Or just buy a brake fluid tester from ebay or the like. About $10-15.

Brake fluid from the stealer is cheap, or if you can find it, Castrol Advanced Performance Series DOT 4. I've recently done a flush, used just over a litre of fluid.

I have crossdrilled and slotted rotors on my 05 L322 and went with the 4x4 Bendix Pads as they are made for large weight i hear. Either that or EDC's from Island 4x4, they are the goods!

Also, if the brakes overheat it is 'possible' to warp your discs and glaze up your pads causing reduced performance, glazing being the more likely of the two.

[harlie]

If you rode the pedal all the way down the hill ,they will have been cooked.

Agree, use the gearbox, the manual mode is for exactly this. The TD6 at 4000rpm provides a lot of engine braking in this situation.