Glowing Brakes - They're kinda dragging...

[riko666]

Bah, just kidding, they're not actually glowing but when driving, all brakes seem to be dragging, but the driver's side particularly badly...all wheels are tepid of temperature but that rear one is quite hot, and I mean especially so compared to the others

Why do you think the brakes would be dragging like so, especially that one rear one? How do I go about fixing it? Was really annoying and I can feel it slow the car down when I release the throttle. I'm thinking it could be the reason the wheel nearly fell off a week ago, the brake heating up to the point of heating the wheel nuts up (they were boiling this afternoon) to the point of expanding and loosening themselves?

But yeah, help would be appreciated, I never seem to get a break (no pun intended) with this car

 

[sx_turbo]

your rear caliper seems to be sticking mate get it rebuilt or replace it thats not right. mine dont do that.

although my passenger side front brakes more than the drivers side front why is this?

 

[Somhairle]

how the pedal feel?

It could be possible that you have water in your fluid, as it gets to operating temperature, it's expanding in the lines and slightly pushing the pistons out...


just a theory mind.....

 

[riko666]

both valid points, shall elaborate - it could be sticking as it's just that one caliper that's really dragging, and eventually it pulls back a bit (you can hear it less), but it drags regardless. It could also be water in the fluid as it was left standing for quite a while over summer...

seeing as I don't have the tool for the rear calipers, how can I check for either of these? It's definitely not right...and it's peculiar that it's one caliper that drags the most, complementing both your theories.

Som, pedal's mushy as usual, but when at speed, you can feel it's hardened at the top of it's travel probably due to the fluid overheating

 

[Somhairle]

I would jack the car up on stands, fully.

Then go round and rotate each wheel, and see which one gives you the most resistance.

Slightly lube up the sliders on the front,

Apply the hand brake, in one click increments, and rotate the rear wheels.

it will give you an indication as to which one is sticking.....

 

[riko666]

cheers chap, will check in a bit or in the morning...problem is I only have the butterfly jack and as such, will be hard to rotate either front wheel independantly, what with the LSD

 

[Wild]

your rear caliper seems to be sticking mate get it rebuilt or replace it thats not right. mine dont do that.

although my passenger side front brakes more than the drivers side front why is this?

Funnily enough mine do too dude! Changed my pads on friday and the front passenger ones were down a noticable amount more than the drivers side!

 

[Somhairle]

jack her up dead centre on the crash bar so it lifts the 2 front wheels off the ground mate.

stick a bit of wood or something in there for protection.


then do the same on the rear axle.

 

[riko666]

d'oh, fair eough - how do I determine whether it's water in the brake fluid or sticky calipers though ...though I highly doubt all calipers would be stuck

 

[Somhairle]

only thing ya can really do is get someone else to hit the brakes while you rotate.

Tap the brake lightly while spinning the wheel and release, see which on feels slow to release....


For the rear, your best bet will be pulling the handbrake on, one click at a time and see which side feels more free.

As for the fluid, all you can really do is assume the worst and change it dude....

 

[riko666]

hmm, shall have to give it a try, thanks again chap! How much does a fluid change cost typically by the way? I thought it would've been changed when I had my rear axle installed bah

 

[dac69er]

one of my rears was bad. used to get alot hotter than the other side. rebuilt it and its fine. they both are the same temperature. its an expensive job and takes a little while but its worthwhile rebuilding them fully. afterwards blled the brakes and it will be cock on

 

[GTti]

Aye the fronts are just floating calipers, use some CV grease on the inside of the boots if they're sticking or dry. Then just give them some good hard braking.

Replace the fluid and bleed the brakes.

 

[Somhairle]

It should have been, as the brake lines would have been disconnected....

maybe it wasn't bled properly or as you say, because it was laid up for a while.

A fluid change is very straightfoward.

If your any way handy with a 8 or 10mm spanner (cant remember off hand).

All ya hafta do is pump, pump, pump - hold down, open the nipple - pedal goes to floor - close nipple while pedals on the floor and repeat until clean clear fluid comes out the nipple.

Put a length on to the nipple and into a fairy liquid bottle.

Put a little clean fluid into the bottle to stop any air being sucked up and the hose into the fluid....

Always start from the furthest caliper away from the master cylinder and work your way round to the closest...

you'll need 2 people, some fluid, the above mentioned hose/bottle and your preferred bar of chocolate/bag of crisps etc...

and dont get no fluid on the paint.......



If that makes absolutely no sense to you, a garage should only charge about 15 quid really....

 

[riko666]

i would do it myself, but don't trust doing the work with a butterfly jack, and the bleed nipples scare me, look like they'd snap with my parma hamfists

 

[Somhairle]

do one wheel at a time, use a jack and a stand and work your way round....


put the spanner on the nipple and give it a bit of short sharp shock treatment....


they are surprisingly tough little buggers.....


at least you'll know how to do it in future etc if you give it a bash....

 

[GTti]

Last time I done this on my charade I could hear brake fluid spraying into the rear turrets from one of the calipers. Not healthy

The bleed nipples are strong, just dont round them - they will 'crack' open.

 

[riko666]

if there is a bolt on my car that isn't rounded, then I haven't touched it yet

 

[riko666]

haven't checked the brakes yet, will get round to that soon, but called up a garage and they reckon it's the rear wheel bearing causing the wheel to heat up so much? Probably would say that seeing as how much it costs to replace wheelbearings but I doubt it as its actually hard to push the car around, and the grumbling noise does go quieter...sometimes

 

[riko666]

No I'm not talking to myself...Anyway, the offending rear wheel is almost impossible to turn by hand - it's equivalent to trying to turn the other rear wheel when it's on 4 clicks of the handbrake...I wouldn't think wheelbearings would seize a wheel up that bad (especially as the rear axle is fairly new and had had new discs on), so I'm pretty much thinking it's a slow rear driver's side caliper