Uneven rear brake wear...

[Structures]

So, yesterday I took my car in to the garage after it developed a horrendous scraping on the rear passenger side brake...Then mechanic showed me my pads afterward, drivers side was barely 50% worn on either pad, passenger side was 80% gone on the inner pad and down to the metal on the outer pad!

 

He suggested that the calipers may be sticking and that it was potentially caused by the handbrake release mechanism?

 

Do I need to look into getting new calipers?

 

Is there a fix for this?

 

Will S3 or TTRS rears fit? I was contemplating fitting S3/TTrs discks and calipers on the front at some point anyway.

[KBPhoto]

I have a similar issue.

NSR sticks in cold weather which I put down to a frozen handbrake cable to that side. Occasionally the OSR sticks in the cold as well but only if it's really cold.

NSR also bound on whilst driving in the M4 (see a thread I started about this). After stripping it down, I discovered that the caliper was moving just fine but the outer pad was sticking to the flimsy metal clips they use as runners.

Metal file & copper grease sorted this out and no issues since.

I do suspect that I'll need to get the handbrake cable changed at some point, but I'll worry about that if/when it looks like it will get very cold for quite a while.

In your case, as they have not investigated, it could be handbrake cable sticking, calipers sticking or a build up of gunk on the pad / guide area.

All possible and the last two easily fixable. The handbrake I don't know about. But if that's easy, I'm doing mine before winter gets here just to be sure.

[KBPhoto]

If he took the pads off to show you the wear, he should have been able to tell you if it was pads or caliper sticking and, if neither, pointed to the handbrake cable.

Have you noticed a drop in fuel economy at any point? Possibly back to last winter?

[mattcut]

Mine did exactly the same.

 

Changed all the discs and pads last year. Then after a couple of weeks passenger pads outer one down to the metal, inner one fine.

 

Same thing also happened on driver side a few months later. I took them apart and greased then up. No problems with either ever since.

 

You can get a pair of reckon caliper s for £180

[trundlenut]

I had a dragging brake due to a duff handbrake cable. The cable only costs a tenner but can be a right bugger to change. On mine the cable was completely jammed into the guide tube. I had to cut it then drill the outer part of the cable out of the guide tube.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[nickguzzi]

I have a friend living in Grenoble. That's in the Alps ish. He reminded me to never leave the handbrake on in winter as the cable may freeze, leaving you err stuck. Leave in gear instead.

Another trick is to pull the wipers off the screen so they don't get stuck.

The windscreen wiper trick has been useful several times. Not too sure about the handbrake though.

A pad sticking is inconvenient. Either the pad is stuck or the caliper is not sliding properly. Either should be a relatively easy fix. Only use brake specific lubes on the caliper, anything else could destroy the rubbers.

[Structures]

I've only had the car since January/February so I can't comment on any brake problems in the cold.

 

The mechanic said something about "levers" not returning to the resting position...Does that sounds like something grease could fix? If so, do I need to pull the calipers off to do the greasing or can I do it in situ? (With the wheel off obviously).

[gregoir]

Another trick is to pull the wipers off the screen so they don't get stuck.

May not be appropriate for the windy UK. I've had blades slamming back in the middle of changing rubbers. And IMHO vandals are more likely to abuse sticking up objects. Sticking blades were the least of problems in Italy this year. The snowfall was around  2 foot overnight.

[Dread1977]

if they arent releasing fully then you could try a new set of caliper return springs... only cost a few quid from the dealers and may fix the problem.. if not there is a youtube vid showing how to remove the piston and clean it with a wire brush, lubricate it then put it back... i may attempt this if mine starts sticking again!

[Structures]

How tough a job is replacing the return spring?

[Dread1977]

on the Fabia it was a proverbial piece of ****, however on the Octy they are tucked away and you have the lower arm in the way, I got 2 new ones as i could feel one was a little loose on tension, but changing it has been a mission i have not yet got round to.. if you can get decent access it should be straight forward with a decent set of grips to squeeze it together, however doing it from under the car is not so easy!! 

[Structures]

Still cheaper than forking out for new calipers though, and it'd be easy enough to get everything cleaned and lubricated while the wheels were off.

 

Sounds like a plan, a potentially painful and frustrating plan, but a plan nonetheless!

[Structures]

I've ordered some return springs...And because I was on the phone to the dealer I also ended up ordering a new rear badge and centre caps for the wheels.

 

Still cheaper than new calipers though, so fingers crossed it works!