Had two new front tyres fitted yesterday. Today after driving home 20 miles I noticed that considerable heat was coming from both front wheels. Too hot to hold hand to the alloy wheel with any comfort. My initial thoughts were the brakes were binding (did quite a few very hard stops yesterday to test new tyres as it was a new brand to me) but today I was just driving sedately.

I jacked up the front and spun the wheels around and they did move fairly freely - they moved a bit of own accord when hands were not actually touching tyres after a quick turn. This would indicate that the brakes were not binding that much if at all, would it not?

Is there anyway that when the engine is running the brakes could be applying themselves due to a servo fault?

Any ideas?

I wonder if they did something accidentally when changing your wheels as it seems a little too much of a coincidence.

How about using one of those kitchen cleaner spay bottles filled with water and spray the discs to see if the water instantly evaporates- that'll show if the discs are hot- don't touch them as I did that once on my mountain bike and burnt my fingers, even though they looked ok. If the water doesn't evaporate try found the wheel bearings? should give you an indication where the primary heat source is.

cheers

ade

Strange it is both wheels especially after work was done. I would check the tyre pressures as too soft or too hard could cause them to heat up. Are they the correct size, speed and load rating for the car?

If the tyres are heating up the wheels to the point of being too hot to touch then I would have expected the tyres to be roasting hot too and on the point of failure. Primary source of heat to the wheels are the brakes, they do create a lot of heat when applied. Could you do a little experiment, it will also check your perception, go for a drive including higher speed motorway/dual carriageway work and try not to use your brakes. When you get back check the relative heat in the brakes/wheels/tyres and that may give you an indication of the primary heat source.

Ian

Suggest you drive a cold car a mile or so, with some gentle braking, and then check the wheel temp - see if the centre of the wheel is hotter than the rim, in which case it possibly just the normal use of the brakes heating the discs and then the wheel. Repeat as necessary till you can build up a picture of where the heat is coming from.

If the rim is getting hotter than the centre of the wheel I have no idea other than the tyres not fitted correctly or wrong inflation

Sounds like binding brakes to me.

Did the OP check the situation before the tyres were changed, as it may have been like it for a while.

You can usually tell binding brakes because the smell of the overheating pads is very distinctive, especially if the wheel is getting that hot. if there is only heat and no smell the fault most likely lies elsewhere.

Did the garage check the wheel alignment, make any adjustments that may cause the tyres to run hot. Are the tyre pressures correct etc.

If the wheels themselves are hot then the heat is normally being generated in the hub or discs.

Hi. thanks for the input guys.

The tyres are indeed the correct rating and at the correct pressure and have been well fitted. No undue wear on the old tyres which would indicate an alignment issue. As stated - when jacked up and each wheel turned OK they would spin on about 30 degrees after letting go. They were not stiff to turn. I tried the same with the engine running to see if it was a servo issue but no difference. Went for a short drive of about 1 mile with very gentle braking - after stopping (again with minimal braking) the disc was hot to touch and the caliper a bit warm. Will try again later and report back. The pads have a good 7mm or so left on them. Maybe a pad change might help by pushing piston back into caliper where it might be a bit more free? What do you think?

PS - yesterday when driving with hot wheels I could just about hear a 'springy/moving' type of sound from low down, wheelish area when applying brakes. Couldn't be more specific about what it was or where it was coming from but did sound brake related - like the pad retaining spring moving on the caliper?

Update - Just went for a 15 mile test drive with the last 4 miles being exactly the same as yesterday's journey.

With just gentle town driving and then going out on fast-ish A roads with minimal braking and costing to a halt after 7 miles - brakes all cool

Pressing on a bit for another 3 more twisty miles and testing again - brakes a little warmer as expected but still seem fine.

Two more miles driving hard and braking hardish then 3 gentle miles in 30 zone with traffic to home and parking - NSF Warm-ish (could touch caliper- just) . OFS Hot-ish (spit applied by finger evaporated off caliper quite quickly) Alloy wheel hot from centre - cooler towards tyre.

Seems like OSF caliper a bit seized. Do you think a good clean up and copper slip with new pads might do the trick?

Might well do.

I did that on mine and 3 months later ended up replacing the caliper as it kept binding. It had a detrimental effect on fuel economy as well.

My garage can fit me in for a look, clean up, copper slip and a pad change tomorrow. He said that if he can push the piston in easily then the caliper should be OK. It could be the rubber dust seal that sometimes gets caught to apparently. Will let you know update.

Hmmm. After taking to garage and him saying 'I'm sure a strip down, clean up, lube and pad change will cure it' and ' you'd be very unlucky if the caliper was seized' - it turns out my luck was as good as expected :'(

So, £39 for new pads. £75 for exchange caliper. 1 hrs labour (30 mins pads. 30 mins caliper) + VAT and I'm now £200 (just shy) lighter - and just before Christmas! Buggah! Oh well, done now.

As a plus point fuel consumption seems a little improved too. It probably also explains why the OSF wheel was a bit more worn than the NSF. I thought it was my love of accelerating through the exit of round-a-bouts

Problem has returned! This time to NSF wheel. Got very hot on drive back from Bristol to Bath on Saturday. This is almost exactly 11 months after the other side went. Never had this before on a car (well, about 25 years ago on a Renault), but to have both sides is strange. Had brake fluid changed as per intervals etc. Don't do harsh braking. Car has only done 67K miles too. Most annoyed.

 

Also my usual garage was busy this week so it's gone to local Skoda garage. Lucky I forgot to cancel Warranty Direct at renewal time.!

Update - caliper was seized due to water ingress on the inside of the caliper and piston. This is despite having brake fluid changed as per 2yr service advice.

 

And guess what - Warranty Direct won't cover it as they don't cover corrosion! What a bunch of theiving, lying, squirming, guttersnipe cúntz Warranty Direct are!

 

So how water got in without mechanical failure must be a miracle! Maybe it was Biblical? Turning brake fluid to water?

Pressure washers are the usual culprits. Keeps your alloys nice and clean but causes pads to rust in to place, water to het behind seals etc etc

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Pressure washers are the usual culprits. Keeps your alloys nice and clean but causes pads to rust in to place, water to het behind seals etc etc

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Never pressure wash my car as it is a real faff to get the washer, extension cable, hose round to the front of the house etc, so only ever use buckets and a hose, so it's not that.

 

Still steaming about it as I called WD before I took car to dealers for the work to check if Seized Calipers were covered and they said YES. So apart from seizing (which would be caused by some corrosion or other) how can a caliper fail?

All seized calipers are caused by corrosion aren't they, usually because the seal/dust cover has gone allowing water to where the piston and caliper meet.

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