I have recently purchased a 2009 Octavia K S in February 2020 and it went in for a factory recall to re-program the ABS unit which was actually changed for a new unit as the old one would not update. I complained about binding brakes at the time but was assured all was well.

Today JuIy 4th 2020 went for a drive and had a sudden out of balance which I put down to a balance weight coming off, however, the front left wheel was too hot to touch while all other wheels were only warm to the touch.

On getting home I checked the wheel which was tight, I removed the wheel and eased the brake piston back and all was well.

Could anyone enlighten me as to why a single caliper might cause binding especially as there was no effort required in pushing back the brake piston once on a stand, after which the hub rotated with ease.

Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

PHJ

If the piston moves freely in the caliper without binding first guess would be dust/corrosion on the caliper/pads preventing the pads from moving freely.

 

If everything is clean, lubed appropriately and moves freely just keep an eye on things.

ABS block, next time it happens leave the engine running, jack up & see if the wheel is still dragging, if so crack open the bleed nipple, beware the fluid will be hot, if it spurts out and the wheel releases then it will be the ABS block.

 

During your drive did the ABS or any of the stability or traction control systems cut in at all even momentarily? If you gave it some around a roundabout for instance you probably would not see the light come on momentarily or even feel the effects so subtle are the systems and we dont tend to look at the instrument binnacle in those situations, any of them could have actuated the valve that stops or slows down the release of that individual brake.

 

 

Edited 3 July, 20205 yr by J.R.

On 03/07/2020 at 17:14, MicMac said:

If the piston moves freely in the caliper without binding first guess would be dust/corrosion on the caliper/pads preventing the pads from moving freely.

 

If everything is clean, lubed appropriately and moves freely just keep an eye on things.

Thank you MicMac, I stripped the caliper off the carrier and cleaned it up as it was a bit corroded and the pads do slide freely in the carrier, but once the brake pedel was depressed again the problem still persists.

PHJ

23 hours ago, J.R. said:

ABS block, next time it happens leave the engine running, jack up & see if the wheel is still dragging, if so crack open the bleed nipple, beware the fluid will be hot, if it spurts out and the wheel releases then it will be the ABS block.

 

During your drive did the ABS or any of the stability or traction control systems cut in at all even momentarily? If you gave it some around a roundabout for instance you probably would not see the light come on momentarily or even feel the effects so subtle are the systems and we dont tend to look at the instrument binnacle in those situations, any of them could have actuated the valve that stops or slows down the release of that individual brake.

 

 

Thank you for the advice JR, I have been looking at it today, 04/07/2020 and dont appear to have resolved the issue, I will be taking it for a drive tomorrow and will see if the problem persists, if it does I will carry out your advice. In answer to your question I didn't notice any dashboard warning lights come on, I will put the OBD on and check for faults, My thoughts are I may have had the problem since the new ABS unit was fitted by Skoda but only noticed it yesterday.

PHJ

I would then try bleeding that caliper, preferably with an EasiBleed type pressure bleeder to try forcing any air lock in the system out.

 

If you have access to an OBD tool, purging the ABS would be the last resort.

 

Did the binding occur before or after the dealer recall? If after then hound them to fix for free.

1 minute ago, MicMac said:

I would then try bleeding that caliper, preferably with an EasiBleed type pressure bleeder to try forcing any air lock in the system out.

 

If you have access to an OBD tool, purging the ABS would be the last resort.

 

Did the binding occur before or after the dealer recall? If after then hound them to fix for free.

The problem occured after the recall, the installed ABS unit failed the software update and Skoda fitted a new unit. This was done pretty much as I aquired the car so I am not sure if the problem was present before it was worked on.

I have contacted them but they are only able to look at it on 16/07/2020,

Yes I agree purging the ABS would be a last resort but it would show it there has been an incident.

Air in the caliper or the ABS block will not cause the brake to drag, in fact putting some in might relieve the problem until it can be resolved.

 

Editted, an airlock could act as a pressure accumulator so perhaps it is feasible, the valve to release the pressure would normally just pass a tiny amount of fluid to remove all residual pressure but if there is effectively an accumulator in the line then it would need to operate for a lot longer than its programmed setting.

 

So I take the above back!!!

Edited 4 July, 20205 yr by J.R.

3 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Air in the caliper or the ABS block will not cause the brake to drag, in fact putting some in might relieve the problem until it can be resolved.

I agree, air in the system would not cause the problem, I was refering to purging or resetting the OBD information from the system. I must say though I am old school, that is pre ABS and airbags, ECU's and electric cables instead of accelorator cables if you get my point and I have only recently been looking at my own cars since I retired since I have a lot more time on my hands now and a lot less money to spend at garages, I am quite happy to get involed but do find the modern systems a bit daunting so really do appreciate the support, thank you

PHJ

Afternoon all,

First of all I'd like to thank every one who gave advise.

Thought I would give an update on the binding caliper issue. I also developed a wheel judder at about 50 mph so took the car in and got the wheels balanced but this did not solve the issue.

I bit the bullet and fitted a new brake caliper and the problem with both the binding and the wheel judder has been resolved, the fact that the old caliper piston could be easily retracted with a screw driver was in fact a red herring so it looks like I made a mountain out of a molehill but I got there in the end once again thanks to all for you input.

PHJ