Storage of 12c for Winter

[Abacus21]

Last winter when I left the car in the garage for several weeks the brake disks and calipers binded quite tight with the hand brake left on.

There doesnt seem to be a way to park the car without the hand brake being activated and leaving it on chocks.

Any tips anyone has used to prevent the brakes binding after storage?

[macdeb]

Park up, engine running, door open, press down on park brake (as if releasing) and turn off engine at same time. Notice will pop up 'park brake not applied' and hand brake will be off. But, as soon as you open the door again it will apply hence having door open when you go through this.

[Abacus21]

Thanks for the tip

[Panamax]

Abacus21 said:

Last winter when I left the car in the garage for several weeks the brake disks and calipers binded quite tight with the hand brake left on.

Which is just one of the many reasons it's better to use a car all year round than lock it away for the winter. Even if you only take it out once a month a month on a dry day it'll be much happier than parked-up. And it's not as if modern cars are built by Fiat with Russian steel and dissolve in a light shower of rain.

[Bispal]

The 12C was designed with the pads exceedingly close to the discs to allow for a faster braking response time. My 12C brakes used to bind all the time if I used the car in the wet. The correct way to stop this is as McDeb states above. If they do bind don't hit with a wooden block and hammer. The best solution is to pour boiling water on the callipers and rock the car back and forward, not use the engine, I also overheated my clutch trying to free my car once.

If you can't leave the brake off the only preventative way to stop this is to dry the brakes. Either by driving after washing for 5 mins or if it was raining, driving again in the dry within 5 days of parking the car up (this was always the point when the binding seemed to start).

Like all modern cars that bong and buzz and have hundreds of annoying features you don't want, It is a hassle. I'm so pleased my 675LT has CCB's, they don't bind....

[Wheelspinning]

I could see that as being a real hassle.

I'm with Pannax; I don't lay the car up. I use it in all weathers all year round.

I moved from long term Ferrari ownership to McLaren for that reason; its a car that you can daily if you desire.

[Panamax]

Bispal said:

The 12C was designed with the pads exceedingly close to the discs to allow for a faster braking response time.

All cars' brake pads just float close to the disc because there are no return springs or anything like that. If the disc isn't absolutely flat the "wobble" will push pads back further than would otherwise be the case. The question of binding has more to do with pad material than anything else.

Have a google around the subject of full-metallic brake pads used for racing and semi-metallic brake pads used for high performance road cars.

[Abacus21]

Yes I usually make sure the car is driven every 6 weeks at the most, however I will be travelling and unable to do so.

[Bispal]

Panamax said:

Bispal said:

The 12C was designed with the pads exceedingly close to the discs to allow for a faster braking response time.

All cars' brake pads just float close to the disc because there are no return springs or anything like that. If the disc isn't absolutely flat the "wobble" will push pads back further than would otherwise be the case. The question of binding has more to do with pad material than anything else.

Have a google around the subject of full-metallic brake pads used for racing and semi-metallic brake pads used for high performance road cars.

The P11 cars pad's are even closer to the discs, the engineer who was involved with the design told me, which is why the binding is worse than on other road cars.