Sticking drums and fluid loss

[my02]

Hi guys,

My weekend of camping has just been ruined by my FJ73 experiencing a rear LHS drum semi locking up.

Allow me to digress:

After about 1 hour of highway work and little braking, a burning smell was becoming evident upon stopping at the lights.

When I realised it was me ( and not the knackered old Nissan in front of me) I tried to brake and move onto the side of the road but the pedal just went flat. I pumped it a couple of times and it worked fine and allowed me tp pull off the highway.

Upon inspection the rear drum (left) has partially jammed (burning smell = pads). Car is driveable but of course not a good thing. There was also a fluid (I assume brake) being spat out in the behind the wheel.
I couldn't remove the wheel as it was too hot to touch , however the pressure issue beforehand (brakes not working) makes me think it must be brake fluid rather than diff oil leaking out of an axle seal.

The car is now stuck up in the mountains (Blue Mountains, near Sydney, Australia) whilst I'm back in Sydney. Not best please and neither was girlfriend.

I'm waiting to hear back form the garage, but wanted to see if you guys had any ideas as to what the problem might be as I don't want these guys spinning me out a yarn to try and rob me of my hard earned dollars!

The tow truck guy mentioned something about a buggered brake cylinder which would explain a leak but I cannot see how the brake shoes would jam up.

Anyway, appreciate your time and infinite wisdom!

Cheers

MY02

 

[crushers]

my guess is:

rear brake cylinder is gone.
the smell was the fluid on the drum burning during braking...

 

[bigbrowndog]

Yes, it looks like your wheel cylinder has seized in the on position causing the linings to remain in contact and get very hot. You will need to look at new linings as the fluid has probably wrecked them besides they are probably in poor shape from wear.Also new wheel cylinders for the back wheels. It would pay to have your front disc brakes checked out for wear, also your master cylinder.cheers. Time to look seriously at a maintenance programme its cheaper in the long run. . cheers.

 

[beanz2]

I've had jammed and leaking brakes from a rusty brake cylinder before. Agree with the above.

Dave

 

[Greg_B]

Yup, agree with all the above. I've had a leaky rear cylinder before, where it would catch harder on the leaky side when stopping on dry pavement. When going forward from a light it would release with a crack, and twist the back end. I've also had a leaky rear cylinder spin me 360 on a snowy road, when it caugt and would not release (not enough friction to the ground to get the wheel spinning again) upon break application. The brake fluid soaks into the pads. Twas not nice and fixed right away both times...

Change both sides out so the rear is fresh (with new shoes, and turning the drums) and your problem should be solved.

Per bbd's post; might be the time to check the entire system.

hth's

gb