[Lopaka]

Aloha,
Need someones advice. I did something real stupid. My EOS has 3000 miles on the clock and the other day, I forgot to release the parking brake and drove home with it engaged. I took the freeway, at 60miles per hour for 5 miles, and did not notice till I was almost home. Had radio real loud and top down and did not notice the smoke coming from the car till someone signalled, your car is on fire! Smoke was coming from the back, ug!

I feel like an idiot, so don't need to be reminded. Need some real advice on what to do. Should I have the dealer change out the pads, or the rotors and pads. I pretty sure the pads are burnt. Can I wait for my 5000mile service? It drives fine, I just feel real stupid.
Thanks,
Lopaka

 

[GOgg]

You need to check the pads for wear to ensure there is some friction material left. If not then you will also have to check the disks for scoring. If there is no material left replace the pads immediately. If the disks are badly scored they will need skimmed or replaced ASAP otherwise you will get uneven breaking and excessive wear on the new pads.
Best of luck and hope fully you wont have a problem. I am assuming that the caliper still work as well and that the seals have not melted at the pistons. Get the wheels off and have a look.

 

[BLK EOS]

Though you have a set of four disk brakes the parking brake is a drum system independant from the service brake system. Your disk service brake system is fine. This is why you noticed nothing while applying your service brake when driving home. You just worked your engine a little harder getting there. Yes your parking brake pads and drum portion of your rear disks must have gotten pretty hot. Park your car on a steep hill set the parking brake with the car out of gear and see if it holds. Release the parking brake and allow it to roll slowly (not too steep of a hill for this one) then set the parking brake to stop the car a few times. If you hear no metal to metal noice and the car stops ok you probably have nothing to be concern about. Tell your mechanic the story the next time you have a service and ask them to see how things look. Hope that helps

 

[BLK EOS]

rear disk brake pads

14k and my dealer thinks I may need my rear brake pads and rotor replaced on my 2007 EOS. Said I had 90% front and 40% rear at my 10k service. Sorry folks but I think it is a bit rediculous to have brakes wear out at less than 60k. I'd even be ok with 30k in a performance car but 14? Such uneven wear front to back concerns me as well. No I don't drive with two feet so my brakes are released until I need them. Anybody else out there over 20k in their EOS and still using the original brake pads?

 

[cb391]

I'm at 20k miles and rears seem to be ok. Will check more closely and let you know.

 

[cb391]

I took a look at my brakes as best I could with the wheels on. The rear pads still look pretty good but may be wearing slightly more than the fronts. I also noticed the pads are thinner as you move away from the center hubs, at least in the front brakes. I couldn't tell about the rears without removing the wheels. Seeing as both front brakes had this taper and from what I could see on the rears this taper appeared to be there that this is probably normal. The rotors have no usual marks. I'm guessing there may be slightly more rear brake bias to help keep the nose of the car up when braking. The wear may be more noticeable if you drive up and down hills a lot. Just guesses though.

 

[Eos_Up]

I've done similar with other cars and quickly noticed the parking brake was still on. Never any damage that I know about.

Re my Eos, I've "tried" to drive with the parking brake on a couple of times and only got a few feet as it seems to take a LOT of power to move my Eos with the parking brake engaged, much more than any other car I've tried it with. I figured that the Eos parking brake must be very powerful to be such a drag on moving with it engaged.

So, I can see why you car put out so much smoke after a few miles with it engaged.

 

[Lopaka]

Thanks for the feedback

Eos uses the rear discs directly to set the parking break. Mechanic thinks I had the parking break slightly engaged which allowed the car to go with out to much notice to it being engaged. When it goes in for the 5000 mile service, they will check pad thickness, and probably resurface the rotors, and new pads. He also needs to check if I melted the seals on the single piston calipers.

I am crossing my fingers! The car drives ok, but requires firmer brake pressure to stop the vehicle. Again, I feel real stupid, but know apply the parking brake firmly to insure I don't do it again.

Never did it to my 525i in all the years I have had her from new, but she does have a seperate parking brake drum system complimenting the re discs and works seperatley from the rear disc.

Thanks guys, it seems this is real common, or they are just trying to make me feel better.
Mahalo,
Robert

 

[BLK EOS]

Eos also has a small drum system in the middle of the rear rotors for the parking brake. Honestly I just feel the car lunge down with no wheel rotation if I try to move with the parking brake set. Not a chance I could drive the car like that. Think I would cause the clutch to burn first if I tried to push it.

Eureka thats it - the rear disk system is smaller than the front because the rears also accomodate a drum system in the rotor. Hince the quicker rear pad wear. Just a hunch. I just pulled the rear wheels off and haven't inspected the fronts yet. Let you know more later.

 

[cb391]

Rear rotors are almost always smaller than the fronts. But it is how much bias there is on front or rear rotors that will help determine how much they grab and wear.

 

[Pepino]

I had my rear pads replaced at 30k. Front will probably be due at 40k.


on another note FYI:

Was told that commonly new cars have a weight tranfer shift in breaking to keep the nose of the car from diving down in hard breaking conditions. So if you tend to brake harder then your rear breaks will grab harder to even out the car thus wearing before the front. I was curious because this is the first car I've had that had the rear breaks wear before the front. My wife's Infiniti has done the same, so I guess it is the truth.