Technical Front right side brake sticking

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Technical Front right side brake sticking

I've had a new hose and caliper, and replaced the fluid. It's still doing it.

It's intermittent - I think (but I'm not sure) that if you drove 1000 miles without braking it would be fine. But if you use the brakes until they get warm, it then starts rubbing.

I'm also playing with the theory that after it starts rubbing (ee-ee-ee noise), if you drive into a car park and reverse at about walking pace then stomp on the brake it unsticks it. A forwards emergency stop doesn't work though. This is just a theory, I'm still researching.

I don't drive the car enough to work it out quickly. I think I'll just take a punt on getting all new brake pads next, even the backs for the hell of it.

I know next to nothing about brakes, but I've seen "fitting kits". My understanding is that these should be changed every 2 years or so. To my knowledge, these have never been changed, so they're 7 years / 93k miles old. Am I correct in thinking that these are the springs that hold the pads in the right place? If so then it seems pretty likely that if they get weak then the pads could end up somewhere they shouldn't be, and possibly stick? Someone who knows more than me (not much) would know more - please correct me or agree!

Does the front brake have a fitting kit? I've seen one for the back, not the front.

All ideas very welcome. But I think new pads is probably an inevitable step on the way for us.

If I was to trade it in now, I'd need to spend £1000s to get something else that's as good. So a £100 or so on pads doesn't sound so painful in comparison. They are consumables anyway, although the ones on it aren't near to needing changing.

While I'm at it, is there any point in getting the disks ground smooth?
 
Hi doofer- with ref to your thoughts on grinding your discs flat.
In the good old days the solid discs were given a hardened "case" to a certain depth and could be skimmed a little , with the advent of vented discs the case hardening was stopped in favour of normalise and temper I believe . This gives a relatively even hardness across the section of the disc. If my memory serves me right the skimming up of discs is not done due to the probable warping of the disc under the heating during hard breaking.
The old type solid discs had a minimum thickness you could go down to , the modern vented have a minimum thickness they can "wear "down to.
 
I've ordered the following parts today (for my 1.9D 16v)...

All are Mintex part numbers. Data from their website.

Front Pads: MDB2754
Rear Pads: MDB2800
Front Fitting Kit: MBA1231
Rear Fitting Kit: MBA1689

Both fitting kits have a photo that looks like they're some kind of positioning springs. It's possible they're just a generic photo and are just shims, but that wouldn't do any harm anyway.

All parts were as recommended by the Mintex Brakebook website.

I'm really really hoping that my problems are down to feeble pad positioning springs, allowing it to get dragged sideways and sticking. That's the theory - if not then it's another thing ruled out.
 
Hello guys. Thank you for sharing your research Doofer. I have the same problem on my car. I have changed also the caliper and hose 20.000 miles ago with new parts and the problem is the same. Now the brake pads on the right are worn 95% and the left side only 40%. I'm getting a new set, change both, and next time when the right side wear reach to 90% again I will put the old ones from the left side which are only 40% worn. Until I read this post I thought this is a singular or very rare problem, but I see now that I was wrong. I asked few mechanics and none gave me an acceptable answer. All say its the caliper or the hose, but the problem was the same with new components also. It may be a problem with the ABS, the valve for the right side must be malfunctioning or something there, maybe a manufacture problem and ignored.

BTW, shouldn't the brake pads come with fixing kits included ? I ask because, I have ordered mines from Textar and only received the ones for the rear, which have the fixing kits included, tomorrow I should get the front pads too.
 
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Well I don't know much, as I've never changed a set of brake pads. Fixing kits are a new thing to me. I just want to be certain that every changeable part is new. The fixing kits were about £6 each.

I did get all disks and pads changed when I bought it. I bought the parts and took them to the garage. I didn't look in detail, but I don't remember seeing any springy bits in the boxes. If they've never been changed then they'll be ancient.

I know this is very far from a guaranteed fix. However, it's a reasonably priced stepping stone to working ot what the hell's going on.

There is a chance it could be a malfunctioning ABS/ESP actuator. I did do lots of test drives with the ABS fuses pulled out (I'm now the world's expert at doing my 10-mile test run without braking at all), and it was stone cold - ooh, is this the cause?.. Then the garage put the fuses back in, and I went for another test run and... stone cold again. It's intermittent, so bloody annoyingly impossible to diagnose.

The best theory I can come up with so far (this is NOT conclusive) is that it's fine until you get it hot through heavy braking. Then it starts rubbing. From this point on it's self-perpetuating, as the rubbing gets it hotter.

I can hear mine when it's rubbing (ee-ee-ee), which is handy. It's possible that after the new pads it might carry on rubbing but silently, which would be worse. I will keep an eye on the temperature after a run without braking (checking left vs right).

It could be absolutely anything in the system - perhaps some dodgy software that applies the brakes if it's an odd-numbered date and the wipers and radio are on? Anything's possible these days.

I'd like to know if anyone's got a Croma that doesn't continually chew its OSF brake pads.
 
Well I don't know much, as I've never changed a set of brake pads. Fixing kits are a new thing to me. I just want to be certain that every changeable part is new. The fixing kits were about £6 each.

I've also didn't change a set of brake pads on this car, I'm still deciding if I try or I go to service. If the cylinder must be compressed and turned in the same time, then I have no tools or compressor kit for this job.

I did get all disks and pads changed when I bought it. I bought the parts and took them to the garage. I didn't look in detail, but I don't remember seeing any springy bits in the boxes. If they've never been changed then they'll be ancient.

Usually and it seems logical, they should come with new fixing springs and new screws. We will see tomorrow (both of us) :)

I know this is very far from a guaranteed fix. However, it's a reasonably priced stepping stone to working ot what the hell's going on.

There is a chance it could be a malfunctioning ABS/ESP actuator. I did do lots of test drives with the ABS fuses pulled out (I'm now the world's expert at doing my 10-mile test run without braking at all), and it was stone cold - ooh, is this the cause?.. Then the garage put the fuses back in, and I went for another test run and... stone cold again. It's intermittent, so bloody annoyingly impossible to diagnose.

The best theory I can come up with so far (this is NOT conclusive) is that it's fine until you get it hot through heavy braking. Then it starts rubbing. From this point on it's self-perpetuating, as the rubbing gets it hotter.

I check mines after each road since I noticed the problem and yes, it's random also on my car. Few times the front wheels have the same temp, but most of the times, the right one is very hot. :bang:

I can hear mine when it's rubbing (ee-ee-ee), which is handy. It's possible that after the new pads it might carry on rubbing but silently, which would be worse. I will keep an eye on the temperature after a run without braking (checking left vs right).

It could be absolutely anything in the system - perhaps some dodgy software that applies the brakes if it's an odd-numbered date and the wipers and radio are on? Anything's possible these days.

Yes, maybe you are right, could be something in the software, I don't know, seems that no one knows :mad:

From what I found so far on the internet, I would like to detach the protective rubber from the cylinder and insert some copper grease, tarquin said he used WD 40, but this one will burn after 100-200 miles, as the temp is high there. But the copper grease resist up to 1100 degrees Celsius so I've heard is a good treatment. I looking for some good one and I will try it when I change the brake pads.
 
I still think its the part that splits the braking circuit, is that the servo I am not sure? but its not a cheap part. Its always the front o/s and rear n/s that drag. Somewhere on a website and I think it was a Saab forum this problem has been answered, they concluded it was the unit that controled the split circuit that was not letting the fluid flow back through it for that side of the circuit, they replaced the part and it fixed the fault. What you may find is if you press the footpedal hard then the brake cylinders on these 2 wheels dont fully back off. Its a definately a very common fault on Croma's along with: wobbly front drive shafts, EGR valves, broken springs, sunroofs that dont want to close, sticky door handles, boot locks that dont unlock from the handle, broken swirl flaps in the inlet manifold (very expensive), alternators that stop working, suspension parts that wear prematurely, bearing on 6th gear of the manual M32 GM gearboxes that self distruct at about 100,000-140,000 miles, front exhust downpipe flex's that dont last as long as the rest of the exhaust...+ some more that i cant think of just at the moment !
 
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Do you have a link to the Saab forum discussion? I had a rummage around the Vectra-C forum and found a few threads about rubbing brakes. In every one I saw, changing the pads was the answer.

Perhaps there isn't one answer - it could be a number of causes.
 
Sorry Doofer I dont, its just that I used to own a Saab and read all about the same problems they were having, but it was quite a while ago. I had a 1998 Saab 900 2.0 petrol, now that really was a load of rubbish in my opinion, after having a Mondeo 2 litre petrol and a Rover 623.
 
I suspect my next car will have a Korean badge (and 5-7 year warranty) on it. It certainly won't be anything European sadly.

That's a few years off though - I've got to wring a few thousand miles out of this bugger yet.
 
Hi Doofer
I don't think we will get the answer until someone puts some money into it and changes the abs valve etc
 
One of my neighbours who's worked on Kia's in the past suggested that there might be an adjusting screw that needs to be wound back a little. He's seen it on some cars where, for example, the front right and rear left wear more than their diagonal opposites.

Does this make sense to anyone?
 
Hello our Croma eats brake discs and pads! the rear off side went to the metal on the way back from Cornwall . When I tried to fit a new set of pads the piston was stuck solid so off down to the shed with the caliper and with some grunt with the piston tool pushed the thing home,after a week it stuck again so new caliper.Back down to the shed and removed the piston and the seal .The piston is a loose fit in the cylinder and it look's like the seal has swelled .The front right needed a big lever to push it back and both front brakes squeek on and off with out brake application.My thought is this that it very much look's like the things have all ways been to tight I have never previously had to use WMD'S to push brake pistons back.If it takes any thing more than light pressure to push them in, it is the black square section piston seal that is the culprit just remove the thing and see how free the piston fits in the cylinder.
 
Hi,
Not got a Croma- so can't offer 1st hand experience,
but it's not uncommon for the seal to be formed in a way where it actually drags the piston back a little,
does the seal seem to follow the piston? or is the piston sliding through it,
out of interest do you know the calipers manufacturer..??,
I have had FIATS for YEARS ( without issue)-I suspect this MAY be a GM driven problem..!!,
Charlie
 
According to my manual the2.2 16v+ 1.9 8v have TEVES front caliper and TRW rear.
The 1.9 16v + the 2.4 20v haveTRW calipers front and back

And there I was thinking that all Carlitos did was save my beloved Hammers :D

tevezhammer595.jpg
 
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