What the hell is wrong with my brakes!!???

[n_hudson]

So I keep having a reoccurring issue with my front disc brakes. I’m having to replace them around every 10k. The car spends 90% of its life in a straight line on the motorway and I don’t hammer the brakes, sit on the pedal in traffic and there's no noticeable drag or loss of fuel economy etc.

 

The outer surface has a couple of slight raised marks in the shape of the pads, but the inside looks like its been through hell and back... and its the same on BOTH.

I’ve had them replaced 3x at 3x different places now and they keep doing the same thing, just at differing standards... 

The current discs/pad combo are marked as Brembo, so assume they are good quality.  If there was hub run out or sticking callipers the garages would have picked up on them. 

I’ve only had this issue since fraud(ford) had the box off to replace the clutch etc. 

 

 

[mx_rab]

Are the sliders seized by any chance?


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[n_hudson]

6 minutes ago, mx_rab said:

Are the sliders seized by any chance?


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They didn't seem to be... I had no brake drag, noises etc. I've been (probably) naughty today and used some sand paper to get 80% of the pad debris off and rough it up, like the surface of a new disc (If that makes sense?) but taking it out for a SLOW drive, the pad marks on the outer side are back in the exact same place. 

[mx_rab]

I have seen more times than I can count sliders being stuck and the inside dragging and people not noticing, even to the point where I haven’t noticed. Definitely worth checking.

Looking at the picture it almost looks like brake fluid contamination. Make sure you clean them with brake cleaner before refitting just in case something has coated the disc.


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[n_hudson]

11 minutes ago, mx_rab said:

I have seen more times than I can count sliders being stuck and the inside dragging and people not noticing, even to the point where I haven’t noticed. Definitely worth checking.

Looking at the picture it almost looks like brake fluid contamination. Make sure you clean them with brake cleaner before refitting just in case something has coated the disc.


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Thanks. 

I gave them a good clean with brake cleaner AND isopropyl alcohol. So they "should" be decontaminated. I greased the sliders... so now we'll see... 

[mx_rab]

[emoji1695] let us know how you get on.


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[TomsFocus]

1 hour ago, n_hudson said:

The current discs/pad combo are marked as Brembo, so assume they are good quality.  

  Avoid Brembo discs from ECP at all costs! 

 

I'm not seeing the issue though, the brakes still work right?  And they're not juddering or pulling?  So leave them.  Insides always look awful as they don't get the benefit of being 'washed' like the fronts do.

[nicam49]

The disk looks to me like it wasn't degreased before being fitted. 🤔

Also, when you greased the pins, did you notice a rubber sleeve on one of the pins on each side. If yes, then you must be aware that the mineral grease will swell the rubber, make it sticky and you'll have sticking Calipers!  If you've pins with this sleeve, then you must lube only with silicon grease. Of course, the  slide pin without the rubber sleeve (its an anti-vibration thing) you're OK to lube with mineral grease. 

[StephenFord]

5 hours ago, n_hudson said:

 

I gave them a good clean with brake cleaner AND isopropyl alcohol...

Hey, where on earth did you get Isopropyl Alcohol? I thought the country's whole supply went into making hand sanitiser? 😀

[VFR800]

That defiantly looks like contamination of some kind. Is the brake fluid level staying constant over those 10k miles?

Are you having to top up the coolant at all?

 

[n_hudson]

10 hours ago, VFR800 said:

That defiantly looks like contamination of some kind. Is the brake fluid level staying constant over those 10k miles?

Are you having to top up the coolant at all?

 

Coolants fine, fluids fine, not loosing anything but my will to live lol. 

[n_hudson]

19 hours ago, StephenFord said:

Hey, where on earth did you get Isopropyl Alcohol? I thought the country's whole supply went into making hand sanitiser? 😀

I keep some for cleaning and serving my mountain bikes 

[n_hudson]

21 hours ago, nicam49 said:

The disk looks to me like it wasn't degreased before being fitted. 🤔

Also, when you greased the pins, did you notice a rubber sleeve on one of the pins on each side. If yes, then you must be aware that the mineral grease will swell the rubber, make it sticky and you'll have sticking Calipers!  If you've pins with this sleeve, then you must lube only with silicon grease. Of course, the  slide pin without the rubber sleeve (its an anti-vibration thing) you're OK to lube with mineral grease. 

I did think the grease on the pins was a little thicker and sticky than I thought it would be. It did have the plastic caps on the rubber boots. 

[StephenFord]

2 minutes ago, n_hudson said:

I keep some for cleaning and serving my mountain bikes 

I always have a liter in stock, and have used much to make my family hand sanitiser, very useful stuff! Of course, a month ago, 1 x liter cost £10, now, even if you can find it, it'll cost north of £50!

[nicam49]

5 hours ago, n_hudson said:

I did think the grease on the pins was a little thicker and sticky than I thought it would be. It did have the plastic caps on the rubber boots. 

No, I didn't mean that... on my Bosch callipers, the lower pin on each caliper has got a short black rubber sleeve on it... It's this thing that causes probs if greased with the wrong stuff.