Lost Clutch and Brakes on Track Day

Ok, I've done some searching but was only able to find posts about one of these things, not both of them together. TL;DR - Did a 30 minute track session followed by a cool down lap. Turned car off for a couple minutes and then started it back up to change locations. Clutch stayed on the floor while I limped it over to the new location. I let the car cool down for an hour, clutch still on floor. Grabbed it with my hand and pulled it back up and it resumed normal behavior but now my brakes are VERY soft. Have to push them all the way to the floor to get any real bite. Brakes felt 100% fine before pulling the clutch up. Local shop is convinced I boiled my fluid Long Version: So I am a novice on the track, driving manual 2006 Cayman S, I've done a handful of HPDEs and while not the fastest out there I tend to be towards the top of the pack (again, Novice group. I'm not setting the world on fire). I do brake flushes before every track day and this was the first time I've done Motul RBF 660 (before this I'd always just have the local Porsche dealership do the flush and I never asked what they use. This was done by a new shop. They also installed braided brake lines on the same visit). So I did a 30 minute "tour" session of the track (Blackhawk Farms Raceway, short track, not very fast) followed by a real session for another 30 minutes. I was definitely driving harder than I ever had before as my instructor was doing a great job of pushing me to drive harder. Once the session ended we did a cooldown lap and he asked me to drop him off at the Tech barn to get me cleared to go solo, brakes and clutch both felt fine during this and I turned the car off while we did paperwork (car in gear, no brakes or e-brake applied during this). 10 or so minutes later I push the clutch in, start the car, and the clutch never comes back up. I was able to limp it back to my regular spot in the paddock and parked it once again for about an hour. When I came back the clutch was still down, so I grabbed it and pulled it back up. It was somewhat hard to do but once it was up it actually felt fine (I left the car parked while I worked the clutch pedal a little bit to confirm it felt normal). After a few more hours I decided to go out and do an easy session to see if I ran into any more problems, but I immediately could tell the brakes were totally screwed. Pedal went straight to the floor with minimal bite until the VERY end of travel, I basically have to stand on the pedal to make the car stop reasonably. So that's where the car is now. Clutch feels fine, brakes are trash. I called the shop that did the brake flush, not to point fingers but to ask for advice. They think I boiled the brake fluid, but I find this somewhat hard to believe, as I did 2 days at Road America recently (on mystery brake fluid) and had no issues, granted Road America has more straights and time to cool the brakes down, but overall I was braking much harder at RA than at Blackhawk. I also never felt any brake fade during my one session and my instructor seemed pretty happy with how I was braking (even complementing me on not using the brakes on a couple turns, where most novices tend to brake more). Does it seem reasonable that I'd have boiled my fluid? Should I be more concerned with master/slave cylinders? What would cause the brakes to feel fine until I pulled the clutch back up, could there have been some transfer of fluids or air bubbles between the cylinders when I pulled the clutch up (I really have no idea how those mechanisms work)? Thanks in advance! PS. I plan on doing a brake flush this weekend to see if that helps my situation, I need to start doing that myself anyway to save the money.

To answer your question - boiling the fluid will create an air pocket in the brake circuit (and I guess the clutch circuit) but once the fluid cools off that pocket should go away (absorbed into the fluid.) It does sound like a possible air in the fluid issue though, and a good idea on flushing it, BUT - do you have a tool that can activate the flush function in the ABS/PSM actuator? If not - you're not getting a decent flush. A tool like the Foxwell NT530 can activate each circuit in the actuator, allowing you to flush new clean dry fluid through the actuator and flush out any entrapped air. Despite the internet chatter - taking it out and locking up the brakes to activate the ABS does NOT do the same thing. Since you mention you want to save money - sometimes you have to spend money to save money, and this is one of those cases. You'll be surprised how good the brakes feel once the system is freshly flushed and air-free. Look at it as an investment, the tool costs $160. A dealer will charge $295 to flush the brake. One use and it's paid for itself and more.

Ah! Good to know, thanks for that info.

I've been where you are, unbelieving you could cook the brakes. I've found that shorter tracks seem to make this worse. I think this is because the car has less cooling time between corners. Gen 1 & 2 Cayman 's overheat the rear brakes more than the front in most cases and as a novice, I found corner entry and exit techniques can heavily influence the nanny's decision to "help me out" and slow the car. If you can safely watch your PSM light in the instrument cluster, see if it's coming on at mid-corner and exit. If so that's part of your problem. When the light is on, the car is engaging the rear brakes to keep the car stable. I used a go-pro over my shoulder pointed at the dash and reviewed offline to discover where I was having troubles. If so, show it to your next instructor and ask for recommendations. For the car, it sounds like maybe something happened during the last flush, Motul 660 is almost bulletproof. A full flush is in order, usually, you don't need to do the ABS activation unless the master cylinder is replaced or the lines at that area are cracked open. In this case, it may be in order. In cases where the fluid boils and there is moisture in the fluid, it will leave small bubbles in the caliper and cause a soft pedal. You can do a quick bleed at the track by using a recovery bottle and an 11mm wrench. Have someone hold the brake pedal and bleed the inside valve first, then the outside by opening the valve letting the pedal go to the floor, then closing the valve and releasing the pedal, usually only one or two cycles of the pedal are required. Do the rear or all four. Good luck!

This is extremely helpful, thank you!