Have any of you seen a brake pedal bend?

Dentt42

On a hard stop, I managed to bend or maybe even tear something in my brake pedal, its bracket, or maybe even the portion of the firewall it's mounted to. The car is a '12 G37 coupe, with a manual trans. I did find a used pedal assembly on eBay, and intended to swap the entire thing out, but had to stop and start reassembling when I realized how much of the dash had to come out, including moving the steering column.

With the pedal as it returns now, it will not press the switches for cruise control or brake lights, and the computer pulls tons of power because it thinks the brake pedal is pressed. I had to add spacers made of plastic panel fasteners, then glue bumpers on top of them to make sure the returned pedal activates the switches.

These pics are with spacers added, and bumpers not glued to them yet. It works ok with the bumpers in place for now.




Before I tear apart the interior to get the assembly out of there, where is the weak spot in the system? Have any of you track rats ever seen or done something like this?

Rusty

Z1 sells a brace that mounts in the engine compartment for the mastercylinder.


https://www.z1motorsports.com/z1-pro...a043aa05c8193e

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Dentt42

That’s what made me think it possible to bend or tear the firewall’s mounting pad, but it’s a preventative not necessarily a fix. I get that it can move, but has anyone seen the firewall give enough to cause this? It was after one good stomp when the guy ahead of me changed his mind at the last minute about going through a light.

k67p67

Judging from those pics, it looks like there is enough thread to allow you to adjust the switches without having to use those makeshift plastic clips.

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Dentt42

I’m pretty sure you’re right, but it’s still a band-aid.

k67p67

Seems like it would be a permanent solution unless the brake arm is weakened and continues to bend or flex.

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SeeThruHead

did you ever figure out what actually bent?
Bending it back and then bracing it somehow would be my first thought.

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Images too big fix here

Dentt42

No, not yet. The car is driveable again and I’m out of town for the weekend. The starter went out about 10 days ago, and I even had to change plugs and coils yesterday to cure a misfire, so the G has definitely been a bit needy lately.

Dentt42

That’s a good point too.

TRS13

Any news on how to fix it? I did the exact same thing and I can't find how to fix this issue

Dentt42

In case someone ever comes across this needing a solution, it’s finally fixed after trying a few times. The only real repair was to replace the assembly, and the shot here really drives it home with the extraction completed. The triangular brackets that support the hinge are what bent when I came down hard in that panic stop (in pic below left is bad, right is replacement). Since I’m a tall bastard, my right foot hit the pedal pad at an angle biasing force to the left as well as down. You can easily see the deformation of the thin supports when held next to the replacement.



The top bolt is what makes the job difficult, and I was lucky the technician helping me was willing to stick with it. He ended up having to loosen the dashboard itself to allow access to that one fastener (near the rusty spot on the assembly at right). Such a ridiculous problem to deal with, but I do really like the car.

Spooler

This is not unusual. It happens during a panic stop that is mostly followed by a wreck and then a broken leg or ankle.

Dentt42

I guess I got lucky then. How does it specifically cause a broken leg or an ankle though?

Spooler

If you hit the other car. It will snap it like a twig.