I’m a new mini owner and just bought 2004 mini r53 from a private seller. It runs well and I was practicing driving stick.
And while I was driving I smelt some chemical stench and the brake felt really spongy and soft and got scared if it was gonna stop.
First I thought I was burning clutch and I guess that could be, but after I get off from the car, the smell was from about one brake pad on the right rear tire.
I assume the brake got over heated and fluid was boiling or something since I live around kind of a hilly area and not used to engine brake with stick. However, I’m really new to mini and almost have no idea and I really appreciate your help and advice backed up by experience and good knowledge on mini.
Thanks!

 

It's possible that you have a brake fluid leak at the right rear. Remove the wheel and check for residue. If it gets on your rotor your brake will not work properly, and you'll need to replace the pads after the leak fix.

 

Could also be a sticky caliper, when you pull the wheel off, have a look and see if one pad is noticeably more worn than the other (might be helpful to compare to the left side too)

 

Make sure the Emergency Brake is releasing and not sticking on that side.

 

For whatever reason the R50, 2, 3 Mini right rear caliper tends to stick because of the parking (not emergency) brake. You are most likely right in isolating it. I advice jack up both rear wheels and compare the drag when the parking brake is NOT set. You are likely to find the right side has more drag. If so you have to figure out what is causing the excessive drag. Excessive drag is likely cause by high mileage car not being properly cared for, or if the inside pad was not properly installed due to the spring steel clips not seating right.

 

What's the difference between the Parking Brake and the Emergency Brake, is it not the stick between the seats that you pull up on? Tomato/tomato WOW....

 

... yank it up hard in not so emergency situation will send you to the emergency room. There is a difference.

The most interesting is most people with old American cars with the foot setting parking brake call it emergency brake. They have the ratchet as you step on it, and sure, go step on it when you find you are in a dicy situation...

 

An auxiliary brake is a brake system that's separate from your regular foot-pedal brake system. Auxiliary brakes are more commonly called a parking brake, an emergency brake, or a handbrake, and are connected to calipers that grip onto the rear wheel rotors. These are not the same calipers that the normal brakes use because the emergency brake system is separate from the main brakes in case of brake failure.

The key difference between auxiliary brakes is that one is called a “parking brake” while the other is called an “emergency brake” but in essence there is no difference. The term "handbrake" is most commonly used in reference to performance vehicles.

https://www.yourmechanic.com/article...mergency-brake

 

What is your Problem...... You make it so that new members don't want to participate past their original question because of your caustic attempt at sarcasm. and not just on this post.

 

You don't say where you are but if in the salty north... Winter and salt really distroys cars.

It could be a couple of things.
1.) The parking brake sticking as mentioned above. From:
1.a) the parking brake mechanism in the caliper. We've had to replace rear calipers because the internal parking brake mechanism seized up. See if the lever on the exterior of the caliper moves when applying the parking brake.
1.b) We've also had to replace the cable because it seized up from rust
2.) We had a lot of problems with a build up of corrosion between the rubber sleeve of the caliper pin and the pin hole on the caliper. So much corrosion built up that the caliper couldn't slide freely on the guide pins. We had to clean them once a year in the two years we had the car and drove it in the winter. We have not had the same problem with a R52 that is only driven in the summer. Here's a thread describing the issue:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...corrosion.html
If you find this to be the problem then use some type of grease between the two when reassembling.

 

[QUOTE=gumbedamit;4489067]

When people "loses the brake" on track it is not because all the brakes failed. Typically it is the front brakes failed but the rear brake can't do jack when you are 100+ mph approaching a turn. The last thing that can save you on earth is that thing you call e-brake.

All modern has independent hydraulic circuits for redundancy. You have watched too many Hollywood movies when the hero found himself (yes, always guys) in a jam going down steep hill without any brakes. That only happen in movies. In real life you seldom loss all brakes. If you were in a jam, there is likely no time for you to pull the parking brake so stop calling it e-brake, or emergency brake.

 

Just proves my point, you are looking for Drama: Checking to see if the cable and Emergency Brake mechanism has released and is not sticking has nothing to do with someone leaving it in an up position. Move on, nothing else here to see......

 

Sorry for all the drama Shogo Tonomura, most people are here to help others, get information and bond on common interests, then there are others who are not. There are tons of helpful people on NAM, hopefully you're find one with the correct answer to your problem.

 

Heads Up, fellow Motorers. Keep it civil. Thank you.