[Ray32825]

Just as I thought, the hissing sound was the fluid coming out of your ruptured brake line/hose. In over two decades of working on cars on and off, I've never seen a caliper leak like that even on vehicles from the 60s to the 80s.
I have seen a brake pad get so worn out that it actually fell out of the caliper and still the piston (though overextended) never leaked!

As the guys in the thread have correctly pointed out to you, the only time you completely lose pedal like that is when there is a massive leak like the one you experienced or when the seals in the master cylinder have given way.

Probably a good idea to change all your brake hoses and rear brake cylinders (unless you have discs in the back) and have them flush the system with fresh brake fluid, now that you have the vehicle in the shop.

Preventative maintenance goes a long way and sometimes saves lives as well. With the inferior quality of parts that you have in India I think it's probably best to have the brakes inspected/serviced at least every two years if not every year.

[supertinu]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

My my, a Ford A.S.S. that does better diagnosis than an FNG Which Ford did you go to?

I went to Elite Ford Service center in Mahadevpura, Whitefield area

Originally Posted by sudev

....aging rubber hose....
So perhaps all service schedules should carry replace rubber hoses at XXX time in the advisory. Does any one know if any car schedule has a advisory like this?

I dont remember seeing rubber hoses mentioned anywhere. I do have the original user manual with me, will check again and confirm back.

Originally Posted by Ray32825

Just as I thought, the hissing sound was the fluid coming out of your ruptured brake line/hose. In over two decades of working on cars on and off, I've never seen a caliper leak like that even on vehicles from the 60s to the 80s.
I have seen a brake pad get so worn out that it actually fell out of the caliper and still the piston (though overextended) never leaked!

As the guys in the thread have correctly pointed out to you, the only time you completely lose pedal like that is when there is a massive leak like the one you experienced or when the seals in the master cylinder have given way.

Probably a good idea to change all your brake hoses and rear brake cylinders (unless you have discs in the back) and have them flush the system with fresh brake fluid, now that you have the vehicle in the shop.

Preventative maintenance goes a long way and sometimes saves lives as well. With the inferior quality of parts that you have in India I think it's probably best to have the brakes inspected/serviced at least every two years if not every year.

Yes you are right, the hissing was just the leaking fluid till the point the system completely drained out. I have replaced the rubber hoses on both the front tires which have disc brakes, however the rear has drums and I didnt get anything done on those. Since the brake fluid had drained they did flush the entire system and filled up with new one.

I always get braking system checked during the annual service and infact last yr i had got it flushed and filled new brake fluid. But not sure how to pre-empt a failure like this other than just replace the hoses after 7-8 yrs. Infact even in this case when I told the service center to replace both, the advisor was asking why since the left one looks good only .

[Karthik Gullu]

As many said,it is less chance of brake caliper failure in cars but it can be guessed by few symptoms like

1. Biggest sign of a locked up or frozen caliper is smells like a burning metal and rubber.
2. Vibration while applying brakes (Major contributor).
3. Loss of braking power (Major contributor).
4. Pulls to one side while braking: could be caliper.

Easiest way to find worn caliper is to drive on flat road about 25kmph and apply brake dont hold the steering wheel,the car pulls to left or right.

Keep riviving