Club 80-90 Forums

Binding brakes.

Went to take the van for a drive yesterday for a bit of a run out, as it had been stood still for about 3-4 weeks. Got about 5 miles and then noticed loads of smoke coming from front drivers side wheel arch. Was terrified, as obviously the petrol tank is around there. Jumped out of the van and legged it to a safe distance. Was shaking like a leaf. Traffic Police showed up and said my brakes where binding. I looked a bit of an idiot, but didn't have a clue where the smoke was coming from and wasn't going to take any chances. The wheel as 50 odd degrees as opposed to 10 degrees on the other! AA Man came and took wheel off and freed it off for us. He said we just had to see how we went. I drove it home and the wheel felt cool by the time I got back, so presumably it is ok now. Just wanted to check with you guys if there is anything else I should be checking or keeping an eye on?
Thanks,
Kathy

Don't leave it standing so long next time

Yeah, Mental note to self... Show your van a bit more love in the winter months!

It could be a few things,
Your caliper could have seized, the flexi hose could have furred up inside and is not letting fluid back through or your master cylinder is faulty.

The first thing to do is try to get it to bind again, you don't have to get it hot... just drive slowly forwards or backwards and then jump on the brakes a few times.

Once its happened, remove the wheel and slacken off the bleed nipple of the caliper. If fluid spurts out and wheel frees up, then your caliper is ok and I'd replace the flexi hose. If it doesn't make any difference, then I'd say the caliper is seized.

MG

The wheel as 50 odd degrees as opposed to 10 degrees on the other!

Don't know what you mean by that Kathy ??

And I wouldn't just leave it like that, it has probably freed off.. but if you can get a friendly mechanic or club member to take a look it would be a good idea.

For instance, did the AA man say that the pads were 'low' (needing changing soon) or have you had new pads recently? It's usually at one of these two extremes that this happnes, but the implication is that the pistons in the brake calipers are not in good nick.

Also, when you finally stop and park, try to let it roll to a stop for the last foot or two - that is, let it stop with your foot off the brake.
If the rears tend to seize on (quite common), always start off by reversing a few feet or rocking it back and forth before driving off. If you park on the flat in a safe place, you could also let it roll back and forth a bit (proving they're not jammed on) before leaving it for a week or so and maybe even just leave it in gear with handbrake off.

You might also think back to whether you'd been through a lot of salty, muddy or slushy wet roads before parking up last time - that could have contributed and would imply that the brake piston/caliper area could do with gentle careful cleaning (by someone who's not going to damage them further), once this starts, it could become a recurring problem, but not common on the T25 , AFAIK.

Happy New Year, and yes, drive her more often in the winter

Michael is right, theoretically it could be hydraulic lock, but hardly likely in this case.

If you want to check if it's going to happen again, jack up the whole front (both sides), stand on the brake pedal a couple of times, and go and try turning the wheels by hand. They may be a little stiff to start with, but you should be able to turn them by hand back and forth.

HarryMann wrote:

The wheel as 50 odd degrees as opposed to 10 degrees on the other!

Don't know what you mean by that Kathy ??

The AA man had some gun thing he pointed at the wheel which measured its temperature. the drivers side was around 55 degrees, but the passenger side was only about 10 from what i remember. He did a bit of hammering with a mallet and stuff to free it off. he said it was nice and loose but was still sticking a bit, and did mention the piston might not be releasing as it should. we then did a lot of turning the disc thing (hub or whatever you call it) round and me pressing brakes on and off and stuff. when he thought it looked alright, he put wheel back on and measured the temp again (37) and sent me off for a drive and then came back and did temperature again. (24) he said he was pretty confident it was fine, but that i should take it for a drive home and see if the wheel felt hot when i got back. It felt fine and felt quite cool. I could still smell the funny smell a bit though, but this could have been from before. there was no smoking or anythign anymore.
I had the brakes all looked at some parts replaced that needed it etc over the summer, so all should be fine there really. Last time i drove it was first week in december and it was quite wet and horrible then.
I'll give the van another drive on saturday and see what happens then. Will try the rolling thing and see whats what, Hopefully all will be alright.
Thanks guys! and Happy New year to you all

Ah I see,
They carry infra-red prometers now do they?, pretty whizz these AA blokes... they never seem to leave the scene without getting a result - top lot!

Ugh! That burnt brake smell, lingers a bit doesn't it - you'll recognise it in an instant in future

Best thing if it gets left a while in future is once you're moving out of parking spot, just dip the clutch and see if she rolls along nicely without grinding to a premature halt - always a good check that everythings as it should be anyway.

cheers.
Had the van almost 2 years now, still loads of tips to be learnt!

The AA guy was great. Always helps when you get one with an interest in older vehicles too. he apparantly had an old sports car and his mate has a T25. Funnily enough, he'd been searching for some heat exchangers for it for ages, but couldn't get any, so i told him to log on here.

Eee, you do meet some interesting folk through owning one of our vans.
Can't wait for weather to get a bit better!