When you finally let the girlfriend drive your car and...
 

I just got an frs and it's by far the nicest car I've ever had. I've always had older rougher vehicles just because they worked for me. Neither of my last two cars had working parking brakes. So I've had the frs about a month and ifinally let the girlfriend take it out by herself. She proceeds to go on a 30 minute drive with the parking brake up. She noticed when she heard the car clunking. Brake shoes are destroyed, rotors are all rough and nasty inside, parking brake cable is stretched beyond use from the heat... Probably did some damage to the calipers too. Not sure yet. This is why I don't drive nice cars I guess. It's so extremely frustrating when they get damaged!

..how nice is this girl?

Haha, that's a very good question. She's been around a while. She's good stuff.

Have you pulled everything apart? Got some pics?

+1 for pics of this worthy girl. :thumbsup:

Well I actually meant the brakes. I hope he didn't pull her apart and we don't need pics if he did!

http://doremo.us/WebRoot/Store6/Shop...s-l1600_16.jpg

The parking brake is only the drum brakes, so the calipers shouldnt be effected.

Do a new thing. This is a perfect weekend project for a newb! The center console is the scariest place to disassemble. Just be careful to separate the clips at the correct angle. Probably some videos to demonstrate. The assembly is clever but not intuitive.

Then you'll be pissed because you realize how easily you could've fixed your last two.

No pics of the girl, they'd just get removed and i'd get banned for posting pictures that are too HAWT.

I know the parking brake is separate from the brake caliper, but when your rotor gets hot enough to turn red (I mean after it cools down red) it's safe to assume that that level of heat traveled some. I am concerned that the calipers were damaged by excessive heat.

I'm not really a "newb" to brake systems other than to that of the frs specifically. I'm no pro, but there's a reason this is not in the technical section. The two cars that did not have working parking brakes were miatas which, if you're not familiar, have a relatively delicate self-adjusting mechanism in the caliper which upon failure ultimately requires replacement of the caliper, which is expensive because of this stupid self adjusting mechanism. My point in mentioning the lack of parking brakes on my prior vehicles was not to explain my lack of competence in the field of parking brake repair, but to point out that she's not in the habit of using parking brakes. Which, I admit, was an ambiguous point.

Well, that sucks ....... :(

At least your used to driving cars without an emergency brake .....;)

So, you don't have a question ...... you just want to vent ......??

.....and that's OK.


humfrz

Somebody crack a window.


Smells like newb.

I am curious to see what the rotors look like. I work in a plant that makes rotors and we get returns from time to time where the complaint is "it just warped for no reason". They always show that they were heated up badley so I am interested to see the results from a know period driven with the parking brake on.

I wouldn't sweat the calipers too much. They are insulated from the worst of the heat by the pads and the bulk of the radiant heat would be blown away while moving. Just check the rubber boots on the slide pins and if they are good the rest is good.

Oh and even if you didn't intend it your reply is a bit defensive and snotty sounding considering the guys were just trying to help.

.....
My guess, there never was a girlfriend.

I've been single since I got my FRS so it's not a problem I've had to deal with. I was hoping to attract the ladies with my nice new car but only car guys are interested so far... :)