Page 1 of 1

Brakes

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:07 pm
by harry90
I dont know if this has happened to anyone, but today when i was driving, i went over a small pothole on the road, and at the same time had to brake because there was a traffic light in front. When i braked the pedal pushed back towards me, and kinda restrained my braking. It wasnt a hard push of the brakes, just normally slowed down gradually, but the pedal definetely pushed back. The last time this has happened before today was a few months ago. Does anyone know what this could be ? Or did the brakes simply just lock up ?

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:34 pm
by Bennoz
Do you have ABS?

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:48 pm
by harry90
yep...im pretty sure..

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:57 pm
by Bennoz
Thats what it'll be then. When you went over the pot hole with your brake on, for an instant the ABS system (more specifically the ABS sensor on that wheel) sensed the wheel was locked up as it was not on the road for that brief instant. It then would have released the caliper thinking you had locked up - hence the feeling in the pedal.

You wanna feel it properly? Go down the road & hit the brakes as hard as you can - try to lock up & feel what the ABS does to your pedal then!

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:29 pm
by harry90
lol...maybe if i have time :roll:

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:13 pm
by nicholas
Bennoz wrote:You wanna feel it properly? Go down the road & hit the brakes as hard as you can - try to lock up & feel what the ABS does to your pedal then!
Definitely recommended. I played around with it a bit on the long road from Golbourn to Wakefield when we went down there the other day.

FTO ABS is renowned to be a bit dodgy so I wanted to try it out for myself... better to get the hang of it on your own terms than when your safety is at stake. For all that, I thought it worked v. nicely, but will have to try it on wet roads to be sure.

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:17 pm
by Bennoz
Its not the hydraulics that are dodgy (which are the important bits) its the wheel sensors that pack up 9 out of 10 times.

I think its important for anyone who has ABS to know how & when it operates. For that matter, I think its important for everyone to know the limits of their car full stop.

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:27 pm
by nicholas
So true!

Ah, the days of hanging out the rear of the station wagon in the name of research :lol: