As per the subject, how do I know if I have a sticking brake caliper?

The Octavia has an occasional mouse like squeek from the offside rear wheel, totally at random and the local independent garage couldnt make it do it at all.

Its almost the last possibility in my quest to find my missing MPG (15.8 this morning over a 7 mile trip).

More than likely its the pad stuck in the carrier than a fault with the caliper itself.

thanks, Ross I'll check at the weekend.

Hi there

I had a similar problem recently with that noise, the steering felt weird sometimes as well, making the car feel unsteady. I had noticed a lack of power as well, didn't feel as quick but the rolling road proved my wrong, but maybe the sticking caliper didn't affect the figures, just the way it felt to me.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, my caliper siezed on Thursday night, passenger side disc was boiling hot and the early sparkling alloy was covered in brake dust, that was only a 10 minute drive to the gym too on mainly 30mph roads.

Got the car into the garage and it needed a new caliper and a set of discs and pads, car feels much better now and the mpg seems to look better, but I need to do a bit of driving yet to be sure.

Hope you catch it early and don't need all that work, apparantly the heavy salting of the roads has adverse effects on the caliper piston and can cause corrosion, then total siezure, or that's the line I was spun anyway.

Hope it's alright.

The brake in question should be getting noticeably hotter than the other 3 if it is having a significant effect on fuel consumption. lewcurry's experience - and that of my son who drove his 200SX with the handbrake partially on - are extreme examples of a brake overheating. The other extreme is no or minimal braking from a seized caliper.

I'm getting no difference in brake temperature, I think Ross's suggestion of the pad sticking on the carrier may be the likely cause of my random squeek.

Driving on A and B roads in the North and Highlands of Scotland has a big impact on disc brake performance especially towards the end of a long winter and heavily salted roads.

This last weekend I had a grinding noise from the front offside disc in my Octavia 4x4. The cause was due to the inside pad wearing down to the metal backing plate whilst the outside pad appeared half worn. Also the piston was fully extended with heavy surface corrosion on surfaces not covered by the rubber boot. The caliper slider pins are grooved and pock marked and, coated with a black , difficult to remove film of dried grease (?) only removed with WD40 and fine steel wool.

The near side caliper slider pins etc, and disc pads were in identical condition.

Discs and pads replaced. Caliper guide pins and retaining springs on order.

Possibly new calipers are the best fix ?

Random squeaks from the front brakes of my wife's Primera are gauranteed at the end of every winter. Squeaks often eliminated by lubricating caliper sliding pins and/or replacing same. In town driving the front caliper has been known to ratchet the disc pads closer to the disc and occasionally allow the pads to rub gently against the disc. Eventually replaced front calipers and problem solved.

Checking the temperature of each disc is my best check for a sticking caliper - as its seems to happen often I am considering an infra red non-contact temperature guage

come on guys, jack the wheel. spin the wheel.

you'd soon see if it was binding or squeaking..

while the wheel is off if you really want to - whip out the pads and give a clean up and copperslip the pads in the caliper - and let the pistons in and out a few times to self lube/clean. if you really need it a 5 or 6quid seal kit will help the piston loads....

dont pop the piston out too far - but use an old set of pads as a spacer

what happened to DIY ??

come on guys' date=' jack the wheel. spin the wheel.

you'd soon see if it was binding or squeaking..

while the wheel is off if you really want to - whip out the pads and give a clean up and copperslip the pads in the caliper - and let the pistons in and out a few times to self lube/clean. if you really need it a 5 or 6quid seal kit will help the piston loads....

dont pop the piston out too far - but use an old set of pads as a spacer

what happened to DIY ??[/quote']

My problem is (as said in the original post) rando and some of the time it is silent. If it was there all the time it would be an easy problem to find.

If it really is sticking on a long term basis, the pads will be unevenly worn. Check that first.

Well I got back from work last night and the rear discs were cold enough to touch, they were barely warmer than the car body. It was the same this morning.

I dont think it is sticking permanently TBH.