Clutch pedal squeaking, power loss in 6th

[Lynxis]

Well I took it to the coin-op car wash close to work and I noticed a surprising amount of ice/slush/dirt came loose on the front drivers side compared to the other wheels. Trip home after that was fine but I'll keep an eye on it.

Originally Posted by guybo

Make sure there's no ice build up under the wheel wells. Feel the wheels when this happens and see if one is a lot hotter than the others- brakes will create a ton of heat when they drag. I forgot about brakes dragging and that you're in a very cold place.

Great advice! If it comes back, I'll check that as you suggest. Should be pretty easy to feel if there is a difference.

[ls1ac]

Just to be clear, you said you pushed down the go pedal and did not accelerate? Did the engine rev up or just no power to accelerate?

[Lynxis]

Originally Posted by ls1ac

Just to be clear, you said you pushed down the go pedal and did not accelerate? Did the engine rev up or just no power to accelerate?

Just no power. You can hear the engine lug like it's trying to make power but just can't but I'll explain more below.

Originally Posted by guybo

Make sure there's no ice build up under the wheel wells. Feel the wheels when this happens and see if one is a lot hotter than the others- brakes will create a ton of heat when they drag. I forgot about brakes dragging and that you're in a very cold place.

Thank you for this advice! I felt the loss of power again on the way home today so I checked all 4 wheels when I got home and the front passenger side was very warm and smelly compared to the other 3 wheels which were stone cold. I'll jack it up and take the wheel off tomorrow for a closer inspection.

[Lynxis]

I ended up not having enough time to take the wheel off yesterday before I went anywhere although I drove it around and wasn't able to duplicate the problem. I took the wheel off today anyways and checked everything I could and I can confirm the wheel spins normally and the pistons in the caliper compress normally so I couldn't confirm anything but normal operation right now. I'll note that I was unable to remove the brake pads from the calipers. There is a lot of dirt build up on the sides where the pads contact the caliper and I don't have time today to fight with it.



The only observation I can make is that it has been quite warm yesterday and today (high of 3c both days) and the times the "power loss" came up were very cold (below -15c) so perhaps something related to ambient temperatures. I'll be keeping an eye on it and making note of ambient temperatures when it happens again. I'm going to start datalogging my trips home from work (all 3 times it happened so far were on commute home from work) to see if anything appears in the data logs although I'm fairly certain it's caused by resistance at the wheel and not by any power issue at the engine.

[humfrz]

I was thinking that IF one wheel/brake was dragging so much it reduced the speed of the car, wouldn't it noticeable "pull" the car to one side ........??


humfrz

[Lynxis]

Originally Posted by humfrz

I was thinking that IF one wheel/brake was dragging so much it reduced the speed of the car, wouldn't it noticeable "pull" the car to one side ........??


humfrz

When it happened, the car DOES handle funny. Our roads have severe crown and ruts where the tires sit so it's difficult to feel a pull in any particular direction. You might start to pull right then a tire hits the other side of the rut and wants to turn left.

[Lynxis]

Been a few days since the issue occurred last but it happened again on the way home tonight, at around the same place it happened the previous times it occurred. I noted both front brakes were very hot this time so it was happening on both sides. Data logging didn't indicate any issues at the engine which I didn't doubt before this. Unfortunately it's pitch black out so I won't be able to identify anything if I tried to look at it much more closely right now.

Observations:
1. Issue occurred today for the first time in the last few days.
2. It was snowy today and the roads weren't completely clear.
3. Didn't occur the last few days when the roads were dry and clear.
4. It was -10c on the way home today when it happened
5. Last few nights were about -3c when I couldn't duplicate the problem
6. Brake pedal gets very hard when the problem starts. Pumping brakes doesn't seem to resolve the problem.
I've noticed the issue doesn't start immediately but seems to occur at around the same point in my trip home from work, at around the 2/3rds of the way home mark.

Considerations:
1. I'm using Castrol SRF React which is a high temp fluid intended for track use... in Canadian winter... I doubt this is the problem because the same fluid is in the rear and that is operating normally
2. I'm using RR Racing BBK which has no dust boots, in Canadian winter... OEM rear brakes aren't affected so it only seems to affect the BBK.

Suspicions:
1. BBK doesn't like the cold and/or winter road grime. Potential issues related to thermal expansion that stops the pads or pistons from being able to move within the caliper? This holds the most weight for me personally.

Issues related to ABS/TC. Could be a few things related to this. Something the car doesn't like about the surface conditions at that piece of road I typically have issues on?

Issue at the brake distribution block that exhibit at certain engine bay temperatures and only on the front brake lines? Air in the brake lines is a possibility related to this too?

Plan of attack:
I'm going to take an alternative route home for the rest of the week and I'm going to do a partial brake fluid bleed this weekend as well. If issue persists, I'm going to take the BBK off and put the OEM brakes back on the front until Spring. While they're off the car, I'll take the calipers apart and rebuild them assuming the issue doesn't occur with the OEM brakes.

[Ultramaroon]

1. The pad should not be separating from the backplate.

2. I don't know which is normal, the slight gap, or the lack of one, like the other side.

3. What is this in between the pads? It looks like it would limit the pads' movement. Can you take some other angles of the same caliper?

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Lynxis

Been a few days since the issue occurred last but it happened again on the way home tonight,

Good observations.

Sounds like a good plan ......


humfrz

[Lynxis]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

1. The pad should not be separating from the backplate.

2. I don't know which is normal, the slight gap, or the lack of one, like the other side.

3. What is this in between the pads? It looks like it would limit the pads' movement. Can you take some other angles of the same caliper?

1. That's not a gap, just a shadow cast due to the angle the light shines from my phone. It's connected similar to the other side that there is clearly no gap.

2. The slight gap was created by me when I was compressing the pistons to ensure they would still compress. It's present on the backside too but once again, the angle makes it hard to see.

3. That's the caliper. There is some space between the caliper and the rotor which appears as a shadow, once again due to the light source. There is a metal bracket on each side of that that the pads connect with on the top and bottom of the caliper. It's hard to see due to build up of dirt and grime.

[strat61caster]

Sorry Ultra, looks like a normal caliper to me, maybe disassembling, cleaning, and re-greasing the slide pins would do it some good after several years in the winter climate, but I'd be surprised if it's misbehaving.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Lynxis

1. That's not a gap, just a shadow cast due to the angle the light shines from my phone. It's connected similar to the other side that there is clearly no gap.

2. The slight gap was created by me when I was compressing the pistons to ensure they would still compress. It's present on the backside too but once again, the angle makes it hard to see.

3. That's the caliper. There is some space between the caliper and the rotor which appears as a shadow, once again due to the light source. There is a metal bracket on each side of that that the pads connect with on the top and bottom of the caliper. It's hard to see due to build up of dirt and grime.

That effectively eliminates any of my suspicions.

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Sorry Ultra, looks like a normal caliper to me, maybe disassembling, cleaning, and re-greasing the slide pins would do it some good after several years in the winter climate, but I'd be surprised if it's misbehaving.

No worries. It's all about that collaboration.

[Lynxis]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Sorry Ultra, looks like a normal caliper to me, maybe disassembling, cleaning, and re-greasing the slide pins would do it some good after several years in the winter climate, but I'd be surprised if it's misbehaving.

That's the plan. I'm not sure how much time I'll have to mess around with the brake pads on Saturday morning though, they're a pain to get in and out at the best of times and require percussive persuasion with a hammer at the worst of times.

[Ganthrithor]

Originally Posted by Lynxis

Then I noticed on my way home while cruising along in 6th gear at around 2000rpm that I started to lose speed on a slight incline

An incline, you say? Well, there's your problem :P