Hi all,

Bought a 2010 2.0 litre diesel Zetec Saloon last November. I thought that the car would last until the next service, due this August. How wrong could I be.

It seem like both pads got a bit low on both rear brakes and both calipers seized on because the slide pins were bent.

I have replaced these pins, wound back the caliper pistons, fitted new discs and pads but there is still a problem. The discs are getting hot on a 20 mile drive.

I have checked the handbrake cable and the lever on the caliper is free to move back approximately 1-2mm from the back stop. With the car jacked up, the wheel spins freely when the handbrake is not on although you can slightly hear the pad on the discs and when the hand brake is applied the wheel is locked as expected.

At the moment, everything is pointing to an issue inside the caliper, probably with the internal hand brake mech not returning fully. But because it is almost operating fully, I am not 100% sure that this is the full extent of the issue.

Is it time for a caliper strip down? Or could this be the non-ford pads and dics?

Any Ideas?

Regards

I had the same problem with mine (Mk3), which turned out to be a bent guide pin also. Before I tracked that down as the cause, I had replaced the pads (which were 'wedged'), the discs (the one in question was badly worn and pitted), the caliper itself as I thought that was the problem, initially, and the wheel bearing/hub assembly, which was beginning to grind. I don't know how much of that was down to the large amount of heat being generated because of the guide pin being bent.

But I digress...

Get some heat-resistant PTFE lubricant and (with the handbrake off) spray it onto the handbrake levers on the caliper. Work it in by grabbing the lever with some pliers and pulling it back/forth a few times.

Do not use WD40 for this. If you do, it will work in the short-term but I guarantee the problem will return with a vengeance within a matter of weeks.