What happens when there is no brake fluid in your car?
Not having brake fluid in your car won't destroy the brakes, but whatever you hit when the brakes don't work will likely be destroyed.The Brake fluid is responsible for moving the various components of your vehicle’s braking system. The fluid operates under high temperatures and high pressure and, without it, your car would not be able to stop when you push the brake pedal inside your vehicle. It will simply go to the floor without stopping which will have catastrophic consequences.More technical details….If that fluid is missing you will end up with nothing but air in those lines. Air is very compressible, which means when you squeeze it, its volume decreases. The brake fluid in your car is for all intents and purposes incompressible. That means when your foot on the brake pedal operates the master cylinder which squeezes the fluid into the lines that force is transmitted almost completely to operating the brakes. When there is air in the line all you do is move the air around a little and you apply very little force into operating the brakes. When you have only a little air in the lines the pedal just feels "spongy" because you compress the bubbles down to nothing and then you are closing the brakes. When there is a lot of air, or no fluid at all, you just don't operate the brakes at all, and you have a very bad day.What actually happens when there is no brake fluid in the brake fluid reservoir?Image was sourced from Google
Brake fluid not coming through the hose to calipers?
First, could be pinched brake line. Second, if old model could be corroded brake line causing blockage. Third, does brake fluid look clear or is it broken-down? Finally, there could be large air bubble in line, line & system might need to be bled.
Front brake caliper won't come off the rotor...?
I can't seem to get the caliper off of my front driver side rotor. Both bolts are off, and it's got a wide range of motion when I try to rock it back and fort (clockwise and counter, if you have done this you know the movement I mean), but will not come off! I would normally have my dad help but we're about 1800 miles apart right now. I'm afraid I'm going to end up breaking the screwdriver trying to pry it off. Any advice?
How often do calipers and brake lines need to be replaced?
I just had them replaced two years ago and the shop says the calipers are "starting to stick and need to be replaced" and my brake lines may not hold out during the change. Could this really have happened already or are they just trying charge me more for unnecessary repairs?
What should I do about putting transmission fluid where the brake fluid goes???
About a month ago I put transmission fluid where the brake fluid goes and now my brakes are bad I am not sure if it is just the brakes or is it because of the transmission fluid. Is it bad and what should I do about it?
Why are my new brake pads and rotors getting super hot?
Odds are someone added brake fluid to the master cylinder at some point before the brake work was done. Here is what can happen. When brake pads wear down the Piston of the calipers move farther out of the caliper cylinder to take up the space created by the missing brake pad material. When this happens the fluid level in the master cylinder drops. Somebody may have checked the fluid level at that time and added more fluid. When you had new pads put on the fluid in the caliper was forced back into the master cylinder. Now the master is overfilled. When you drive heat is generated in the caliper which causes the brake fluid to expand. Normally this expansion is accepted into the master, but if it is over filled there is nowhere for it to go so it pushes the calipers piston out which creates excessive friction between the brake pads and rotors. This of course creates more fluid expansion and the cycles continues and worsens. Anytime new pads are put on the fluid should always be checked so this does not happen. In reality there should never be a need to add brake fluid. If the fluid is low it either means that the brakes are worn or you have a leak in the system. Either way the car should immediately be checked by a qualified brake tech. This problem is often caused by taking your car to one of those quick oil change establishments where they check and fill all the cars fluids. You think they are doing you a favor, but in reality they are potentially causing a problem down the road. Again if the car is low on brake fluid there is a problem somewhere in the system and by simply adding brake fluid the other problem is being ignored.
What needs to be done if a power steering fluid is put in the brake fluid reservoir?
I will be the bearer of the bad news. You need to replace everything that has rubber in it! While people may just do the bare minimum and do a flush I am guessing that it was topped of with enough that the brake fluid turned red in the reservoir and more than likely the pedal was pumped a few times. Simply put the brake system is a safety system that if not correctly serviced will kill you and others on the road! Brake fluid has a extremely high boiling point much higher than transmission fluid which means the fluid if mixed will have a lower boiling point and can overheat causing brake failure. The rubber in the brake system is not designed for transmission fluid and will expand also causing brake failure. The components with rubber in them are all the brake hoses to the calipers, the calipers, master cylinder cap, master cylinder and depending on the vehicle some of the hard lines may have a section of rubber in them as well. The metal lines will need to be thoroughly flushed so it does not damage the new components.While it was a mistake and is costly please don’t risk you life and others in the car with you plus other drivers to save some money no ones life is worth it!