Hi All,

Long time lurker on these forums but just posting for a bit of general help/advice

Last weekend I changed the front coil springs/top mounts on my GP 1.9 130 as well as the front discs and pads. Since then I've noticed the car pulling slightly to the right, not dangerously so but requiring a constant slight steering input left to correct it.

I originally thought the springs may not be seated properly or the strut had become distorted but I think it's more likely the front right brake that is binding slightly. Doing the 'driving with your head out the window' bit gets some funny looks but I could at least hear a slight squeal from the front right. This morning when doing a hill start I found that coming off the brakes, the car was staying stationary for about 2-3 seconds before starting to roll backwards when the caliper then fully released. This is not noticeable when pulling off with a normal amount of throttle.

I've changed a good few discs and pads on this and other cars before and haven't come across this. To summarise the symptoms:

• Slight squeal from front right brake
• Car pulls slightly to the right
• Front right caliper sticks when pedal is released
• Brake pedal itself does not return as quickly
• Pedal does not feel spongy and doesn't have excessive travel
• Stopping distances do not appear to be affected
• Noticed no difficulty with acceleration

I know the Pandas and 500s had something similar but I think the setup is different on the GP. I'll be stripping it back down tomorrow to investigate but any suggestions as to what to check first?

Thanks

Sounds to me as if you have a rough / dirty piston on the OSF calliper. If you've changed pads due to wear the end of the piston that was permanently outside of the calliper may now be inside of the calliper running through the seals. If this is not spotless, it will stick. Take the pads out, have someone press the brake pedal very gently until the piston pops out a short way and get a look at it. Be very careful not to push the pedal too hard with the pads out otherwise you could push the piston right out. If it's grubby or corroded then clean it up with some 800 - 1200 grit emery. Check condition of the protective boot around the piston and if required, replace to prevent ingress of water & dirt.

Cheers

Ben

Thanks Ben,

Good call! I've just had a spare 30 mins and had it in the garage and the piston itself was covered in surface corrosion, so by cleaning that up; partial success! It no longer pulls to the right or squeals.

The pedal still hesitates to come up however and the brakes still stick briefly when releasing the pedal. So I'll have to whip the NSF off tomorrow and check on that side too, (fingers crossed) that solves it.

In the pretty unlikely event this doesn't work, what's usually the next thing to check/do in the sequence? Brake fluid flush?

Thanks again, really helpful.

Dave

It may sort it by doing other side. Have you checked your fluid level? When you wound in the pistons to fit the new pads you could possibly have lost some fluid from the master cylinder. If the fluid has not been changed for a while, it would make sense to do it, only a few quid and 1 litre should be enough for a change. Check all the pedal linkages too.

Cheers

Ben

This morning when doing a hill start I found that coming off the brakes, the car was staying stationary for about 2-3 seconds before starting to roll backwards when the caliper then fully released

Click to expand...

You do know this is a feature called hill holder, right?

Thanks for the input both!

Ben - whipped the other side off this morning and did the same, now much better, pedal returns properly and no noise whatsoever.

cmosfxx - I was aware of this feature but up until recently, I've had 'Hill Holder Unavailable' as an error message. All of a sudden, I no longer get the message, so it could well be this that's applying brake pressure. However I thought this feature was only engaged when the vehicle was in 1st with the clutch depressed? I was in neutral with clutch up and off the brakes facing upwards on a fairly steep gradient. I could be wrong of course!

I'll get the fluid changed next week just to be thorough. Once again, many thanks for the information.

Dave

IF hill holder is engaging with the clutch NOT pressed you have to calibrate/replace clutch pedal switch.