Today, my family and I were planning to take a road-trip to Tulsa. It's about 34 degrees outside currently. We got in the car, and my dad decided to drive. We got onto the interstate, hit 60 MPH, and my dad went to turn cruise control on. Cruise control in my car is kinda weird and only works about 10% of the time. Well, 15 seconds later, the brakes applied themselves, totally locked up. My dad had no idea what was happening, but this happened to me 2 years ago, lasted 3 months, on and off. Well this was the worst it had ever been. We pulled over, after exiting the interstate, and stopped off at a Firestone. All of this is within us leaving 5 miles of our home. You could smell the brake dust in the car without opening the doors or windows. We got out and the front brakes were smoking. We left it for the attendants to look at. 2 hours later, they called back telling us that our brake booster diaphragm had overheated, which then caused the master cylinder to overheat, which then caused the brake fluid to overheat, expand, and apply the brakes. It makes perfect sense. It's weird though, that all of this happened immediately after engaging cruise control. It's also weird that the brake booster overheated within 5 minutes of starting the car, in 35 degree weather. Ultimately, the brake booster and master cylinder must be replaced, costing $600. They also say I need new rotors and pads, and I'm sure I do, but I'll replace those later. For them to replace it all would cost $2,000, but I'll change those myself in the near future. It's a little disappointing. not even 10 years old, and less than 100,000 miles, and this has happened.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Today, my family and I were planning to take a road-trip to Tulsa. It's about 34 degrees outside currently. We got in the car, and my dad decided to drive. We got onto the interstate, hit 60 MPH, and my dad went to turn cruise control on. Cruise control in my car is kinda weird and only works about 10% of the time. Well, 15 seconds later, the brakes applied themselves, totally locked up. My dad had no idea what was happening, but this happened to me 2 years ago, lasted 3 months, on and off. Well this was the worst it had ever been. We pulled over, after exiting the interstate, and stopped off at a Firestone. All of this is within us leaving 5 miles of our home. You could smell the brake dust in the car without opening the doors or windows. We got out and the front brakes were smoking. We left it for the attendants to look at. 2 hours later, they called back telling us that our brake booster diaphragm had overheated, which then caused the master cylinder to overheat, which then caused the brake fluid to overheat, expand, and apply the brakes. It makes perfect sense. It's weird though, that all of this happened immediately after engaging cruise control. It's also weird that the brake booster overheated within 5 minutes of starting the car, in 35 degree weather. Ultimately, the brake booster and master cylinder must be replaced, costing $600. They also say I need new rotors and pads, and I'm sure I do, but I'll replace those later. For them to replace it all would cost $2,000, but I'll change those myself in the near future. It's a little disappointing. not even 10 years old, and less than 100,000 miles, and this has happened.
- Andrew D., Oklahoma City, OK, US