OK, I was like CRAZY late for school and had to pick up my girl and a friend... I was flying like a bat out of hell down the highway and through some twisties, pretty hard on the brakes.... well i get to school like 15 seconds before the bell rings. everyone is standing around the lot and as they hear me coming they move out of the way... sweeeet.... well anyways, i pull in, leave my car running as we unload and i get my junk of the trunk, and as i walk back around to turn her off so i can run to class, i notice smoke signals pouring off my brake pads.... is this bad? i thought it was just the paint on the calipers and rotors "baking" in, but now i'm thinking otherwise since the pain wasn't fresh.

has anyone had this happen? shoud i be concerned or do anything about it, or is it all part of the past now? did all that heat damage anything?

also, the brake seemed a little mushy as i pulled into my space... how can i keep that from happening again? Thanks!

 

I've had that happen to me while I was racing in the hills, I could smell them, but couldn't see any smoke cause it was dark out. After I let my car cool the brakes seemed to be fine, an yeah my brakes were fading too, I would apply pressure to them and they wouldn't slow me down as much as they normaly would.

 

You were doing a lot of hard braking at high speeds. They were extremely hot!!! You do not want to do this to your brakes. They could actually start on fire if they get hot enough. Be careful!!!

 

Hummmmm, that doesn't sound good. That doesn't sound good at all.

What can I do to help dissipate heat? I have heard of some people making ducts to direct air to them when they cut out the dust shields... good idea? or bad?

What about SS brake lines? Different Rotors/Pads?

Thanks for the input.

 

maybe it was your brake fluid boiling? try DOT4 next time

 

maybe the paint u used on ur calipers is actually trapping in more heat, making ur brakes get hotter than normal, in which case i would be careful not to warp them, later

 

Maybe you should drive a little more safely on city streets. Keep it at the track. I'm sure if you hit something, you would have really been running late.

As for the smoke, no idea. Try SS brake lines for the fade.

 

Mushy pedal was probably the fluid boiling.

Did you set your parking brake when you got to school? If you did the smoke was probably the pads cooking against the hot rotors. Hopefully you didn't do that since it will also likely warp your rotors.

 

Welcome to the marginal brakes of Honda. Anytime you push the brakes beyond their ability to shed the heat generated by repeated high speed braking, the pads and caliper absorb large amounts of that heat. That tends to 'cook' the pads, which is why they were smoking. The pad material is designed to operate up to certain temps, beyond which they start to deteriorate, with the chemicals in the pads giving off large amounts of gasses. That's the smoke you saw. The mushy pedal was the fluid in the calipers expanding due to the heat.

 

isn't there also a chance for the brake pads to crack?

 

perhaps if you sloshed cold water on them aferwards

 

No!!! You never want to splash cold water on your hot rotors. the sudden change in temperature will cause the rotors to warp. Never ever throw cold water on purpose. Let them gradually cool down by themselves.

 

I had this happen to me but it was when I was using some cheapo Kragen brake pads, other than that I've never had an OEM pad crack on me even after frequent hard braking.

 

It is possible for any brand of brake pad to crack. Whether it be a OEM product or an off brand. The probability of a OEM or an after markert performance brand is less likely to crack due to the materials that was used to construct the pad. Brake pads crack because of high temps. The cheaper brand of pad has a lower maximum temp. Therefore cracking. Also the width of the drum or rotor plays a big role in the pads. When the rotor is below spec, it cannot dissipate the heat as quickly, and then lead to extreme temp to be passed on to the pad. As also the case with the shoes and drums. A common case with the shoes cracking is when people(mechanics of lesser skill) over adjust the brake shoes. When they do this, the shoes are constantly wearing, even when the brakes are not applied. This causes exhuastion on the rear and then cracks. So if you ever adjust your own brakes, adjust them accordingly.