Clivepococ(at)aol.com wrote:
> Thought you might like to hear about my Sunbeam day today.............Well if
> you made it this far ...do you have any thoughts on a diagnosis
> ........................
> Strange thing happened on one of my many restarts - the passenger side brakes
> seemed to be squealing - like they were locked on - I don't suppose the
> brakes could lock on to such an extent that forward motion is stopped and it
> makes it seem like no power? BTW whilst stationary the engine seems fine....
>
> Thanks
> Clive
Clive:
I don't know if this is your specific problem this time but brakes hanging on can
absolutely cause your car to slow and stop. I have had this happen a few times
with my Alpine and a Tiger. When it happened, the brakes would clamp down hard
enough to suddenly slow the car, no matter what I did with the gas pedal, and
bring it to a complete halt from 70 mph on the highway. I found that "banging"
the brake pedal a couple of times with my foot would free things up until it
happened the next time. This suggestion is definitely a temporary fix. The usual
cause was the brake booster sticking "on" = brake booster repair, but if only one
side or one wheel seem to stick, it's probably that one wheel's brake cylinder
that's sticking. This exact problem came up with my Series V Alpine a few weeks
ago, although this time not severely enough to stop the car, but definitely
enough to slow it down. In my case, the cause was the "automatic" brake adjuster
had automatically adjusted the left rear brake to clamp down. I pulled the wheel,
and adjusted the "non-adjustable" adjuster back and forth a few times and this
has, so far cured the problem. I figured out which wheel was the culprit by
feeling all four wheels after a run. Sure enough, three wheels were cool to the
touch and the rear left was very, very hot. Your series Alpine doesn't have the
automatic adjuster, which is in your favor, I think, but make sure your wheels
spin freely, with very little resistance, while the car is jacked up.
Good luck.
Steve Sage
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