Scottish Elises

So I had a bit of squealing from time to time coming from the brakes on the Golf when driving along normally, so I put it into VW to see what was going on... mistakenly thinking they'd know about VW Brakes....

They told me my rear driver's side brakes were overheating and recommended new discs and pads. The current discs and pads are 11 months old. When I asked what the problem was and why new pads and discs would fix it, they couldn't give me any more info than that... they just kept telling me I didn't really 'need' new discs and pads, but as they were overheating it was the safe thing to do and 'should' fix whatever the problem is. They also said some of my other discs were dirty, so best to replace them and the pads too...

I asked if they'd checked the caliper and they told me it seemed fine.

I've just driven 30 miles and you can feel the heat from the rear wheel as you walk past so I'm not keen on leaving it too much longer.

Any suggestions for what may be the problem and how I could bodge it until getting it fixed properly !?!?!?

Cheers!

Dave.

DDtB wrote:I've just driven 30 miles and you can feel the heat from the rear wheel as you walk past so I'm not keen on leaving it too much longer.

Just the one rear wheel i am guessing?

it will be a sticky caliper, try a good roosting firstly on the brakes to try and get it to work if that fails a new caliper will sort it.

Most Likely a seized handbrake actuator in the caliper and or seized handbrake cable - they tend to go hand in hand as once one stops moving properly the other tends to seize up too. Release the handbrake actuator on the back of the caliper (rotate it away from the direction the cable would pull it - you should be able to reach this without removing the wheel or jacking up the car) then test drive the car WITHOUT using the handbrake - if it's cool then it's one of the above - once in the non overheating position it'll stay that way until you use the handbrake again . . . so just don't use the handbrake . . . if that doesn't fix it it may be the caliper piston itself seized or the sliding pins that the caliper moved on seized (very common but usually causes brakes not to work rather than to not not work ) - no bodge to fix either of these issues, needs the caliper replaced or the sliding pins un seized - which can be a pain in the ar$e . . . helpfully the sliding pins don't usually come with replacement caliper kits . . . which can pose a problem . . .

SHED!!

Caliper most likely, see my recent experiences which amused you.

Thanks for that .. Much appreciated

Will have a play around with it tomorrow lunchtime hopefully..

Hopefully it won't burst into flames on my commute first

Are the brake pads in the right way round?

is there enough water in it?

kenny wrote:Are the brake pads in the right way round?

Suffered that on a service once Kenny, even worse it was an MMC disk.

tut

tut wrote:

kenny wrote:Are the brake pads in the right way round?

Suffered that on a service once Kenny, even worse it was an MMC disk.

tut

I think he was inferring the OP has past form for the above...

I haven't touched the brakes on the Golf.... yet!