CAR TALK : CAR CAN'T STOP? THEN DON'T START.

Byline: Tom & Ray Magliozzi 

Dear Tom and Ray:Finding myself hemmed in at a baseball game, I managed to get my right front wheel (of my front-wheel-drive car) stuck in a small ditch. After rocking back and forth, I got it free. I proceeded on my way home, and after a short distance, I found I had no brakes. No pedal at all. My first thought was a broken brake line.

Driving carefully, I continued some 60 miles toward home. About a mile from home, I encountered some traffic and touched my brake. It seemed to have a little pedal. By the time I reached home, the pedal was back to normal. The master cylinder was full, and I've had no more trouble. Do you have an explanation for this?

- Steve

Tom:: Yes. But before we get to that, I have to ask you, Steve, what were you thinking? By driving 60 miles when you knew you had absolutely no brakes, you could have easily gotten yourself nominated for a Darwin Award. That's the annual award given to the person who does a service to the human gene pool by killing himself in an incredibly stupid way. And you would have been a contender, my boy.

Ray:: As for your brakes, I think what happened is you compressed the caliper piston on that right front wheel. That brake caliper is supposed to sit right in the middle, straddling the disc rotor and holding those pads within a whisker of each side of the rotor at all times. So that as soon as you step on the brake pedal, the pads are ready to grab right onto that rotor and stop the car.

Tom:: When you got that front wheel stuck deep in the mud, you must have gotten the caliper hung up somehow and pushed it all the way to one side.

Ray:: After five or six pumps of the pedal, the caliper piston would have moved the caliper back into place, and your brakes would have been fine (which is what ultimately happened by the time you got home). They're designed to adjust themselves, since pads and rotors do wear down and need to be adjusted continually.

Tom:: But instead of stopping the car and pumping the pedal or calling for help, you kept driving, endangering yourself and every other innocent person on the road that day. And you deserve a good dope slap for that, Steve.

Ray:: If you ever lose your brakes again, pull over as quickly and as safely as possible - assuming you're lucky enough to be able to do so. Remember, you can use the lower gears of your transmission, your parking brake or even ``Park'' if necessary in an absolute emergency.

Tom:: Once you're safely stopped and out of the way of traffic, you can try pumping the pedal to see if your brakes return to normal. If they do, you can proceed slowly and carefully to a repair shop and have the brake system thoroughly checked out.

Ray:: If your brakes do not return to normal, or if you have any question at all about your ability to stop the car, just get out and call a tow truck. I know it's inconvenient, Steve. But think of the alternative: An obituary that reads ``Steve. Darwin Award Winner, 1996.''

MEMO: Tom and Ray Magliozzi's Car Talk column appears on Saturdays. Write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 235 E. 45th St., New York, N.Y. 10017.