brakes failed: LEAKING FROM SUBFRAME :( ?

[lolcantturn]

As title says i was drivingto school and stopped at a light and my pedal went almost all the way down to the floor and my braking was reduced by like 75%..I still have some braking power but it's pretty unsafe. I never did anything related to brakes except flushing the fluid in November and cutting the caliper brackets to accept other wheel..help?

UPDATE:

Found the leak. It's on my subframe. don't know how to access it and fix it and I can't drop the subframe.

[nando]

did you look at the brakes?

did your hacked up caliper brackets fail?

these things don't just fail unless something was wrong

[Sagaris]

lolcantstop

[lolcantturn]

did you look at the brakes?

did your hacked up caliper brackets fail?

these things don't just fail unless something was wrong

Haven't looked at them yet as I'm in class, but I just don't understand how they would suddenly fail haha.
The caliper brackets were cut very cleanly, just enough so that new wheels would mount to the hub properly.

lolcantstop

foreveralone.jpg :(

[Sagaris]

foreveralone.jpg :(

It doesn't seem like a seal on one of the pistons in the brake system would fail suddenly. That sounds more like a brake line failing.
Look under the car for where fluid has leaked out. Last year I worked on a car where the brake line rusted through. It was a 2000 corolla, so ann e30 with rusted brake lines is not out of the question. The corrosion looks like warts on the brake lines. Not fun.

[E30SPDFRK]

A brake line popped. Look above the rear subframe and on the trailing arms for likely sport, they like to rust there.

[lolcantturn]

It doesn't seem like a seal on one of the pistons in the brake system would fail suddenly. That sounds more like a brake line failing.
Look under the car for where fluid has leaked out. Last year I worked on a car where the brake line rusted through. It was a 2000 corolla, so ann e30 with rusted brake lines is not out of the question. The corrosion looks like warts on the brake lines. Not fun.

A brake line popped. Look above the rear subframe and on the trailing arms for likely sport, they like to rust there.

yep, just checked today. dripping a little behind the diff...NOT stoked. This seems awfully difficult to reach ugh.

[rammstein]

At least you seem to have made it home safely and didn't find out you had no brakes during a panic stop. Welcome to my universe. I've experience this type of brake failure 4 times.

First time, pedal went to ground because they overheated- this was on the track. Bought a bunch of brake ducting after that and it definitely helped. However, I think age and extreme heat had already taken its toll on the calipers, because...

Second time, pedal went to the ground because the right front caliper exploded, going through the rim so I had no brakes and a flat tire. This was on the track too.

Third time, new brake caliper had a piston seal go bad 1 week after install. The meant brake fluid came out all over. This was particularly angering. That was a long and angry ride home in the tow truck. I used a lot of bad words and shook my fists a lot. Beer helped.

Fourth time, I bled my brakes and forgot to tighten one of the rear bleeders. At least that time I lost my brakes 20 feet from the house.

Maybe take some pics of the leak when you have a chance and post them up here? it might help the smarter guys here to diagnose it.

[lolcantturn]

At least you seem to have made it home safely and didn't find out you had no brakes during a panic stop. Welcome to my universe. I've experience this type of brake failure 4 times.

First time, pedal went to ground because they overheated- this was on the track. Bought a bunch of brake ducting after that and it definitely helped. However, I think age and extreme heat had already taken its toll on the calipers, because...

Second time, pedal went to the ground because the right front caliper exploded, going through the rim so I had no brakes and a flat tire. This was on the track too.

Third time, new brake caliper had a piston seal go bad 1 week after install. The meant brake fluid came out all over. This was particularly angering. That was a long and angry ride home in the tow truck. I used a lot of bad words and shook my fists a lot. Beer helped.

Fourth time, I bled my brakes and forgot to tighten one of the rear bleeders. At least that time I lost my brakes 20 feet from the house.

Maybe take some pics of the leak when you have a chance and post them up here? it might help the smarter guys here to diagnose it.

At least two of those times were in a closed course, and you got lucky with the last two! we're pretty lucky that these brake failures haven't ended catastrophically.

I took a video. I hope it helps to diagnose exactly how to fix this. What you're basically seeing is subframe, trailing arm bushing, and more subframe. You can tell which parts are moist though.


There's a quote from Massive Lee on another thread concerning the removal of these lines:

Just a little note regarding the brakelines aboves the subframe. It looks like everyone is scared by them. In fact they are extremely easy to remove. And without dropping the subframe. All you need to do is to cut the rubber line as close as possible to the metal fitting, and use a deep socket (and a ratchet) to undo it.

Which is the rubber line he is talking about?

[Charley]

^^^ He's talking about the rubber line that goes from the car to the
trailing arm. The end of the line on the trailing arm is easy to reach
and undo but the other end is in a pretty tight spot above the subframe
and fitting two wrench in there is a royal pain. His method works
great used it a few time btw.

Of course if you do this you will need new lines...

Charley

[bernzpeed]

maybe time for stainless steel brake lines.

[lolcantturn]

maybe time for stainless steel brake lines.

Yes, i'm currently on that haha.

^^^ He's talking about the rubber line that goes from the car to the
trailing arm. The end of the line on the trailing arm is easy to reach
and undo but the other end is in a pretty tight spot above the subframe
and fitting two wrench in there is a royal pain. His method works
great used it a few time btw.

Of course if you do this you will need new lines...

Charley

so by cutting the line and using a socket to take it out, I'll eliminate the need to use a wrench, and i'll also be able to replace the line that burst on me right?
I'm very noobish when it comes to brakes, I've actually never had the need to service them or do anything with them since I bought my E30 so this is a first time thing really.

[Sagaris]

I replaced all my brake lines EXCEPT those 2 under the rear subframe. If you cut the line like you say, how do you get the new one on? arent you faced with the same clearance issues?

[redhatpat]

Yeah, you still have the clearance issue when you reinstall the brake line, but you also aren't dealing with an old, rusty fitting either.

[lolcantturn]

I'm so confused I wish there was a proper diagram for this all haha (realoem doesn't help much)