how hard is it to over heat the brakes on a V6 abs TS station wagon ?

Yesterday we where pushing her abit. the abs warning light came on for no reason when we wheren't even brakeing and it didn't seem to be breaking properly. (i sorta hit a teachers car no marks on either car so it's alright, Note the HSC and cars shouldn't happen.)

but today it was fine, i got the double check by a brake people and it's fine.

Anyone had many problems with the abs or even just the warning light going on for no reason. ?

The ABS light usually lights up when theres an issue with the ABS system, not the braking system.

It would be very hard to overheat the brakes unless you are using the brakes ALOT down a huge mountain (reminds me of Mt Ousley) or you are on a race track.

I dont have ABS on my wagon, so I don't have that ABS light.

It would be very hard to overheat the brakes unless you are using the brakes ALOT down a huge mountain (reminds me of Mt Ousley) or you are on a race track.

i will have to disagree with you there, i have only done it a couple of times but if your absolutley fangin arround they WILL OVERHEAT
i also notice brake fade quite a bit when im running standard pads, dont have problems when i run bendix ultimates, too bad their so dam expensive :cry:

if you are getting poor brake response sometimes and the ABS light is coming on then take it to a mechanic soon, Ive driven an ABS EB falcon with a similar fault and it was frightening to drive, nearly killed me. :pray:
I suggest u stop driving your car till it's fixed.

If you're running standard pads they will overheat with only a few firm stops. You have to establish whether it's the pads overheating or the fluid boiling. If it's the former then the pedal will still be firm but you won't stop. If it's the latter then the pedal goes flat to the floor and you aren't stopping.

Once the fluid's boiled once you really have to change it as boiling=steam=water. Water in the system means a spongey brake feel, and you would have damaged the fluid and reduced it's future boil point.

Solutions are to put a more performance orientated pad in (Bendix Performax, or EBC Green Stuff), and/or DOT5.1 mineral fluid (EBC, Motul) depending which one is causing you problems. Secondly you can try slotted brake discs which do help slightly with cooling, but I noticed going for big open-design wheels helps cooling the most.

Thanks for the replies i would say that they pads did overheat plus some driver error, what tek has said if was to be anything it would of been the pads overheating. i think to memory they where replaced before i got my L's (now about to get my green p's) and they where replaced with standard generic ones not even proper mist. because my dad's t/k sports got the proper mist. and the wagon got whatever was cheapest.

As for the abs warning light i've had a problem with that before when they installed my stereo they half unpluged it from the ECU. it went on while i diciede to floor it down a very straight piece of road it hasn't come on again. after i shut the car down and started it back up as like it said to in the drivers manual.

Yeah it went into maitland brake and clutch the next day they said it was all working properly. only thing the can't test is the Abs ECU

so the brake pads seem to be the only thing that would be fine again the next day after they have cooled off.

by the way how much would i be looken at for some high quaility brake pads ?

Around $95 per set of bendix performax ($190 all up) plus fitting. Add a little more for bendix ultimates. I suppose you need to look at the type of driving you are doing to see if you can justify the extra cost. I went with performax since I don't drive it terribly hard but I do want good stopping performance when needed + I want my rotors to last ($$$).

Get the fluid tested and flushed if required. I've got Castrol Super Dot 4 fluid. Stops nicely. Didn't want to go Dot 5.1 as I've read that if you don't change it regularly it can result in rust in your brake lines - something to do with how 5.1 doesn't absorb water like dot 4 fluid i think.

Thats true.

With dot 3 and 4, it absobs the water that can get into your brake system. That water then drops the boiling point of the fluid, when you heat up the brakes too much the fluid boils and bubbles form. Now the bubbles dont go away, so now when you hit the brakes you have to compress the air bubbles in the lines also, thats why you should change your brake fluid now and then (im gonna do mine soon i promise, damn thing being a 2 person job).

Dot 5 doesnt absorb the water, so you have seperate water and fluid in your brake lines, your braking will always be good, but that water on the metal components of your brake system will rust/corode it.

Im sticking with dot4

(im gonna do mine soon i promise, damn thing being a 2 person job).


Get a one-man bleeding kit which is around $10; it's basically a one way valve so you don't need to have someone opening and closing the nipple as someone else presses the pedal. Still have to keep an eye on the master cylinder fluid level though :D.

A one man bleeding kit is free if you use an old coke bottle and some rubber vacumm hose. do not need the valve, I have never used one, and no not all of the fliud that has been pushed into the bottle will suck back into the system again.

As for the TR/S ABS system it is a very badly designed system compared with the systems used on the TE onwards. True it is what was available at the time so we are stuck with it. I am in the process of working out the logistics of setting up the later ABS onto the older model.

As for you light comming on it should not have been from temp at all, unless you did start to boil your fluid and the system detected a difference in pressure on one wheel because of this