Front brake help

[Mavez]

Hey, I decided to overhaul my suspension and brakes so i bought all new suspension parts and also braking i bought new calipers, slider pins, discs and pads. Now i've finished everything on the O/S and bled the brakes had a little shot on my drive way stops fine, then took it up the road and back again which is when i noticed this smell! I got out and basically there was a little bit of smoke coming from inside the wheel and basically it was too hot to touch not just the caliper and disc but the actual road wheel as well was roasting.

Any Ideas I mean it's a brand new caliper, brand new slider pins, new pads. The car stops fine but obviously something is sticking dragging to cause so much heat and smell.

Could it be that my pads in the carrier are too damned tight? i did have trouble getting them in. I bought new caliper carriers as well to fit but typical they weren't the right size so had to use my old ones.

any ideas? thanks

 

[Karlos182]

Have you tried stripping it again and checking that everything is free to move/slide? If the pads are a tight fit in the carriers you might have to file the edges to give them room to fit freely.

 

[Typhoon]

Is the pad sitting as it should be?

 

[Adam G]

Which pads?

 

[Mavez]

Just bog standard pads, I don't think it's the pads i've had the new ones and the old ones one that slid in easy. When you pump the pedal you can't move the disc, even when you start the car up the disc is solid and wont move.

 

[Mavez]

It feels like there is a build up of pressure but when you release the pedal it doesn't relieve the pressure.

 

[Chrisgti6]

I assume you bled the brakes? If so, how? One mad brake bleed kit, or two person pedal pump method?

Strip it back down and check the following:-

1) is the caliper piston free moving. Can you push it back in easily - if not, then it could be a faulty/sticky caliper
2) do the pads move freely in the carrier - if not then the pads are likely to be sticking, file the edges until free moving.

If both the piston and pads are free moving then I have no idea what else it could be - Maybe ABS pump related, did you clamp the lines when you removed the old calipers?

 

[Mavez]

Thanks for the ideas guys, so far the slider pins are moving freely in the carrier tried my old ones and the brand new ones, i've bled about 500ml through till there was no air. Caliper piston moves both in and out easily. Pads are moving some what easy in the carrier i think i'll file down the edges till there is easy drop movement like people suggest. Basically when I do up the bolts on the slider pin then go and pump the brake the disc is solid and you can't move it until you undo the bolts in the slider pins, then the disc is free to move again. The other side is fine the wheel and disc move.

Used both the eezibleed and one man method system to bleed.

Everything looks as it should i've done brake pads and discs many a time on both this clio and the megane so i'm just stumped...

One thing to mention after I had fitted everything the first time and started it up the ABS/Service light came on but that's because I had forgot to connect the sensor that reads the abs ring on the cv joint, I reconnect it and it disappeared. So i'm not sure if that has some how messed something up.

anyway thanks again people, any more ideas would be great hah :smile:

 

[Mavez]

Well I just filed down the old pads and dropped them in pretty easy, no joy. Here are some pictures hopefully someone can point out something that i've just completely overlooked...

 

[JamesBryan]

All looks about right.

Must be something to do with the piston.

 

[Amos91]

Get a block of wood in the caliper and pump the piston out a bit. Then see if it is easy to push back in.

 

[Chrisgti6]

Maybe damaged a hose?

 

[Mavez]

thanks for the suggestions I will try these things, thought i'd do the other side to see if the same thing happens and typical one of the little screws holding the disc to the hub has rounded and i can't get it off lol arrrghhh! anyway thanks i'm sure i'll be back at some point

 

[Chrisgti6]

thanks for the suggestions I will try these things, thought i'd do the other side to see if the same thing happens and typical one of the little screws holding the disc to the hub has rounded and i can't get it off lol arrrghhh! anyway thanks i'm sure i'll be back at some point :smile:

Whack a flat bladed into it, impact driver and if all else fails angle grinder!

 

[Mavez]

i've been attacking it with the dremel

 

[Mavez]

Hi again, I've been thinking it over the past day and I just remember something stupid i did that might have caused the issue of the caliper sticking to the disc even after pedal pressure has been released.

Basically when i bled the brakes i still had the caliper swinging up on the slider pin bolt so basically the piston wasn't pressing against anything. I then proceeded to pump the pedal thinking wtf only to get out and realize that the piston had extended all the way out in the caliper. Could this hyper extension maybe have cause seals inside to become screwed up or cause my issue it sticking? I mean i got a pair of grips and managed to push it back in but perhaps something has become dislodged internally and causing it to not release pressure when pedal is released?

Just a thought, i completely forgot that i did that and when i remembered i was like crap i bet that's what's buggered it up,

anyway any advice appreciated again haha, thanks

 

[Mavez]

Ok well i'm sure it's not the caliper now, as i've tried two different calipers, two different sets of slider pins, so now i've ordered a new hose. Surely it has to be the hose The other side works completely fine with fitting the same duplicate parts as the other side.

 

[Chrisgti6]

Yep. i'm still going with it being the hose. I'm guessing some sort of internal damage making like a one way valve.

 

[Mavez]

Yeah hopefully man! Part comes tomorrow so fingers crossed this is the issue. Week and a half ordering/waiting on parts to fix this, everything else was done in 3 days at a leisurely pace with painting stuff. Hopefully this thread will help someone if they ever run into the same issue haha

thanks for the help guys, i will return...

 

[Mavez]

Oh well that's me officially out of ideas, two different calipers, two different sets of slider pins, two different hoses. Still has trouble budging when you apply pressure on brakes and then take your foot off Guess i will have to throw in the towel and take it to a garage... I just can't see anything wrong with it argghh!

 

[Mavez]

Bent pad/caliper carrier was the issue with it... what a b*****d lol

 

[RS Charlie]

I was about to say. I bought my Clio with new discs and pads yet they were useless. The cause? Rust beneath the plates. A specialist recommended me to bin them but I was reluctant to have clunky pads on the daily. In the end I ground the rust away, put some brake grease between the carrier and the new plates and the brakes are now spot on. The layer of paint may not have helped ; many people I know really struggle to fit the pads in.

Grinding the backplates is one away around the issue, but why do that when the cause is still there?

Anyway, some photos:

The new gear:

All looks fine:

Errr. Yes, the inner grooves had worn almost flush with the rest of the surface area:

I am not a fan of using Copper grease on moving surfaces:

The start of taking away the rust beneath the slider plates. I painted behind them with etch primer:

The pads were not pretty:

The new bits on: