Total brake failure on my 2018 SI Coupe. Looking for any info on how this could have happened, or anyone with similar experience.

[Wjmyazi]

Glad you are okay! It is normal to second guess how we cold have prevented something like this. It sounds to me like you reacted as good as anyone in this situation. You were just passing someone and another car decided to hit their brakes while in the left lane. Good grief, please don't beat your self up for that.
Although we all would like to know if there is a defect with the braking system. I'm still getting used to my 2022 Si's Honda sensing stuff and how it works. Some of it is goofy!
Hope you get this worked out with insurance and all and have success in getting it replaced quickly.

Thank you for the reassurance. I feel like I'm gonna lose my mind thinking about all the things I could have done, and now my head is playing tricks on me making me forget little details, so I start wondering if anyt went wrong with the car at all. Not fun, but once this all gets figured out, which it will, I'll be alright.

I'll keep the post updated if we find anything was recorded on the car's computer having to do with a failure, or if they find something in my brake system was faulty. I don't want this to happen to anyone else.

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[tacocat]

Maybe i'm missing it but did you not take the car out of gear or press in the clutch?

 

[Wjmyazi]

Maybe i'm missing it but did you not take the car out of gear or press in the clutch?

You're not missing anything, it all happened really fast, I didn't have time to downshift or put the clutch in because I was trying to figure out why my brake pedal disappeared on me. I blame my lack of driving experience for not going straight to downshifting right away.

 

[Shankmeyster]

A story like this is another reason I hate electronic parking brakes. If you had had a handle or even a push parking brake you might have been able to at least slow the car before getting to that point.

 

[haltamer]

Do you have halogen brake lights?

A classic method used to determine if there was braking at the time of collision in the UK is to see if the brake light bulbs are broken - If the wires are hot (Illuminated) at the time of a severe impact, they'll be deformed or broken.

Would be an easy way to confirm you definitely had the right pedal and eliminate driver failure to brake as a cause.

https://www.pinow.com/articles/2349/accident-investigations-vehicle-lamp-examinations

 

[Guitar_stitch]

A story like this is another reason I hate electronic parking brakes. If you had had a handle or even a push parking brake you might have been able to at least slow the car before getting to that point.

Pulling up on the parking brake switch will engage the parking brake just like a handle. Maybe even better, since most people fail to maintain the cable adjustments. Don't believe me? Go try it!

@Wjmyazi I'm not going to beat you up over what you could have done better. Shit happens and we do the best we can with what we have to work with. Going forward, you will develop an emergency response plan for things like brake failure in a vehicle with an auto or manual trans.

As to what failed, complete hydraulic brake system failures are extremely rare, but they do exist. Since the clutch and brake MC share the same reservoir, it's not unrealistic that a leak in the clutch system may have drained the reservoir. Is it enough to cause brake failure? Maybe. Limp pedal is indicative of either a hydraulic system failure or a linkage failure between the brake pedal and the master cylinder.

 

[Civics4Ever]

Loose bleeder on one of the calipers.

 

[TheCanadian]

A story like this is another reason I hate electronic parking brakes. If you had had a handle or even a push parking brake you might have been able to at least slow the car before getting to that point.

I’m like 85% sure panic grabbing a parking brake handle at these speeds would end just as badly

 

[Wjmyazi]

Pulling up on the parking brake switch will engage the parking brake just like a handle. Maybe even better, since most people fail to maintain the cable adjustments. Don't believe me? Go try it!

@Wjmyazi I'm not going to beat you up over what you could have done better. Shit happens and we do the best we can with what we have to work with. Going forward, you will develop an emergency response plan for things like brake failure in a vehicle with an auto or manual trans.

As to what failed, complete hydraulic brake system failures are extremely rare, but they do exist. Since the clutch and brake MC share the same reservoir, it's not unrealistic that a leak in the clutch system may have drained the reservoir. Is it enough to cause brake failure? Maybe. Limp pedal is indicative of either a hydraulic system failure or a linkage failure between the brake pedal and the master cylinder.

Hydraulics is what I suspected. I didn't realize the brake and clutch shared the same MC. I recently had my clutch replaced at a shop. Could that have been the cause at all?

I’m like 85% sure panic grabbing a parking brake handle at these speeds would end just as badly

Someone told me that when you pull the ebrake at high speeds it pumps the brake?

 

[blackie X]

I've had brake failure like this but not in the same situation. My brakes gave out on 10 mile drive to work, only ever had manual cars my whole life so downshifting was my brakes until I made it to work. Glas you're ok man!

 

[Shankmeyster]

I would never yank the e brake at high speed. You can use it to stop if needed in a brake failure situation which is why it's called an "emergency" brake, since it uses a different brake system than the pedal. Apparently the electronic parking brake does not function as an emergency brake from what I am reading, so just another way it's sort of useless.

 

[tacthecat]

A story like this is another reason I hate electronic parking brakes. If you had had a handle or even a push parking brake you might have been able to at least slow the car before getting to that point.

You had a 4 wheel anti-lock and ESC e-brake at your fingertip - learn what your car is capable of doing.

 

[Wjmyazi]

I'm familiar

You had a 4 wheel anti-lock and ESC e-brake at your fingertip -learn what your car is capable of doing.

I'm familiar with the car's features. As I said in other replies, it all happened way too quickly. And part of it is my fault because I've only been driving for 2 years. I don't have a massive amount of experience with emergency maneuvers and my reflexes aren't as good as they could be. This is something I'm aware I need to improve on

 

[Civics4Ever]

I'm familiar

I'm familiar with the car's features. As I said in other replies, it all happened way too quickly. And part of it is my fault because I've only been driving for 2 years. I don't have a massive amount of experience with emergency maneuvers and my reflexes aren't as good as they could be. This is something I'm aware I need to improve on

Try on-line racing. It helps your reaction time.

 

[keller]

I'm glad you are ok. I just can't believe you went UNDER the guardrail!

Hydraulics is what I suspected. I didn't realize the brake and clutch shared the same MC. I recently had my clutch replaced at a shop. Could that have been the cause at all?

No, even though they share the same fluid reservoir, a failure in your clutch shouldn't compromise your brake system.

It seems you had two completely independent failures at the same time: electronic (CC wouldn't cancel in any way) and hydraulic (in both separate circuits!). What are the odds?

Appreciate it, and I thought the same thing, but the brake pedal going completely limp isn't really something I could think of as being a user error on my part

By going limp, do you mean your brake pedal went all the way to the floor with no resistance?

BTW, our cars have an emergency brake function that applies the parking brake in case of failure of the conventional brake system. No need to pull the ebrake in an emergency. I wonder why it didn't activate though...

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