Help!!! All brakes just failed on S2!!!

[s2_bo]

Please help if you can,

Im just about to leave for a long road trip and my firends S2 has lost all brakes, The pedal goes straight to the floor the brake warning light stays on and the brake fluid reservoir was completely empty.

I have checked under the car and cant see any leaks of fluid but its completely pissing it down outside so this would be hard to spot. There is no fluid on any of the wheels though so i dont think its a split hose.

I have refiled the reservoir but the car still hasn't got any brakes, the pedal comes back up but has no resistance when it drops.

The bomb warning ligth has been coming on for a month or so for a few seconds every time the car starts..


If you can help please let me know asap what this could be as i need to try and sort it out in the next couple of hours..


Bo

[s2driveruk]

if the pedal has suddely shot to the floor could be master or slave cylinder gone pop, though you should be able to see the fluid somewhere. Also could be a snapped pushrod into the cylinder as have heard of them going before. Either way thats not the nicest of emergency jobs to sort out. Can you still change gear btw....or does the clutch do the same, just ping to the floor and not return?

Cheers
David

[s2_bo]

cheers David. Clutch is still working fine. Does this sound like master cylinder then? There is still a very little bit of braking. Help!! :s

[s2driveruk]

sounds like a good hunch at least yeah....proves the circuit for the clutch at least is holding pressure. was the reservoir empty or full? Pretty sure i'd be expecting to see a major puddle of fluid somewhere.....try reaching up behind the pedal to check there too

[madpugger]

There are inner hoses that could have gone that would not leave fluid on the wheels. It could be any of the brake lines have gone pop, steel or flex ones. Possibly the master cylinder or slave as mentioned. A leaky reservoir? Whatever it is, get it up on a ramp and ensure it is fixed before you head, you dont want to be half way to somewhere only for the problem to come back!

[s2_bo]

Ok, i have taken the cover under the steering wheel off, there is no fluid there. I cant see any under the master cylinder in the engine bay eather

The reservoir was empty but i refilled it and now the brakes are slightly working, when you pump the pedal after about 10 pumps its biting a little bit about half way down.

Then it drops right down again, but you can hear the push rod moving fluid in the cylinder.


Its not losing any fluid now, that we have refilled it.

Could it now just have an air look in the brake lines? but then where didthe fluid go to begin with to course it from emptying?

Will try and bleed the brakes now all round to see if that helps.

Please post if you have any ideas at all..


Bo

[s2driveruk]

are you doing that with engine on or off? Seems really odd for them to suddenly half work....get someone to pump the brakes while u check everywhere IMO

[gedu]

Well, if reservoir was empty, there is quite a lot of air somewhere in brakelines. First thing to do is get 2 liters of brake fluid and bleed all corners. If some corner won't bleed properly, you most probably have found broken line.

[4WheelDrifter]

Clutch and brake systems are independant, they only share the same fluid reservoir. The clutch will still have a reserve of fluid in the supply hose.
It's a PITA that it's wet out there, as there must be fluid leaking somewhere. Could be a popped hose or piston seal. Unless the reservoir was really low on fluid and the master cylinder suddenly ingested some air.

[Error404]

Bleed the system out at least you'll hopefully be able to see where its leaking, careful pumping the pedal without fluid in the MC as it can funk the seals.

Hope its nothing to difficult to fix dude, what crap timing

[madpugger]

Yeah just filling the reservoir will not give you your full brakes back, you will need to bleed the system. Be careful not to snap the bleed nipples. I would still be wary about doing this alone without finding the initial problem, what if it happens again at 80? What state are the discs and pads in? If they are all really really worn then there is a chance the res was empty because of this and thats why the brakes failed (the cylinder is trying to pump air not fluid). If it is this, you will find that by bleeding the brakes you will get fluid before air for some time. I would do a really long bleed of the farthest away caliper, presumably the nearside rear, followed by a good bleed of the rest. If you then get a pedal, get someone to shove their foot on the pedal hard and hold it there to make sure the pedal doesnt fade away and at this time you can look for leaks.

[s2_bo]

Right guys thank you! Your input is again remarkable!

After two hours of bleeding and test driving we finally found the problem, The rear driver side caliper was leaking, only a very very little bit this only showed up once the engine was running and the added braking pressure was there, its leaking at the seal where the handbrake cable bracket attaches to the caliper. I just about spotted the little puddle near the wheel in the reflection of the street lights.

Now that we have found the problem he can take it to a garage and get them to replace that caliper. Ill also tell him to make sure they bleed at least 2 liters through the system to make sure its air free..


Thank again for your input, im gonna jump in the RS2 now and drive to Italy

Tara!

Bo

[s2driveruk]

glad its sorted, enjoy the trip Bo!