Urgent Query - Brakes Failed

[fluffy01016]

HI All

 

I've an urgent query i'm hoping someone can help with.  My Wife and Daughter are on the way to Scotland and she's just phoned me to say she was driving in cruise and when she pressed the brakes there was nothing there.  She has to slow using the handbrake and was obviously very frightened.  I'm struggling to see how this happened though as i would have expected the CC to switch off when the brake pedal was pressed and even if it didn't, i'd have expected there to be at least resistance in the brake pedal?  She says it's perfectly fine now with the CC switched off and brakes as normal?

 

any views from the Briskoda team?

 

Matt

[SuperbTWM]

Sounds like a strange one to me

 

What does she mean there was nothing there? Did it go to the floor, did it feel normal but not just do anything? Was it normal brake pressure she was applying? Did she try pressing as hard as she could?

 

The brake pedal switch has 2 contacts so I think it can self verify and does throw a code if the contacts do not agree with each other and this will stop the cruise from working but I suppose there could be a mechanical defect but you wouldn't expect it to magically fix itself.

[fluffy01016]

Apparently it went straight to the floor with no resistance and she pumped a few times too. Perfectly fine now and the car is only 11months old and done 9000miles

[SC03OTT]

I’m just gonnna throw this out there. Just to - hopefully - rule it out. The CC on newer models, like yours, doesn’t disengage the CC when the clutch pedal is depresses.  She’s sure that’s not what she pressed by accident? It would certainly fit the symptoms described. Again. Just throwing it in the mix to rule it out. 

[fluffy01016]

Great minds think a like and was exactly what I thought. I’m planning to ask her once she’s calmed a bit. She’s taking to skoda in the morning to be sure

[silver1011]

1 hour ago, SC03OTT said:

I’m just gonnna throw this out there. Just to - hopefully - rule it out. The CC on newer models, like yours, doesn’t disengage the CC when the clutch pedal is depresses.  She’s sure that’s not what she pressed by accident? It would certainly fit the symptoms described. Again. Just throwing it in the mix to rule it out. 

 

I'll have a tenner on this theory.

[BOD20]

I suppose you could ask her which foot she pressed the pedal down with. If it was definitely her RIGHT foot then it would be quite difficult and awkward to press the clutch with her right foot. If it was her LEFT foot however.....

[ScoutCJB]

Foot to the floor would normally indicate a brake servo issue but pressing the pedal would have disengaged CC.

 

something else for the mix .....  I had a brown trouser moment when I hit brakes in the wet on a long motorway journey - it was early doors and realistically hadnt touched brakes for probably 20 mins - when I did try to slow there was literally nothing there.  It took a good (what seemed like) 3 or 4 seconds before I could feel the brakes as they started to dry off.  Some manufacturers actually now have brake drying tech on their cars but unsure how its triggered.

 

 

Edited 28 August, 2018 by ScoutCJB

[SWBoy]

17 minutes ago, ScoutCJB said:

 Some manufacturers actually now have brake drying tech on their cars but unsure how its triggered.

VAG have the technology - it was on my 2006 Audi RS4. That worked by when the wipers were on (i.e. it was raining) the pads were gently squeezed onto the discs, not enough to provide any noticeable braking but enough to clear the water film.

[Ootohere]

If she was just driving, just in CC and just had to use the parking / emergency / hand brake to slow the car then i would be calling out Skoda Assist to have the car checked, fault codes checked and maybe even a courtesy car provided if still in the area.

If home, then the car still needs checked out.

[wiilydog]

Sounds like a similar story when a Skoda driver was decapitated after claiming his car's cruise control was stuck and caused him to crash into a stationary lorry.

[silver1011]

How was he able to make the claim?

[dunc69]

14 minutes ago, silver1011 said:

How was he able to make the claim?

As silver says, if he lost his head, who said his cruise was stuck?

 

(unless he had claimed that previously but was daft enough to drive the car again! Darwin awards anyone!?)

[wiilydog]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/24/skoda-driver-decapitated-in-stuck-cruise-control-mystery

[dunc69]

13 minutes ago, wiilydog said:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/24/skoda-driver-decapitated-in-stuck-cruise-control-mystery

Poor chap. I guess he had issues, especially as no faults were found to support his story / what he was saying to the 999 operator. 

[silver1011]

Foot flat to the floor on the accelerator in the seconds prior to the collision might suggest the cause was something different to a defect with the car.

[JohnnyType2]

there is one way this can happen if there is enough heat in the caliper due to continual contact which would cause the brake fluid to boil. did any one check the wheel for heat or was there an unusual smell? can be caused by a sticky caliper. Once the fluid in the caliper boils to gas there's no resistance and the pedal will go to the floor. Its happened to me in a vw golf.

 

[Gabbo]

If this were true & assuming a mechanical defect, the brake pedal swtiches should be working normally & would therefore cancel cruise immediately after they were touched.

[ords]

15 hours ago, wiilydog said:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/24/skoda-driver-decapitated-in-stuck-cruise-control-mystery

Should have included this link with your 1st post, then no confusion

[gRoberts]

On 28/08/2018 at 15:14, ScoutCJB said:

Some manufacturers actually now have brake drying tech on their cars but unsure how its triggered.

 

This can be enabled via VCDS and OBDEleven but I completely stayed away from it as I thought it would result in the pads wearing quicker.

 

 

[langers2k]

11 minutes ago, gRoberts said:

This can be enabled via VCDS and OBDEleven but I completely stayed away from it as I thought it would result in the pads wearing quicker.

 

I doubt that brake disc wiper will cause any additional significant wear, driving style will make a much bigger difference. Plus pads aren't exactly expensive and that initial braking bite could easily help avoid a serious accident.

 

For example, I enabled it about 85k ago on my MK2 and haven't had any obvious issues with accelerated brake pad wear. The pads have done at least 100k (my ownership) and are likely original giving 150k so far

[gRoberts]

Good to know - even more so that the pads have lasted that long

[Gabbo]

On ‎27‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 16:28, fluffy01016 said:

HI All

 

I've an urgent query i'm hoping someone can help with.  My Wife and Daughter are on the way to Scotland and she's just phoned me to say she was driving in cruise and when she pressed the brakes there was nothing there.  She has to slow using the handbrake and was obviously very frightened.  I'm struggling to see how this happened though as i would have expected the CC to switch off when the brake pedal was pressed and even if it didn't, i'd have expected there to be at least resistance in the brake pedal?  She says it's perfectly fine now with the CC switched off and brakes as normal?

 

any views from the Briskoda team?

 

Matt

 

Did you ever get to the bottom of this?