I am posting this for Doofer and who else might have similar problems. As far as I know this issue is usually cause by the brake fluid not being able to get back through the brakes split circuit valve, I am not sure where that it is part of the servo unit. What I think happens is that if you apply the brakes hard these 2 brakes stick, especially the front o/s. Obviouly the brakes are split for safety, so that these 2 are on 1 circuit, its always seems to be the front o/s and rear n/s that drag. I believe there may be other posts on here about this.
Technical dragging front o/s & rear n/s brakes
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Technical dragging front o/s & rear n/s brakes
Thanks very much for the info. I'll see what I can find out.
So far it's had a new caliper, hose and fluid. It's currently working perfectly, but it didn't just after all this lot was fitted. It's trying to annoy me.
So far it's had a new caliper, hose and fluid. It's currently working perfectly, but it didn't just after all this lot was fitted. It's trying to annoy me.
stuart543
New member
I have suffered from this problem on and off and it is those two that are the worst offenders. A few months ago I had both my rear calipers replaced at vast expense as they had got quite bad, and they've been OK since. At the same time, the front o/s was dragging slightly as well and the mechanic at my trusty local independent told me that he had just cleaned them up, and that seemed to do the trick for a while. He also said that they were very tight (I assume he was referring to the clearance between the discs and pads) compared to other cars. I have had occassional re-occurences of this on the front o/s, especially during the winter months when we had cold dry weather with a lot of salt and grit on the roads. I have found that giving them a good wash by squirting a high pressure hose at close range seems to temporarily relieve the problem.
I did a motorway journey last night, and it was twittering. I couldn't tell which corner it was. I was doing very well at not braking, so that I could check which was hot after I had not touched the brakes. Until I came off the motorway and was forced to brake due to a Berk in a Merc. So that experiment was ruined.
I'll try the same again today, see what's going on. The sound actually sounds like it could be just a shield on the back of the disks - it's got that metal-on-metal ring to it. Hopefully that's all it is.
I'll update this thread as my blog of what develops - it seems that this is a Croma trait, so sharing info has to help. It's also presumably a Vectra thing too, I'll have a look at Vectra C to see if the bigger population there have worked something out.
Other thoughts very very welcome though.
I'll try the same again today, see what's going on. The sound actually sounds like it could be just a shield on the back of the disks - it's got that metal-on-metal ring to it. Hopefully that's all it is.
I'll update this thread as my blog of what develops - it seems that this is a Croma trait, so sharing info has to help. It's also presumably a Vectra thing too, I'll have a look at Vectra C to see if the bigger population there have worked something out.
Other thoughts very very welcome though.
stuart543
New member
Hi Doofer. I've had this happen twice now (separate to what I mentioned above). It was a kind of metallic scraping sound. On both occasions I took it into kwik fit, as it was them who'd done my discs and pads, and they told me it was the back plate rubbing on the disc. They fixed it for no charge. If I remember correctly it was the front o/s on both occasions.
During the last days of winter and after the weather got a little bit warmer I had this problem on the front-right. Now, after 2-3 heavy breaking from 130-160 km/h to 0 km/h is all good, no squeaking sound and the wheel is cold after a run. The ex owner of my Croma, replaced this caliper from front-right 30k km ago, after having exactly same symptoms. I know that the treatment I gave is just a temporary solution, but hey .. it worked ..for now and I'm looking forward for a final solution. Cheers !
Being a sad git a while ago I invested in an Infra-red thermometer. Got mine from either Radio Spares or Maplins (can't remember) but was well worth the £50 (or less I spent).
I use it on the car, in the house, just about everywhere I want to check temperatures. I have proper thermo couple measuring kit as well but the remote infra-red capability has proved very very useful. Basically "point - and - shoot" measurements.
And yes I've checked several times on my Croma discs/hubs as I also sometimes experience rear end drag.
I often check all my cars for brake grab/drag. All one has to do is a rolling slow down and wait till the final point of forward travel. If any brakes are dragging then you will feel a vey slight/minor jolt at the point of zero movement.
I use it on the car, in the house, just about everywhere I want to check temperatures. I have proper thermo couple measuring kit as well but the remote infra-red capability has proved very very useful. Basically "point - and - shoot" measurements.
And yes I've checked several times on my Croma discs/hubs as I also sometimes experience rear end drag.
I often check all my cars for brake grab/drag. All one has to do is a rolling slow down and wait till the final point of forward travel. If any brakes are dragging then you will feel a vey slight/minor jolt at the point of zero movement.
