Brakes Binding

[victor1]

Hi - have'nt visited this forum for a while "hope you folks are all well" :16:

I have just recently encountered a brake binding problem, it is noticably after driving for a while, happened last night when I got stuck in heavy traffic for an hour, results in me having to add more revs to the engine to move after stopping and feels as if the hand brake is on, it was also raining (dont know if this has any bearing on this).I have had the rear brake discs and pads fitted about 10 months ago and the front discs and pads fitted a month ago, braking otherwise seems fine and it also just passed the MOT without any issues. I spoke to my mechanic who suspect that the calipers might require replacement :wub: .

Have any of you members had a similar problem and what was the suspect component?

What course of action should I take? any suggestions gratefully received.

 

Thank you in advance

 

V1

[RADIOTWO]

Hi - have'nt visited this forum for a while "hope you folks are all well" :16:

I have just recently encountered a brake binding problem, it is noticably after driving for a while, happened last night when I got stuck in heavy traffic for an hour, results in me having to add more revs to the engine to move after stopping and feels as if the hand brake is on, it was also raining (dont know if this has any bearing on this).I have had the rear brake discs and pads fitted about 10 months ago and the front discs and pads fitted a month ago, braking otherwise seems fine and it also just passed the MOT without any issues. I spoke to my mechanic who suspect that the calipers might require replacement :wub: .

Have any of you members had a similar problem and what was the suspect component?

What course of action should I take? any suggestions gratefully received.

 

Thank you in advance

 

V1

 

Hi V1

 

when the brakes start binding, stop and see if any of the disc's are hot(becareful might burn) but it sounds like something is binding, and is poss the calipers that are seized.

 

So find out which one is binding, then strip down the ofending one, and take out the pads, and carefully push back the pistons and make sure the sliders on the calipers are free, apply some "copperslip" grease on the moving parts, refit pads(with some copperslip on the back of the pads) and pump the brake pedel afew times.

 

If you feel up to it do the rest of the brakes the same and that should cure it.

 

If the calipers or calipers are not sized it might be a disc out of true, (do you get a slight pumping of the pedel as you slightly put a bit of presure on the pedel as you drive)?

 

Radiotwo

[victor1]

Hi Radiotwo - mechanic had a good look and could not pin point the problem, he suggested rebleeding the fluid as a possible cause might be air in the line that could expand / contract in various temperature conditions causing the non permanent brake binding. Will keep an eye on this one and post the result here.

 

thanks

V1 :wub:

[RADIOTWO]

Hi Radiotwo - mechanic had a good look and could not pin point the problem, he suggested rebleeding the fluid as a possible cause might be air in the line that could expand / contract in various temperature conditions causing the non permanent brake binding. Will keep an eye on this one and post the result here.

 

thanks

V1 :wub:

 

Hi again

 

Air won't cause binding, if anything it would do the opposite,

 

You say the mechanic had a look ! did he strip them down? or just look

 

Radiotwo

[bigdaddy]

I had a similiar problem on an espace, turned out the rear callipers where siezing and I had to replace both callipers

[littledaz]

Something that shouldn't be overlooked is your brake pads being free to move in their carrier.

It is something I come across quite often. It is usually the rear pads that, over a period of time, stick in the carrier due to rust build up on the carrier itself.

One possible identifier of binding, depending on how long you've suffered from it, is the colour of the brake disc.

The offending disc is usually bluer than the rest and the usually rusty edge to it has an orange tinge to it.

Even though you had your rear pads replaced 10 months ago, if the caliper carrier was not sufficiently cleaned of rust buildup, this could be your problem.

Worth checking before condemning a caliper.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Hi - have'nt visited this forum for a while "hope you folks are all well" :lol:

..... and the front discs and pads fitted a month ago, .....

 

Thanks for the wishes.

 

Maybe the new pads are slightly oversize for the callipers, and grinding a fraction of a mm off them would stop them from binding? I had this "problem" in my first car many years ago. Fortunately I dealt with a one-man outfit and I drove straight there, he took the offending pad out and ground a bit off whilst I waited and I was on my way again in under half an hour

[El Dingo]

This thread is really good stuff.

 

The calipers will have corroded a little, and might need scraping clean where the pads seat...

 

(I would have said siezed caliper before littledaz posted...)

Edited March 4, 2007 by El Dingo

[Nezzo]

Hi - have'nt visited this forum for a while "hope you folks are all well" :D

I have just recently encountered a brake binding problem, it is noticably after driving for a while, happened last night when I got stuck in heavy traffic for an hour, results in me having to add more revs to the engine to move after stopping and feels as if the hand brake is on, it was also raining (dont know if this has any bearing on this).I have had the rear brake discs and pads fitted about 10 months ago and the front discs and pads fitted a month ago, braking otherwise seems fine and it also just passed the MOT without any issues. I spoke to my mechanic who suspect that the calipers might require replacement :lol: .

Have any of you members had a similar problem and what was the suspect component?

What course of action should I take? any suggestions gratefully received.

 

Thank you in advance

 

V1

 

Just had a similar problem - turned out to be the handbrake sticking on intermittently. Got worse until it stuck on permanently !

 

Most noticeable thing was that the handbrake lever was really easy to lift about a couple of inches when released.

 

The car had a lot less acceleration and after 10-15 minutes would suddenly lurch forward and return to normal !

 

It took increasingly longer to return to normal. When it started to smell and was still sluggish after 20 minutes my wife took it to a local tyre and brake company - it needed new brake pads and hand brake cable - but they said if it had been left much longer it would have needed new brake discs and cost a lot more!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Good Luck - hope it's not too expensive.

[SimonD]

Hi there,

 

Sorry for hijacking an old thread but it seemed vaguely relevant to my question.

 

I've got a 54 plate 1.9 TD Automatic Galaxy which has been an excellent car over the last 18 months. Tonight the car was driven on a 16 mile round trip. When we got the car home, there was a strong burning smell coming from the car. A little investigation showed that all four wheel trims were very hot, suggesting that the brakes were binding on all four wheels.

 

Any ideas what the cause of this might be, and what it is likely to cost to sort it out. The faulty calliper problem experienced by others would presumably only apply to a single wheel?

 

Very many thanks,

 

Simon

Edited December 19, 2008 by SimonD

[seatkid]

I once experienced something similar, the brake pedal had not released fully. I noticed it when moving forward in a slow queue, I sensed something was wrong. I put my foot under the brake pedal and it moved up maybe an inch and the brakes released fully. I checked the brakes within a couple of minutes and sure enough they were very hot. My solution was simply I "exercised" the pedal a lot, with considerable movement/pressure to "loosen" it up. Too lazy to investigate further or lubricate the mechanism.

 

Since then I've got into the habit of checking with my foot that the brake pedal has released fully, just in case.

 

Other thing it might be is a fault in the traction control if you have that option.

Edited December 19, 2008 by seatkid

[Audiman]

Victor1,

 

I had a similiar issue with binding brakes after changing the discs and pads.

 

I used the car for a month or so and noticed one of the discs had a blue'ish colour *suspected overheating/binding

 

I recalled I had a problem taking off one of the slider bolts when I was installing the pads/discs.

 

Took out the caliper and noticed a very sight bend in the slider bolt. So when the caliper presses on the pads, it got caught on the bent slider bolt. There is no way of getting this straight with a hammer - I tried it 3 times. In the end I had to purchase half of the caliper from fraud.

[f0ster]

with brake circuits there has to be free passage for the fluid from the brake calipers to the resovoir when the pedal is at rest,

as soon as the the pedal is moved down a small drilling is closed off that stops this free passage of fluid, this sealed off fluid is

then forced down the fluid lines when you press the pedal, if when the pedal is at rest and this drilling is closed off the fluid has

no where to expand to and so the only place it can go is to apply the brakes,

[oafcowl]

Had this "sticking problem" on my galaxy, If you tap the caliper with a hammer it will probably free until you brake/put handbrake on, I ended up replacing both rear wheel claipers, not too difficult a job, and touch wodd they are OK now.