Hi, my mothers panda is due for MOT. I noticed that the drivers side wheel
was tight, thought the piston in the brake caliper had seized.
Bought new one and fitted. No difference.
Now wheel is locked all the time. Like the pedal is pressing down on the brakes, and hydraulic presure is not being relieved.

Car will not move. Other side ok. Anyone got any ideas?
Dont know what it could be ? master cylinder ? \ pressure relief valve ?

My mother dos not know what to do without it, she has owned it for 15 years. Please help if u can.

My mother is distraught at the idea that the car may never see Tesco's again!

Could be that the brake hose has corroded internally, it's more common than you may think. One way to find out is to remove the hose and ensure that the fluid is pumping thereby ensuring that the master cylinder is OK if it's the case replace the hose with new (about £10) and re-attach to the brake caliper.

gary909 said:

she has owned it for 15 years. !

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Ever change a front wheel bearings? If answer is no, - front wheel bearing cud be blocked.

You may see this: https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-guides/44993-front-wheel-hub-bearing-replacement.html

Hose sounds like a likely one if it's only doing it on one side. Were there any black specs in the fluid when it was bled? That's a sign of internal wear to the pipe.
It's not impossible the master cylinder could be causing the problem, though you would expect the other wheel to be affected, but master cylinders can work in mysterious ways sometimes.

I have the same problem with my Panda. A 1991 Formula 91, with only 45,750 genuine miles.
It failed the MoT with a binding drivers side brake. I fitted a new caliper to drivers side, pads and discs to both sides. It cleared for a while then started to bind again. So I stripped it down and rebuilt it again.
I then took the car to France and back covering over 700 miles, everything was fine. But it has started to bind again. Could this be the same problem as you guys are talking about, ie the hose and pipe corroding? It does seem strange that it is only the driver side that is giving problems.
Your help in this matter would be appreciated, as I really need to sort this problem out before the next MoT.

When brake fluid sits in a flexihose too long it can corrode from the inside out. Long before the hose becomes bulbous or shows signs of degradation parts of the hose can get trapped in the line where it joins the copper hose or the caliper itself. If the brake seizes, turn the bleed nipple to release the pressure if it's the caliper end you should be able to do this a couple of times to get home. If it's the copper pipe end won't be able to release the pressure and will need to change the hose as soon as possible.

With such low mileage it could also be a sticky piston. Service kits were available and I'm sure you can get reconditioned calipers on an exchange basis.

Thanks Liquid Knight, it is a new caliper so I doubt it is a sticky piston, but will change the flexi and see what happens, hopefully this will cure it.