Hot Alloy Wheel??

[Hyeung]

Hi,

 

Just had a major service today at the dealer - 70k variable service, brake fluid replaced, haldex service, dsg service, usual tyre rotations and also an over due cambelt/water pump serviced. And to finish it off ,an MOT carried out.

 

On the drive back home (motorway/local roads) this evening after pickup the car up I noticed that the rear driver side alloy was super hot. The alloy was hot to touch and i also noticed a slight burning smell. All the other 3 alloys were fine in comparison. I stopped, and let the car cool down before driving further (take it easy on the way back). By the time i got back home, the alloy was certainly alot cooler, so not sure if something has fixed itself or unseized?

 

Any ideas what might have cause this?  - seized calliper, or is there are issue with a seized handbrake or what? 

Is this something that was caused from the work at the garage; or just purely coincidence?

Would it have been reasonable to think that this would have been picked up from the MOT?

 

Cheers.

[Ootohere]

The car had a brake test at the MOT, so that was a pass.

 

One of the things you list is the issue, so start with checking the rear wheel with that corner jacked up and spinning it.

Check that wheel bolts for tightness and also check your tyre pressures.

 

 

Were was the car, at one of the Henrys?

[Hyeung]

2 minutes ago, e-Roottoot said:

The car had a brake test at the MOT, so that was a pass.

 

One of the things you list is the issue, so start with checking the rear wheel with that corner jacked up and spinning it.

Check that wheel bolts for tightness and also check your tyre pressures.

 

 

Were was the car, at one of the Henrys?

 

Yup it was Henrys. 

 

Can I ask what your thoughts are on the wheel bolts and tyre pressures? How would those relate to what I had experienced?

 

Not mechanical minded, but can't think of anything that the work would have had any impact on the issue? Would you agree?

I did have the brake fluid replaced, but wouldn't have thought it would have contributed toward the issue. 

 

I assume you are referring to the issue being a seized calliper? And not handbrake related. 

I appreciate an MOT would involved a brake test, but would it not have picked up any issue of the seized calliper?

 

 

Will probably have to call them tomorrow to see. But have a feeling it'll be a chargeable diagnose.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ootohere]

I would think you paid a fair amount of money for what you have just had done and they will have a damn cheek if they want £60 for half an hour's diagnosis of your brakes or rear wheel bearing.

[AGFalco]

27 minutes ago, Hyeung said:

I appreciate an MOT would involved a brake test, but would it not have picked up any issue of the seized calliper?

 

Have you got the MOT brake test sheet?

 

Thanks, AG Falco

[Hyeung]

1 minute ago, AGFalco said:

 

Have you got the MOT brake test sheet?

 

Thanks, AG Falco

 

No they never provided it. Only the MOT cert. 

MOT station is also Henrys.

[AGFalco]

Just now, Hyeung said:

No they never provided it. Only the MOT cert. 

 

Ask them for a copy then.

If a brake is sticking on, you can see it in the brake test figures on the sheet.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

[Hyeung]

1 minute ago, AGFalco said:

 

Ask them for a copy then.

If a brake is sticking on, you can see it in the brake test figures on the sheet.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

 

12 minutes ago, AGFalco said:

 

Ask them for a copy then.

If a brake is sticking on, you can see it in the brake test figures on the sheet.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

 

Not something i'd have knowledge in how to interpret tbh. But as I mentioned before, i would have thought serious issues such as this would have been picked up on the MOT and their service health checks to some degree? 

 

What's disappointing is the likelihood of another bill to rectify this. What can one expect in terms of cost for replacing callipers inc labour?

Will try and give the car another test drive tomorrow morning, and see how it behaves. 

 

[Ootohere]

The thing is you have the car serviced and the brake fluid has been changed, but unless you are paying for the brakes to be serviced they are not being done.

Your car might be using the original brake pads or not, but your car has been through Scottish Winters of salted roads and deserves a cleaning and greasing of the brakes if tht has never been done in the past 70,000 miles, or since last winter even.

 

Main Dealer Servicing with Skoda advertises as 'Free Brake Checks',  and Major Services or the Extended Scope now has remove wheels and *check brakes.*

This is only a visual check, *Check brakes* means something different from Visually Inspect Brakes.*

but then since the car has been MOT'd as well there was the Brake Test carried out.

 

Not Henry's but AC this February failed my car on a Broken Spring and an advisory on the hand brake binding.

The thing is that the year before it failed on a Broken Spring and hand brake operation and weakened brake discs and they fitted both before i bought the car and MOT'd it, 

just at another of their dealership.

After 2 days of messing about they could not show me the broken spring that they had replaced at no cost to me to get the car passed this year.

 

Edited 15 October, 2020 by e-Roottoot

[Trevor M]

Just a thought: if the MOT was performed before the service it would not have 'picked up' any failings caused by the service. Also, if there was no overheating at that wheel previously, it is most likely caused by something the garage has done. One possibility is that air was introduced when the brake fluid was changed; this could definitely cause a brake to bind, but would probably also show as a 'spongy' feel at the brake pedal.

[Hyeung]

3 hours ago, Trevor M said:

Just a thought: if the MOT was performed before the service it would not have 'picked up' any failings caused by the service. Also, if there was no overheating at that wheel previously, it is most likely caused by something the garage has done. One possibility is that air was introduced when the brake fluid was changed; this could definitely cause a brake to bind, but would probably also show as a 'spongy' feel at the brake pedal.

hmm difficult to say?

I test drove things this morning and the issue hasn’t arisen ie whole alloy is not baking hot as per yesterday’s incident.
There is some slight heat around the hub in the rears compared to the fronts. But not something I can be sure it wasn’t doing in the past? But certainly no high heat on the alloy wheel this morning?

 

Looks like I might need to just monitor things and see how things go? 

 

 

 

[muddyjim]

1 hour ago, Hyeung said:

hmm difficult to say?

 

 

 

 

My MOT certificate (performed yesterday) includes on the back the results of the emissions test. It includes the time at which the test was done.

[J.R.]

5 hours ago, Trevor M said:

 One possibility is that air was introduced when the brake fluid was changed; this could definitely NOT cause a brake to bind, but would probably also show as a 'spongy' feel at the brake pedal.

 

Fixed that for you

[Hyeung]

20 minutes ago, J.R. said:

 

Fixed that for you

Yeah i'm under the impression that my issue is relates to sticky callipers, and maybe something that car has gradually developed over time.

The binding has probably been very slight, and unnoticeable previously until yesterdays incident. 

Perhaps the brake test that they did, or something similar may have momentary put the brakes in a more binding state? 

I wonder if the handbrake was adjusted (not that I could feel anything different), and if that might have caused it get into a more binding state? (guessing?) 

Since the incident yesterday, I have been unable to replicate the issue. Having carefully driven the car all this morning for the last 3 hours (local roads, little motorway) and checked the wheels at different stages. Used my pizza laser temp monitor on the alloys and rotors.

I found the rear rotors are definitely hotter than the fronts; ranging anything from around 30C - 160C?  The hub-centric rim of the alloy also felt a little hot to touch, but the rest of the alloy wheel was fine. I assume this is reasonably normal.

 

But they do cool down to 30-50C if one simply cruises on the motorway without any brake usage for a period.  So this to me sounds like i'm not getting the same binding issue that i experienced last night? Compared to yesterday, a large portion of the alloy wheel itself was hot to touch and i was only driving normally. 

 

Not really sure where to go with this just now, other than monitor the issue?

 

 

[Trevor M]

J.R: Thanks for correcting me so diplomatically if that is the case. I may then have long been under the misapprehension that it was possible for air in the system to cause brakes to bind. Since the OP suggested this was the only part of the brake system which was serviced, I thought it could have been a possibility. It will be interesting to eventually find what the cause was (if it has not corrected itself, as later posts suggest it may have done.)

[AGFalco]

20 hours ago, Hyeung said:

Not something i'd have knowledge in how to interpret tbh. But as I mentioned before, i would have thought serious issues such as this would have been picked up on the MOT and their service health checks to some degree?

 

If your car is a  4 x 4 then they might not have done the usual roller brake test.

Very few mot test stations have a 4 x 4 brake tester. Did they use a Taply meter?

This might be why there is no brake test sheet.

 

It might only get hot after a long journey.

Sticking on brakes tend to get hotter the further you drive.

So driving the car in to the workshop from the car park won't be far enough.

Front's should be hotter than the rear's.

 

When was the last time the brakes were striped down, cleaned and re greased?

 

Thanks, AG Falco

[Hyeung]

2 hours ago, AGFalco said:

 

If your car is a  4 x 4 then they might not have done the usual roller brake test.

Very few mot test stations have a 4 x 4 brake tester. Did they use a Taply meter?

This might be why there is no brake test sheet.

 

It might only get hot after a long journey.

Sticking on brakes tend to get hotter the further you drive.

So driving the car in to the workshop from the car park won't be far enough.

Front's should be hotter than the rear's.

 

When was the last time the brakes were striped down, cleaned and re greased?

 

Thanks, AG Falco

 

You are spot on with regards to the roller brake tests. Its a 4x4 and my usual MOT station takes the car out to do a brake test (and not use the rollers).

This time around, I had the MOT carried out by the dealership that was doing the servicing etc. They have their own MOT station. So was not present and dont know what they did exactly.

 

The incident last night (hot to touch rear driverside alloy), I had only covered about 10miles from the dealership garage to my folks for that to occur. At the time I had a tyre pressure warning go off. I wasn't sure if this was due to a possible increase in temp of the hot alloy, causing an increase in tyre pressure? I know I have one tyre that is slowly leaks after a few weeks. 

 

However, today I was unable to replicate this issue (hot rear drivers side alloy) all day long. I had driven a good 60 miles (mixed motorway and local roads). 

What I did notice was that rear rotors on both sides were always higher temp than the fronts; especially the rear drivers side. Note that i confirm this via my laser temp gauge. 

I just can't say if this was always the case in the past i.e. what is the norm.

Perhaps there is a slight stickiness on the rear brakes which is what i'm seeing? But its certainly not to the extent that it's causing the entire alloy to heat up (only the hub centric rim is slightly hot).

If I drive on the motorway for a period, I can confirm that the temps do drop across all sides i.e. front rotors probably around 20-30C and rear rotors 40-60C approx..

 

I believe the brakes front and rear were fully replaced (rotors and pads) in my last variable service 2 years ago. 

The calliper are still the original (so looks pretty corroded).  

 

We don't do much mileage on the car tbh (~  5 to 6k per annual). All journeys are pretty short..

 

[AGFalco]

32 minutes ago, Hyeung said:

At the time I had a tyre pressure warning go off. I wasn't sure if this was due to a possible increase in temp of the hot alloy, causing an increase in tyre pressure?

Yes.

 

32 minutes ago, Hyeung said:

Perhaps there is a slight stickiness on the rear brakes which is what i'm seeing?

Yes.

 

 

I can understand why they might not have noticed anything now.

 

I will strip, clean and regrease my brakes every year in the autumn.

This helps to stop any sticky / seized brake parts happening.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

[Hyeung]

10 hours ago, AGFalco said:

Yes.

 

Yes.

 

 

I can understand why they might not have noticed anything now.

 

I will strip, clean and regrease my brakes every year in the autumn.

This helps to stop any sticky / seized brake parts happening.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

I assume that’s something you do yourself?
What charge can one expect to have the brakes striped cleaned n regreased?

 

[AGFalco]

10 hours ago, Hyeung said:

I assume that’s something you do yourself?

Yes

 

10 hours ago, Hyeung said:

What charge can one expect to have the brakes striped cleaned n regreased?

1 Hours labour is good.

 

Thanks, AG Falco 

[HeavyMetalRich]

You should be able to tell if the brake itself got overly hot as any rust about the disc will have gone from a dark brown to a very reddish-brown.

 

Another possibility is that the hand brake lever on the caliper has been sticking slightly but has managed to release itself and is now back to working as usual. Hence why you can't replicate the heat. This may have been caused by the MoT tester pulling on the handbrake more that it normally is pulled on to get a decent reading during the test. Worth getting checked out though.

 

Also might be worth saying to the garage that this has happened, you never know, they might check it out for nothing seeing as they'd recently worked with it. But if you don't ask, you'll never know. Hope you get it sorted.

[widdershins]

A thought crossed my mind regarding the current 20-30C difference in temps of the disks front to rear. Are the rears solid or vented disks? I know vented disks are common on fronts to dissipate more heat as they get the heaviest braking loads, but have had cars with vented fronts and solid rears. Not sure about the Yeti, but unvented rears might explain slightly higher temps.

On previous cars I've had calipers stick due to corrosion and also handbrakes, both have caused this sort of problem.

[Ootohere]

Rear brake discs that are not just running in new pads or that are binding are hardly getting much use / friction / heat unless driving a bit sportingly and using the brakes or the ESP is.

Really no need for them to be getting hot or hotter than the fronts.