Warm brake smell, but wheels spin freely?!
Discussion
Car is a 2004 Fiat Panda.
Discs on the front, drums on the back.
Noticed a warm brake smell from the front passenger side wheel. Sometimes driver side too, but less often. Can smell it inside the car when driving around town sometimes too.
The wheels never get hot, but they get warm, not warm enough to suggest major binding.
I've jacked up all 4 corners and each wheel spins freely, the fronts do 2-3 rotations before slowing down. The rears did loads before stopping. N/S rear had a bit of a noise as if the brake shoes were touching the drum as it span, just as much as if new pads were touching a brake disc slightly, but it didn't stop it spinning very freely.
I changed the pads last month and I'm sure one side/both had uneven pad wear (can't remember fully, I have a new set of discs and pads on the way though to fit as the pads I did fit were cheap and nasty)
I have had the car for 6 months. I have a record of the rear drums being stripped and cleaned in 2017.
I'm trying to work out what could be the cause of this warm brake smell and warm wheel (sometimes warmer than others, vague, I know.)
Any suggestions?
Discs on the front, drums on the back.
Noticed a warm brake smell from the front passenger side wheel. Sometimes driver side too, but less often. Can smell it inside the car when driving around town sometimes too.
The wheels never get hot, but they get warm, not warm enough to suggest major binding.
I've jacked up all 4 corners and each wheel spins freely, the fronts do 2-3 rotations before slowing down. The rears did loads before stopping. N/S rear had a bit of a noise as if the brake shoes were touching the drum as it span, just as much as if new pads were touching a brake disc slightly, but it didn't stop it spinning very freely.
I changed the pads last month and I'm sure one side/both had uneven pad wear (can't remember fully, I have a new set of discs and pads on the way though to fit as the pads I did fit were cheap and nasty)
I have had the car for 6 months. I have a record of the rear drums being stripped and cleaned in 2017.
I'm trying to work out what could be the cause of this warm brake smell and warm wheel (sometimes warmer than others, vague, I know.)
Any suggestions?
Edited by gman88667733 on Tuesday 9th June 15:33
Think I've found the issue. When I fitted the pads, I noticed the discs were very worn and due replacing, but I put the new pads on anyway and mean to do the discs at a later date (mistake on my behalf I'll admit).
Took the pads out last night to check the wear and they have a big ridge worn at the bottom of them where they've formed to the old disc. So the pads have been getting very hot as they're wearing more in one area than the rest, which is causing the smell.
The caliper isn't binding at all, slider pins are nice and free, pistons are easy to retract.
New discs and pads were on their way anyway (good quality) so i'll fit them at the weekend when they turn up and hopefully solve the problem!
Took the pads out last night to check the wear and they have a big ridge worn at the bottom of them where they've formed to the old disc. So the pads have been getting very hot as they're wearing more in one area than the rest, which is causing the smell.
The caliper isn't binding at all, slider pins are nice and free, pistons are easy to retract.
New discs and pads were on their way anyway (good quality) so i'll fit them at the weekend when they turn up and hopefully solve the problem!
If the discs are significantly grooved then the braking would be very poor until the pad had worn to accommodate the shape of the disc, and if you then replace the disc it'll be poor again until the pad has worn flat again. Ideally if money is no object you're replace pads and discs at the same time so that you're bedding the new pads into flat discs.
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