Technical Grinding brakes when braking

[Yeoman24]

Just bought a 2012 Ducato X250 2.3 LWB. Only done 1000 miles in last 2 years.
MOT made no mention of brakes having a problem or pads being low. Test drove it and all ok. Took it on a run and as soon as I touch the brakes there is a horrible grinding noise.
Happy to have a go myself but want pointing to the most likely cause please. Any suggestions? Seems worse noise coming from the rear. Thanks.

 

[porta]

Your only real course of action is to look at the pads and shoes.
If you’re lucky, it’s just a foreign object caught, if not, it’s replace what’s needed

 

[bugsymike]

Does that model have drum handbrake inside a rear disc, if so possible rust build up given the low miles of recent use.
Though if only when using foot brake and not handbrake probably not.
I had an Iveco Daily that had been standing, took to Council Depot for Mot , all readings good on meters as I was standing beside them watching, on the way home a bonded handbrake shoe detached due to age and rust build up, but had worked perfectly on Mot 30 minutes early.
Ever since then with drums inside discs I will often pull handbrake on a few times going down a hill to clean the muck of as with a disc/drum design the handbrake shoes never get use when in motion normally, you can often hear the rust when doing this after a wet weather spell.
Of course as @porta says have a look, it's not impossible that a low pad was missed and shoes invisible anyway.

 

[porta]

@bugsymike id forgotten about the silly ‘top hat’ handbrake…PITA is an understatement, I didn’t like them wehn I first encountered them, FORD, and I don’t like them now, those adjusters belong on a ships clock of the 17thC and nowhere else!

 

[bugsymike]

@bugsymike id forgotten about the silly ‘top hat’ handbrake…PITA is an understatement, I didn’t like them wehn I first encountered them, FORD, and I don’t like them now, those adjusters belong on a ships clock of the 17thC and nowhere else!

I agree they can be a pain, but I got used to them on my Iveco Dailys and on several customers cars, Volvos, Honda etc.
Once all freed off, greased and adjusted they generally were quite reliable. Probably less fun in a farming environment though.
Stronger braking effort than a cable operated disc pad handbrake set up until they went electronic, but that is another set of problems.
Having to borrow a diagnostic tool to fit rear brake pads on daughters VW Tiguan!
Saying about the farming environment reminded me as an apprentice, the pleasure of working on a dairy farmers rusty old car with your head up under the wing, the trick was to give the wing a good belt with the flat of your hand which deposited the contents of their farm lane down the neck of the mechanic.

 

[porta]

The daily’s ones, on the drums at least, were big enough to set up properly. So a large contamination build up would take a long time before any issues appeared. The tiny top hat ‘clockwork’ adjusters are a pain and certainly don’t seem to be protected enough to not warrant more periodic ‘fiddling’.
Whilst we were away last year, my mate had to take his ducato to the garage to get sorted, as there was a ‘tinkling’ sound coming from its rear end…turned out that the whole ‘top hat clockwork orange’ arrangement had exploded. That lightened his pocket by nearly £500

 

[bugsymike]

An Iveco trained mechanic showed me how to make a L shaped tool to adjust them with drum on, it was easier than the variety of screwdrivers I used before, but generally though labour intensive I preferred removing the drums and adjusting, refitting checking, removing, adjusting etc. until I got it as good as possible, squaring it up with a large copper hammer each time and of course while adjuster off, freed it and copperslip greased it, before refitting the brake caliper. I found as it only has to work when stopped very little wear occurs, so apart from the "cleaning up" I mentioned before, they didn't need a lot of attention. Assuming of course the handbrake cables are good too.

 

[porta]

I think those adjusters were great up till the MK3 Daily drum type, but, upto MK2, the adjusters were drum off, the later ones had big enough ‘inspection and adjustment’ windows, but then they had bigger ‘crap accumulation’ windows.
Set up correctly, cleaned and lubricated theyd work fine…it’s the issues with the much lighter duty ducato etal and Ford etal ones I dislike

 

[bugsymike]

I could only afford up to Mk2
What is your thoughts on the later ones with auto boxes, I see some at auction, are they as much trouble as all the current computer controlled auto or semi auto gearboxes?

 

[Vanmanlez]

Just bought a 2012 Ducato X250 2.3 LWB. Only done 1000 miles in last 2 years.
MOT made no mention of brakes having a problem or pads being low. Test drove it and all ok. Took it on a run and as soon as I touch the brakes there is a horrible grinding noise.
Happy to have a go myself but want pointing to the most likely cause please. Any suggestions? Seems worse noise coming from the rear. Thanks.

Its big bolts on the front Caliphers so you will need a breaker bar and large Allen key socket. There are several types of disc to which the calipher is a match and therefor the pads as well. Front and back are not a difficult job, I spent more time researching the right parts. The BREMBO website is very good to help with that. Look at your load plate to identify the chassis type to start with (Heavy or Light), the Axle weights are the identifier, Heavy Chassis 2100 front, 2400 rear, Light chassis 1850 front, 2000 rear if I remember right. Good luck

 

[bugsymike]

Its big bolts on the front Caliphers so you will need a breaker bar and large Allen key socket.

Is it Allen or splined I seem to recall on one I did.

 

[camionpilot]

Careful with Brembo , i went to replace discs and pads on another vehicle, so going for a reputable brand and i found the disc were made in Italy BUT the pads were made in India ...pads went back ..!!!!!!!!!

 

[porta]

I could only afford up to Mk2
What is your thoughts on the later ones with auto boxes, I see some at auction, are they as much trouble as all the current computer controlled auto or semi auto gearboxes?

I liked the Mk3, not much went wrong with it, if anything…the Mk4 (googley eyed one) is just ugly. Mate has one with the semi-auto, he’s had one problem twice, which was the ‘gearbox position sensor’.
I asked him what that related to but he didn’t know and didn’t ask, since it’s last repair the gearbox has behaved itself.
The only other fault was a radiator split seam, which ended up being expensive as the after fitting a new radiator, th bottom hose clamp gave way, friend thought it was seeping so continued driving and it overheated. Ended up with head gasket and skimming…friend claims it wasn’t tightened and garage claim faulty part
I like the latest incarnation as it actually looks like a van!