Brakes temporarily not working!

[David.85D]

Hi, I haven't read all the previous posts but I did have a similar situation happen to me last week. First off, I want to point out that this I am a younger driver (32) but that is the 7th car I own and it is the only one that has this behavior. Here in Montreal, we've had a few days at -25 celcius and then one day with heavy rain where the temperature was around 5 celcius.

I got in the car after it had been sitting there for 3 hours (at home I have a heated garage) and I had *NO* brakes at all. Not even a little... I was going at 5 km/hr and has to put the car in reverse to stop!! Thank god I was in the stores parking as I could of easily hit someone. I immediately had the car towed. Tesla inspected the car and found no fault in the braking system. They think that the braking pads might have stuck to the rotors. As we barely use our brakes, they suggested two things to avoid this problem in the futur:

1- They recommend that I clean my brakes at least once a year (cost of 140$), ideally before winter.
2- The technician told me to put regen at low at least once a day per month to clean up the potential rust/debris on the rotors.

Personally, I think that Tesla should at least call it's customers once a year to let it's customers know about potential braking issues (especially in cold weather regions). Like I said, my previous lexus, Toyota, Mustang, Genesis, etc. have never had this issue as obviously you use braked more often in ICE vehicles.

This is funny to me. How exactly do the wheels turn if the brake pads are stuck to the rotors? Total B.S. answer

 

[AMPd]

This is funny to me. How exactly do the wheels turn if the brake pads are stuck to the rotors? Total B.S. answer

Lol! Can you imagine someone saying that to your face. I would have a hard time deciding between bursting out laughing or getting blood boiling mad at the sheer stupidity of that answer.

 

[David.85D]

Lol! Can you imagine someone saying that to your face. I would have a hard time deciding between bursting out laughing or getting blood boiling mad at the sheer stupidity of that answer.

this is one of my failures in life. Unvarnished stupidity pushes me over the edge. I know (if it was me) I should politely ask to speak to a manager, but I’m sure I would have just laughed out loud, likely with some profanity mixed in.

 

[ICUDoc]

I think he still doesn't get it, AMPd...

 

[rsg123]

Just had this happen to me first time today a low speed city driving and it was scary. Just installed fw 2020.24.6.11 last night. Dry weather and roads and no wetness in rotors.

Well that’s great, I just hit Update for this firmware version.

 

[Quamera]

this is one of my failures in life. Unvarnished stupidity pushes me over the edge. I know (if it was me) I should politely ask to speak to a manager, but I’m sure I would have just laughed out loud, likely with some profanity mixed in.

Steady on, no one with any basic mechanical knowledge would have said that, something has just been lost in the translation. Probably meant brake pads stuck to calipers which still isn't entirely plausible but possible in a corrosive environment if they are not used for a while because of regen in an EV.

 

[Nick B]

Steady on, no one with any basic mechanical knowledge would have said that, something has just been lost in the translation. Probably meant brake pads stuck to calipers which still isn't entirely plausible but possible in a corrosive environment if they are not used for a while because of regen in an EV.

Yes this is what I meant. Not everyone's first language is english... The story is true. The brake pads stucked and they were unresponsive. I was going in reverse at 5 km/hr and almost crashed in another car that was parked behind me.

I dont see why I would invent a BS story like this. The Brembo performance brakes on the P85 had this issue, you can find similar stories if you search a little. I now have a 2016 90D and the car doesnt seem to have the same issue to date.

 

[David.85D]

I’ve had ceramic brakes behave like this when wet/cold. My BMW would. Always had to do a brake check before leaving the driveway. after that was fine.

Another reason to park tail in. (Leaving straight out makes brake check easier/more obvious)

 

[David.85D]

Yes this is what I meant. Not everyone's first language is english... The story is true. The brake pads stucked and they were unresponsive. I was going in reverse at 5 km/hr and almost crashed in another car that was parked behind me.

I dont see why I would invent a BS story like this. The Brembo performance brakes on the P85 had this issue, you can find similar stories if you search a little. I now have a 2016 90D and the car doesnt seem to have the same issue to date.

sorry for getting excited by your post. I don’t think the experience was BS. Think some of the theories are a little off. I am not convinced it’s a defect beyond normal, but unexpected, cold/wet ceramic brake pads not doing much on initial use.

 

[Nick B]

Just to be clear the idea of my post is to tell people to make sure they have their brakes cleaned regularly, especially in harsh conditions. I think Tesla should explain this to its customers. I know it might sound obvious to some but I have never had to do any type of brake cleaning with any car before owning an EV.