2016 CX-5: Brakes didn't engage three times in span of 20 min

A

ank_kmr

Member
:
Mazda CX-5 2016
First time in 27 months since owning CX-5, I am worried and had more scary moments in 20 minutes than in entire >2 years of driving this car. It snowed here in NJ, and I decided to do a short drive to pick some grocery. After each of my stops when I restarted the car, the brakes didn't engage on the first instance and car rolled over 3-5 feet (didn't skid) even when I had my foot firmly pressed against the brakes. After the first instance, further braking started working properly again. In one of the instances the car rolled over in middle of intersection but luckily there were no cars coming from either side.
I looked up for similar issues online and it seems previous Mazda models had some issue with salt on the road and rusting. But in two previous winters that I have driven the same car, I have never come across this issue. This car has been a good companion till now and I have clocked 39k mostly highway miles on it without any issues. I am not sure if it is braking fluid issue (my dealer recommended to change braking fluid at 36k but on cross-consultation with car repair/auto body shops I decided to defer it to 40k) or other CX-5 owners have come across similar challenges with braking in winter weather.

Your responses are much appreciated.
 
Id say your situation is rare for any kind of modern vehicles with all the safety features put on the brake system. If youre sure the tires were not skidding and the brake pedal didnt go to the floor, the lost of your brake function is hard to explain. Even if your brake calipers were frozen but the hydraulic with power vacuum assist should break them loose easily. If you lost your vacuum assist you should still can apply your brake as long as you press the brake pedal hard.

At this point the only suggestion I ehave is to do a thorough brake service such as to clean and lubricate all brake parts、check the brake vacuum system and hoses、all brake lines、and may be replace the brake fluid (although the brake fluid definitely is not the cause of incident you just experienced).
 
If there was ice on the road, no amount of pressing will apply the brakes. It’s a normal function of ABS.
 
Sound to be the most plausible reason.

Anchorman said:
If there was ice on the road, no amount of pressing will apply the brakes. Its a normal function of ABS.
Click to expand...

Sound to be the most plausible reason. Yet will get brakes inspected for the peace of mind.

Thank you!
 
shadonoz said:
Anchorman said:
If there was ice on the road, no amount of pressing will apply the brakes. Its a normal function of ABS.
Click to expand...
But you would feel the pulsing of the ABS, would you not?
Click to expand...
I agree. We normally have a piece of black ice patch one place or another which may make us hard to stop, but not the whole initial 20+ minutes. And theres no ice patches after that since the brake started working?

ABS should also kick in with ice patches, unless the OP was driving on the frozen river with slick ice all around. :)
 
Three instances in 20 min not entire 20 min.

yrwei52 said:
I agree. We normally have a piece of black ice patch one place or another which may make us hard to stop, but not the whole initial 20+ minutes. And theres no ice patches after that since the brake started working?

ABS should also kick in with ice patches, unless the OP was driving on the frozen river with slick ice all around. :)
Click to expand...

Entire 20 minutes would be ride to hell :p

I am guessing i was braking on a ice patch.
 
ank_kmr said:
Entire 20 minutes would be ride to hell :p

I am guessing i was braking on a ice patch.
Click to expand...
Even if you’re braking on the ice patch, you ABS should kick in and you could feel the pulsing.
 
Not if going slow and all wheels lock and slide at the same time, antilock works if some of the wheels are turning then the locked/slowest wheel will be released to regain traction...
 
GAXIBM said:
Not if going slow and all wheels lock and slide at the same time, antilock works if some of the wheels are turning then the locked/slowest wheel will be released to regain traction...
Click to expand...

Gonna have to test that on an empty frozen parking lot asap! (drive2)
 
Three instances in 20 min not entire 20 min.

GAXIBM said:
Not if going slow and all wheels lock and slide at the same time, antilock works if some of the wheels are turning then the locked/slowest wheel will be released to regain traction...
Click to expand...
Yes in theory. But I have never experienced this when I drove on the icy road. ABS would always kick in no matter how slippery the road was. The perfect all 4 wheels locked and sliding almost never happened to me in the real world environment.

I also believe the chances are very slim that OP’s brake system was malfunctioning during that 20-minute drive. His ABS was working at the time of braking but OP failed to notice the pulsation on brake pedal. Otherwise his vicicle wouldn’t be stopped eventually in the middle of intersection. ;)
 
shadonoz said:
Gonna have to test that on an empty frozen parking lot asap! (drive2)
Click to expand...

Just go slow and hit the brake hard so all wheels slide at once. If you ease into the brakes (as you should on ice) then whichever wheel has the least traction will lock and antilock will start as it should.
 
GAXIBM said:
Just go slow and hit the brake hard so all wheels slide at once. If you ease into the brakes (as you should on ice) then whichever wheel has the least traction will lock and antilock will start as it should.
Click to expand...

That statement should provoke some opinions! (rant)

In the old days, pre-antilock brakes, what you write was absolutely correct.

But what I have read many times is that one should stand on the brakes if they're anti-lock [when you need to stop fast and have poor traction]. That way they will "do their thing", and stop you faster and straighter than you would otherwise.

What do you guys think? (anyone)
 
shadonoz said:
That statement should provoke some opinions! (rant)

In the old days, pre-antilock brakes, what you write was absolutely correct.

But what I have read many times is that one should stand on the brakes if they're anti-lock [when you need to stop fast and have poor traction]. That way they will "do their thing", and stop you faster and straighter than you would otherwise.

What do you guys think? (anyone)
Click to expand...

I've read similar shadonoz, but I understand what GAXIBM is saying. The main thing I took away from the "experts" is that once ABS has activated, keep braking, don't try to modulate the brake like we were taught in the old days. Perhaps a steady but not "standing on it" approach is the best bet.
 
I had a problem similar to yours in my 2016 Camaro SS on the Hwy, I had to brake heavy and the driver side brakes did not work, so it yank the car to the right abruptly, good thing I had lots of space between me and the other cars because it did not stop me very good, horrible feeling! Anyways this was the start of winter and it was cold, I guess water or slush got into the brakes and if froze. When I got off the Hwy and when it was safe to do so I slammed the brakes on a couple of times and then it released and started working again.
 
shadonoz said:
That statement should provoke some opinions! (rant)

In the old days, pre-antilock brakes, what you write was absolutely correct.

But what I have read many times is that one should stand on the brakes if they're anti-lock [when you need to stop fast and have poor traction]. That way they will "do their thing", and stop you faster and straighter than you would otherwise.

What do you guys think? (anyone)
Click to expand...

High speed yes, low speed on ice - not necessarily...
 
yrwei52 said:
Even if you’re braking on the ice patch, you ABS should kick in and you could feel the pulsing.
Click to expand...
Agree.
I love you guys. You crack me up sometimes. ABS really doesn't stop you a lot quicker. That's not really what it's for at all.
ABS allows you to steer when you have no traction.
Yes, if they activate on you and you are sliding, you shouldn't let off on them until danger is avoided, or you stop. It won't hurt the brakes to release them early.
Try it next time when you have a parking lot or side street to yourself. Hit the brakes hard. Notice you can still still direct the car where to go.
 
7eregrine said:
Agree.
I love you guys. You crack me up sometimes. ABS really doesn't stop you a lot quicker. That's not really what it's for at all.
ABS allows you to steer when you have no traction.
Yes, if they activate on you and you are sliding, you shouldn't let off on them until danger is avoided, or you stop. It won't hurt the brakes to release them early.
Try it next time when you have a parking lot or side street to yourself. Hit the brakes hard. Notice you can still still direct the car where to go.
Click to expand...

ABS is all about preventing skidding. Steering control is hugely important, but the other part is that an ABS stop will always be faster than a skidding stop. And many daily drivers don't have the skills to brake at just less than impending lockup, so many pre-ABS panic stops used to be skids. An expert driver should be able to stop just as fast with ABS and without, but how many of us are really experts, in spite of what we say/think/imagine. ABS will allow MOST drivers to stop faster AND retain steering control in MOST panic situations.

It's more accurate to say ABS allows you to steer instead of skidding, which would prevent steering control.

When the tires don't have traction on the road, won't nothin stop you except regaining traction, a solid object, or time [unless you ordered the perpetual motion option].
 
Please log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
2016 CX-5 Rear Caliper TSB
Replies
10
Views
2K
skid00skid0
S
A
2015 CX-5 Brake noise - replaced again
Replies
2
Views
670
AL Cx5
A
O
    • Like
Guide How to rebuild 2017 CX-5 Rear brake piston (didn't put into maintenance mode)
Replies
3
Views
595
oakpwr
O

Latest posts

Back