Advice needed - Red brake disc(!)/Caliper sticking

[ad_car_08]

Hi and Happy New Year to all! Mine's already started off badly!!

Driving to work this morning, the car felt quite sluggish and backed off harshly between gearchanges. I had similar symptoms a few weeks before Christmas, so I instantly gave the handbrake a gentle wiggle up and down and found shed loads of play in it...I had my suspicions...pulled over at the next layby, walked round the car to the passenger rear wheel and was greeted by a blood red brake disc!!   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  (it hadn't happened THAT badly before!)

Like I said, something like that happened before Christmas (although no where near as bad!), which I manage to remedy by tugging the hand brake on and off a couple of times and pumping the footbrake to (presumably) work the caliper free(?). I know I fixed it because the play between hand brake fully off and the first notch went from severely wobbly to no play what-so-ever.
I tried the same trick of tugging the handbrake and pumping the footbrake this morning when I let the glowing red brake disc cool a little, but nothing seem to free it, so I gave the caliper a proper good twonking (of course being extra careful not to hit my alloy!   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  ) with the only sturdy tool I had with me, the wheel brace. I think it might've worked a little because the disc wasn't glowing red when I got to work, but I don't know whether that was because, from then on, I was driving extra, extra carefully to work?

To paint the full picture;
- my car failed its MOT in August 09 due to rear passenger brake performance,
- I got someone to grease up the passenger rear caliper slider because I suspected it was sticking and also had the handbrake cable adjusted,
- car then passed MOT,
- I changed all discs and pads for EBC discs and Greenstuff pads back in November 09,

This trouble has only happened twice and only when driving somewhere in the early morning after we've had a cold snap/frost the night before


So this is my plea...

Has anyone else experienced the same and what have you done to free the caliper to enable you to continue your journey without toasting your pads and warping your disc?!

As the disc was literally glowing red, does that mean it will 100% be warped and more useful as an ashtray/need replacing?

Is the problem actually likely to be a sticking caliper, or could it be a sticky brake piston? or the fact the handbrake was adjusted to accommodate worn discs/pads and now is a little too tight for new discs and pads? or something else??  s:? :? s:?

[custardavenger]

DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR UNLESS TOTALLY NECESSARY!  

My advise would be to get the calliper off and properly checked out. You can either do this yourself if you have the skill or take it to the garage. Trust me on this. If your going to drive a car that you know has a fault don't do it if it's the brakes. Especially on our cars as they are not that forgiving.

I believe there are some posts on here as to checking or removing callipers, but if you need more help feel free to PM me.

Rob

[ad_car_08]

Having had an indepth think about things, I remember wiping and regreasing the shaft (oo er!) that the caliper slides on, with a thin film of grease...not caked on though. Should it be caked on? It wasn't when I took the caliper off, but then again it might've needed more...I don't know what it should be like. Should I have chucked a load of grease into the cup and slid it back on the shaft (wiping an excess that oozes out)...or am I clutching at straws?

Can't say I had this problem before I changed the discs and pads...but then again its never been this blummin cold since I bought my MR2!

I'm quite concerned about the disc though, is it likely to be fit for nothing now, or are they up to taking a lot of punishment?

[uktotty]

have you thought about a refurb?
Calipers may be worn and caked in stuff.
Just not worth mucking about when it comes to brakes

[ad_car_08]

Is there anything I can do or try if it ever sticks on again, i.e. on my way home this evening?
I've left it on my works car park, on a slope, in gear with the handbrake off, hoping it'll be ok by this evening!

[custardavenger]

It depends on whether it's the piston that's sticking or the calliper on the sliders.

As for greasing, What grease did you use? And also it sounds like you haven't greased it properly. Inside the rubber bellow that covers the slide pin there is a seal, you need to carefully clean the old grease that side of the seal and re grease. If you just grease the pin it will be wiped off when you slide it back in.

[Anonymous]

You might find it more of a frozen handbrake cable than a calliper, water ingress to the cable will ice up in this bad weather and only free off when thawed, try parking it in gear with the handbrake off if possible and see what happens.

Sound familiar?  CLICKY   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  

Les

[ad_car_08]

It depends on whether it's the piston that's sticking or the calliper on the sliders.

As for greasing, What grease did you use? And also it sounds like you haven't greased it properly. Inside the rubber bellow that covers the slide pin there is a seal, you need to carefully clean the old grease that side of the seal and re grease. If you just grease the pin it will be wiped off when you slide it back in.

I think that's probably what has happened (crap!). I really should've cottoned on to that happening...
As for the grease I used, I'm not sure. The stuff that was on it before, looked white like Vaseline. The stuff I put back on was a blob of yellow'ey brown grease that I put on the end of the pin/shaft, then slid the caliper back onto it.

With that in mind, I'm thinking it could be caliper slider related more than a piston problem.

[ad_car_08]

You might find it more of a frozen handbrake cable than a calliper, water ingress to the cable will ice up in this bad weather and only free off when thawed, try parking it in gear with the handbrake off if possible and see what happens.

Sound familiar?  CLICKY   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  

Les

Yes, very familiar! The fact that the first time it happened and the brake freed itself (maybe with a little persuasion from me) after I'd driven it somewhere - warm engine, hot brakes might've thawed the perhaps frozen cable?

The thing that confuses me, is that when it happened today, the disc was literally red hot and the engine was alot hotter so surely that would've thawed out any moisture that was in the handbrake cable?

I'm still on the fence with this one and not sure what course of action to take   s:? :? s:?

[Anonymous]

You might find it more of a frozen handbrake cable than a calliper, water ingress to the cable will ice up in this bad weather and only free off when thawed, try parking it in gear with the handbrake off if possible and see what happens.

Sound familiar?  CLICKY   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  

Les

Yes, very familiar! The fact that the first time it happened and the brake freed itself (maybe with a little persuasion from me) after I'd driven it somewhere - warm engine, hot brakes might've thawed the perhaps frozen cable?

The thing that confuses me, is that when it happened today, the disc was literally red hot and the engine was alot hotter so surely that would've thawed out any moisture that was in the handbrake cable?

I'm still on the fence with this one and not sure what course of action to take   s:? :? s:?

The handbrake cables are not routed near a heat source all the way from calliper to handbrake lever and heat transference from even a glowing disc would be quite minimal.  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[ad_car_08]

Ah! Thanks Les!   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[jonfy]

Your not on your own  my handbrake had frozen this morning(- 10 last night).It refused to free off the brakes (been stood since before Christmas ).I had a Puma with a similar problem a few years ago ,the trick i used to do was reverse first then go forwards to break the friction however its  easier said than done in two foot of snow .  s:roll: :roll: s:roll:    s:roll: :roll: s:roll:    s:roll: :roll: s:roll:    s:roll: :roll: s:roll:    s:roll: :roll: s:roll:  
I know my calipers and discs are in good condition because they were renewed in the summer, it's my own fault for not running the car over the Christmas break !!!!

[Anonymous]

I had this trouble a week ago! It's all down to the handbrake cable I think.  What I did was to pull the handbrake cable from it's resting point near the calliper - i.e. I didn't disconnect the cable but slid it out from the vice-like clamp, therefore relieving tension completely.  This allowed the caliper handbrake mechanism to spring back - thus releasing the brakes.  The fact that the handbrake was released was indication that it was indeed the handbrake cable.
As such, I have no handbrake but the brakes are functioning normally.  Gathering together the price of 2 replacement cables as I believe the old ones are in a poor state of repair through stretching as the handbrake was less-than-efficient prior to this.
Hope this helps.
Chris

[ad_car_08]

Awesome, I'm glad I'm not the only one!

By the time it was time to go home from work, the handbrake cable must've thawed as it didn't stick on and all the play had disappeared totally.

I've stuck my car into gear and left the handbrake off tonight to see if I still have trouble tomorrow morning - that way I can eliminate the handbrake from the cause.

Thanks for your replies folks. watch this space....

[ad_car_08]

Slightly better result this morning - the brakes weren't sticking or anything this morning, so it seems possible I can rule out a sticky caliper.

Bad news is I'm going to have to fork out for a garage to fit me a new handbrake cable. I've read somewhere that you have to drop the petrol tank!? Sounds a bit of a faff...??

[ChrisHumes]

yeah thats what they had to do to mine apparently, they said it was awkward, but thats probably coz the garage had never done it before. I think they also had to remove the seats so they could get to the centre console as well. all fixed for <£150 including parts. mine actually failed the mot on the handbrake not holding the car, so it sounds like you have the same problem. calipers on mine seem fine though.

[ad_car_08]

Thats not a bad price for the work involved AND parts.

Thanks for the info Chris

[benji89]

i had the same problem, ended up paying toyota £108 for the cables and replacing myself
the hardest part was getting the centre console screws out, while keeping the seats in.
other than that it was a fairly simple job

[Anonymous]

i had the same problem, ended up paying toyota £108 for the cables and replacing myself
the hardest part was getting the centre console screws out, while keeping the seats in.
other than that it was a fairly simple job

Was this on both cables and if so was there no need to remove the fuel tank?

[ad_car_08]

i had the same problem, ended up paying toyota £108 for the cables and replacing myself
the hardest part was getting the centre console screws out, while keeping the seats in.
other than that it was a fairly simple job

Was this on both cables and if so was there no need to remove the fuel tank?

Exactly my thoughts?

[benji89]

only the one caliper was sticking, but decided to replace both cables.
didnt need to remove the fuel tank, just put a trolley jack and a large bit of wood to spread the load, and dropped it maybe 5 to 7 cm, as the cables run over the top of it.

ben