I'm 1500 miles from home towing my 2004 (standard brakes) behind my RV on a dolly; rear wheels on pavement. I accidentally left the parking brake on a tiny bit and burned up the left brake pad. The cylinder must have overheated too and won't entirely release. I'm heading home but will need to use the Mini a bit on the way. I can't stand the grinding sound!!
Can I just remove the pads and piston until I get home to fix it? I know I won't have complete braking but I don't anyway, all I have is screeching metal on metal.

 

I forgot to say rear brake but I'm sure you already knew that.

 

NO...with the pad off, the "puck" or cylinder that pushes the pad will push out against the rotor..leaking, possibly falling out....causing the loss of fluid and your brakes...
It is fairly common that the calipers seize internally...fix is a rebuilt/replacement caliper, new pads, and most likely a new set of rotors if the old ones got grooved from the stuck pad.

 

I would remove the piston assembly, and tie it off to the side. Would it not just come out all the way and stop, would it actually come out and leak fluid?

I have all parts ordered but they are 1500 miles away. Can't afford to have it done, need to do it myself.

 

with the caliper tied to the side...the piston w is truly seized...who knows...but driving around with a brake caliper hanging under a car,,,I'd call THAT RECKLESS..the fact the car is getting used PROVES INTENT...
Your options IMO are tow the car home, fix it, or drive it a TINY bit, dealing with the sound and the danger of bad brakes...

Have you played with the parking brake cable? They rust and seize...so sometimes the cable can be the issue also.

 

I hope you know if you loose the fluid you loose all the brakes, not just the one.
Live with the screeching or fix it right, Unless of course you'd like to be immortalized here.. http://www.darwinawards.com/

 

I'd go to U-Haul and get a flat bed. .

 

No - please don't do this. A scrap caliper from a yard is probably about $30-40? Go on car-part.com and find one near you. Change it over, bleed the brakes and drive normally or use the car that you are towing the MINI with - I can think of no legitimate reason why I would ever take a disabled vehicle over one that is working. Inconvenient? Not legitimate, not fun? Not legitimate...

Heed Zippys words - you are toying with other people's lives too and you are 100% knowingly drive a car that is messed up....

 

Fix it or park it. If you can't do that, put on a trailer and tow it home. The car is not safe with bad brakes. Have you tried to force the piston back into the Caliper?

 

Replacing the pads and the caliper is a relatively simple job and there are a lot of shops all over the country that are more than capable of doing this work. This would not be consider "BMW/MINI specialty work"; it would be considered "bread and butter" work for any shop. If you really will be needing to drive your MINI before you can get home, please take a day out of your travels and look into having the brakes fix before driving the car any more. There are very few things between you and having a serious accident and, for me, brakes are at the top of that list.

Let us know how you make out.

 

I am in a remote area of NM. Using my 40 foot class A RV is not an option. It took a long time to get where I am and the RV will not be able to get where I want to go while I am in this wilderness location.
I was hoping to communicate with someone with technical knowledge of the brake system. I already know the importance of brakes.
My question again is: does the piston come to a fully extended position and stop? Or does it simply extend and just fall out? I can't imagine it would simply fall out and let all the brake fluid out.
There must be someone on the site who knows the answer to my question.
Thanks.
Kim

 

TB,
I was able to get the piston back in but as it is designed to do; it just worked its way back out again.
Kim

 

The piston will come all of the way out, full out and you will loose all of the fluid. If this happens you will get air in the ABS pump that you cannot get out by simply bleeding the system. This takes special equipment to fix. Air in the ABS pump will leave you with little or no brakes.

It sounds like you have had the caliper off the rotor. So you have the ability to make the repair yourself. You just need pads. Check to see if there is a NAPA store or the like in the area. They should have rear pads. If not, see if someone like Way Motors will overnight a set. Yes, I know this is a holiday. Last resort, see if there is someone who knows someone in that local area who has a MINI and might have a set; used would be fine.

Sorry I don't have any better suggestions. But please don't drive the car without the brakes installed.

 

It will simply extend enough to fall out, that is they way they are designed (almost all disc brakes). Here is a link to a rebuild so your aware of how everything goes together, the pads and rotor are what stop it from extending to far BTW.
http://www.specr53.com/blog/2015/01/...r-rebuild-diy/

 

Kim

You have fix it before you drive it. There is no safe way around it. When we were racing we had shut off valves to each wheel (open wheel dirt car) so we could shut of the brakes to one wheel if the brake line got damaged in and pile up. We also could shut off the Rt front brake on some tracks to help make the car turn.

For you own safety bite the bullet and fix or have it fixed. It is to bad you are out in the middle of nowhere USA but drive back to a nearby City or Town and get proper help.

Tom

 

Dont know how the e brake works on our Minis, but thinking that if you left it on,.....and THAT created your problems, that perhaps just making certain that the eBrake cable is fully returning on that rear wheel.......or,...maybe disconnecting the emergency brake cable from that or both wheels (I am assuming that e Brake actuation is via cable to the rear wheels). Then put your caliper back on and make sure your wheel/rotor is free to turn.

If your caliper piston has popped out of the caliper after you removed it, (did you step on the brake pedal with the caliper off the rotor?), then yes, you will have air in the system, and you will either have severely reduced functionality of the entire braking system, or NO braking in the car at all. Depends on how much air got in the system. Another possibility if you are in truly remote and dire circumstances might be to drive the car very slowly maybe in first or second gear, and use the (still connected) emergency brake lever to slow and stop the car as needed. This could be risky, but I have done it when I was a kid and lost service brakes in the car I was driving. would I do that today? Would depend on my circumstances.

If your problem is a seized caliper,....and you want to attempt to drive the car with that caliper off (assuming dire circumstances) you would at least need to put something between the brake pads that is the same thickness as your brak rotor,..so that the pads and pistons in that caliper do not pop out releasing brake fluid and allowing air into the brake system. If you attempt to drive the car like this, keep in mind that only having one rear brake could cause the car to want to go sideways every time you apply the brakes,.....dont know for certain, but I assume this is at least a strong possibility, and would again recommend keeping the car in first gear and speeds at say something like 20 mph. My disclaimer,.....I have not attempted any of these in a Mini Cooper, and have no idea how any of these suggestions could impact the cars stability and the safety of yourself, and any other occupants,...and certainly the safety of occupants of cars around you. So, I do NOT receommend you try any of these. Just trying to assist, if your circumstances call for desperate measures.

 

You must have missed this.