no brakes-- please help

hello: what brakes, front, rear, all 4 wheels. If there were sparks the lining has worn off the brake pads or brake shoes causing a metal to metal contact. If it glowed red the partw will have to be replaced because they have lost their temper of the steel and the parts are no doubt warped. Sounds like the brakes were applied while driving. Need to know if front or rear or all 4
good luck
Darryl...

sorry 'bout that its the front brakes

hello: Well sounds like the brakes were applied. The front brakes are disk brakes. The brake pads constantly rub on the disk rotor with some slight pressure (not much though). When the brakes are applied there is terrific hydraulic pressure that pinches the brake rotor between the brake pads to stop the car. Most of the stopping power of the braking system is the front brakes, they do over 60% of the stopping of the car. When you release the brake pedal the pinching action relaxes to the point where there is very little pressure on the brake disk. What can happen are several things. The brake piston sticks not releasing the prake pads and causses excessive friction which will super overheat the brake system. The flexable hoses that go from the car chassis to the front brakes can swell and not allow the hydraulic fluid to return when the pedal is released causing the brakes to remain partially applied which will cause excessive heat and damage parts. If both front brakes did the exact same thing then it could be a defective valve in the master cylinder or possibly proportining valve. When you install disc brakes you must test to see that they release when pedal is released, this is very easy to do and a GOOD mechanic knows to test this, because the disc brake pistons do like to stick with age, some worse than others
Good luck
Darryl...