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Brake Fade and Failure

3K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  grandriver125 
#1 ·
I want to know if anyone else experiences poor braking on the Cherokee Sport 2015.

1. I was descending an altitude of 3000ft down 1.5mile windy road, and I experienced serious brake fade and over heating. To the point that when I reached the bottom I had almost no brakes because of the brake fade and it felt very spongy. The smell of overheating brakes could also be smelt.

2. Since purchase I have to press the brake pedal pretty firmly for the vehicle to stop.

anyone experience the same issues? Or have solutions to the problem? or this is normal?
Could it be because the sport model wheels doens't have sufficient air vents to allow the brakes to cool?
 
#2 ·
Hi bill_tong,

Have you had a chance to visit your FCA dealer to address the smell and the spongy feel that you described?

Kori
Jeep Social Care Specialist
 
#3 ·
Did you ride your brakes all the way down? you might well have boiled your brake fluid, which will make the pedal feel spongy.

The owner's manual does mention this..

When descending mountains or hills, repeated braking
can cause brake fade with loss of braking control. Avoid
repeated heavy braking by downshifting the transmission
whenever possible.
 
#4 · (Edited)
No...
If I have a situation such as yours I will set my highest gear low enough to allow the engine to do much of the braking. It takes a lot of stress off the brakes. But it does allow for a consistent slower speed going down a grade.

The dealer needs to check out your entire braking system including the fluid for damage. Also check the rotors for warping due to the heat.
My '14 Limited brakes fine with no fade. It also does not brake hard. You could also have an issue with the power assist in the brake system.
Good luck
PS
If you are not sure how to set your gears in that situation your dealer can help.
 
#5 ·
My brakes overheated when coming down from Pikes Peak. We were ordered off the road at the temperature check station. Another Cherokee behind us was also ordered off for a cool down. I carry an infrared thermometer and was able to determine when they had cooled adequately. This was in Sept 2014 and I've forgotten what the temps were. Continued down using the transmission more.


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#7 ·
Before and after the overheat were different. In the lower section when we pulled over at scenic views I'd immediately check the temps and they were no problem. For the top section I don't think I went below 3rd or maybe even 4th. . For the lower section I got as low as 2nd.

We were stopping a fair amount for photos so I concluded (but will never know for sure) that perhaps I was on the brakes too much.

Being a motorhome owner I'm used to being cautious with brakes because of the weight and fade. Riding them downhill is the easiest way to get in trouble. One vehicle that did come down and made it through the temperature checkpoint after us was a Class C motorhome on a Ford E450 (which I have now as well). I have to say I enjoyed both of my diesel pushers (one with a CAT C7 and other other with a Cummins ISC) since the exhaust brakes were wonderful when going downhill. In fact, I used the exhaust brake all the time and rarely hit the service brakes until down to about 15 mph.

GR
 
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