Front pads stuck to discs and won't release...help!
Discussion
So I'm an idiot. I washed my R8 the other week then put it in the garage. Went to get it out today, and the front brakes wouldn't release. Had it before in other cars, and after a little more welly with the throttle they normally release. BUT, the R8 was in the garage which has a smooth painted floor and they just dragged as I reversed out. Not the end of the world. Until my rears hit the gravel....and promptly started digging holes. So now the car is stuck half in and half out of the garage (won't go forwards or backwards without digging, I had to climb out the window as the door didn't have space to open) and a massive windy storm is on the way for tomorrow night....and my garage doors are leafed not up and over.
Any ideas on how to release them? Best idea I have at the moment is jacking the front of the car up, taking the front wheels off and giving the pads a wack with a piece of wood and mallet. Or trying to separate the pads away by getting a chisel in there
Any ideas on how to release them? Best idea I have at the moment is jacking the front of the car up, taking the front wheels off and giving the pads a wack with a piece of wood and mallet. Or trying to separate the pads away by getting a chisel in there
Jack it up & push back inside!
At an intelligent guess the sliding calipers have seized in the carrier's, that is down to improper maintenance/poor servicing when the front pads were last changed! There may also be some shims missing.
If you pay to have the work done, I would take the car elsewhere in future.
Don't hit the disk's with a chisel.
If both front wheels are indeed seized, that requires stripping both front brakes, checking for missing parts, wear and corrosion.
The calipers should float on the carriers; like wise the the pads should be a SMOOTH fit in the caliper's. It needs to be looked at by some one who knows what they're doing. Never re-assemble brake pads by hitting them home with a hammer.
Use a modest smear of copper slip between pad plate and piston, plate & shim to stop squeal.
At an intelligent guess the sliding calipers have seized in the carrier's, that is down to improper maintenance/poor servicing when the front pads were last changed! There may also be some shims missing.
If you pay to have the work done, I would take the car elsewhere in future.
Don't hit the disk's with a chisel.
If both front wheels are indeed seized, that requires stripping both front brakes, checking for missing parts, wear and corrosion.
The calipers should float on the carriers; like wise the the pads should be a SMOOTH fit in the caliper's. It needs to be looked at by some one who knows what they're doing. Never re-assemble brake pads by hitting them home with a hammer.
Use a modest smear of copper slip between pad plate and piston, plate & shim to stop squeal.
Edited by Mr Teddy Bear on Saturday 2nd March 21:04
Mr Teddy Bear said:
Jack it up & push back inside!
Can't, the front wheels won't turn so jacking up the rear is pointless, and the rears are about 2 inches deep in the ground/gravel so can't push it in even if I jack up the front.Mr Teddy Bear said:
At an intelligent guess the sliding calipers have seized in the carrier's, that is down to improper maintenance/poor servicing when the front pads were last changed! There may also be some shims missing.
If you pay to have the work done, I would take the car elsewhere in future.
Don't hit the disk's with a chisel.
If both front wheels are indeed seized, that requires stripping both front brakes, checking for missing parts, wear and corrosion.
The calipers should float on the carriers; like wise the the pads should be a SMOOTH fit in the caliper's. It needs to be looked at by some one who knows what they're doing. Never re-assemble brake pads by hitting them home with a hammer.
Use a modest smear of copper slip between pad plate and piston, plate & shim to stop squeal.
Thanks for the info, but that sounds massive overkill from my layman PoV. The pads on every car I've had have stuck to the discs after washes/rain. Issue now is that basically the tyres don't have enough grip on the surface they're on to "break free" as they would normally. Fronts are on slidey smooth painted garage floor so even if rears could move the car, they just slide. And rears can't move the car because they're on loose gravel.If you pay to have the work done, I would take the car elsewhere in future.
Don't hit the disk's with a chisel.
If both front wheels are indeed seized, that requires stripping both front brakes, checking for missing parts, wear and corrosion.
The calipers should float on the carriers; like wise the the pads should be a SMOOTH fit in the caliper's. It needs to be looked at by some one who knows what they're doing. Never re-assemble brake pads by hitting them home with a hammer.
Use a modest smear of copper slip between pad plate and piston, plate & shim to stop squeal.
Edited by Mr Teddy Bear on Saturday 2nd March 21:04
If it's as urgent as you describe, I'd consider picking the front up with a trolley jack (assume they're still on the garage floor) and inching it forwards with the bulk of the weight on the jack until the back wheels were on firm ground. Be aware that the jack will try to steer itself sideways and fall over if you let it.
GreenV8S said:
If it's as urgent as you describe, I'd consider picking the front up with a trolley jack (assume they're still on the garage floor) and inching it forwards with the bulk of the weight on the jack until the back wheels were on firm ground. Be aware that the jack will try to steer itself sideways and fall over if you let it.
Thanks - a mate has also suggested getting trays underneath the front wheels with a bit of cooking oil to let them slideThis is such a bizarre and dramatic story, compounded by your claim that this (front pads seized to discs) has happened to every single car you've previously owned, that
A/ you must be winding us up.
OR
B/ you are doing something to your cars that is wholly unusual and is causing this.
Disc brakes normally retract slightly when the pedal is released, so the pads are pulled back from the disc. The hand brake presses the pads on, and we've all had that 'seize' the pads to the disc, but a hand/parking brake only works on the rears. You must have an odd habit, like leaving a pile of bricks on the pedal, or tying it down, to keep the pads pressed to the front discs, so they seize. Or, of telling terrible porkies.
Either way, stop doing it.
John
A/ you must be winding us up.
OR
B/ you are doing something to your cars that is wholly unusual and is causing this.
Disc brakes normally retract slightly when the pedal is released, so the pads are pulled back from the disc. The hand brake presses the pads on, and we've all had that 'seize' the pads to the disc, but a hand/parking brake only works on the rears. You must have an odd habit, like leaving a pile of bricks on the pedal, or tying it down, to keep the pads pressed to the front discs, so they seize. Or, of telling terrible porkies.
Either way, stop doing it.
John
Edited by tapkaJohnD on Saturday 2nd March 22:43
Edited by tapkaJohnD on Saturday 2nd March 22:50
Its the metallic content in the pads rusting and bonding to the wet disc. I breifly drive my performance cars after washing, repeatedly braking hard to disperse the water before parking up. Had the same issue as the OP with an Exige when I forgot to do so. Front wheels locked so badly that I had two parallel black lines accross the garage floor before they finally released.
Jack it up, remove front wheels snd work on the pads. Not sure of best actual process but I think I'd probably remove the pad retaining fittings and knock the pads up and out as if removing them for replacement. Failing that I'd lever the pads away from the rotor via the backing plates. If that didn't work then I'd be considering a wedge between pad material and rotor.
Jack it up, remove front wheels snd work on the pads. Not sure of best actual process but I think I'd probably remove the pad retaining fittings and knock the pads up and out as if removing them for replacement. Failing that I'd lever the pads away from the rotor via the backing plates. If that didn't work then I'd be considering a wedge between pad material and rotor.
Aren't you as barrel of laughs!
And it's not just the front pads, it's all pads. Every car I have had I have seen the discs get a littler rusty on the surface, every now and then and stick to the pads, normally after washing if I didn't get a chance to take the car for a quick spin immediately after. Normally I've been parked on tarmac so with a bit of welly they give as there's enough friction with the road surface. Happened on our Disco 4 about a month ago on gravel, but given it's proper 4wd it released but required quite a bit of gas. I'm guessing that since the 4wd on the R8 is so biased to the rear it's not helping like it did on the Disco. Also happened on my 997 which I had before the R8 etc etc.
Anyway, to everyone else: thanks for you suggestions. I managed to get the car in the garage by getting trays under the front wheels and inching it forward off the gravel. Jacking it is a 'mare, it's low to start with but even lower with the rear dropped a couple of inches into gravel. Luckily I have a low jack for the Caterham. The jacking points however appear to be bloody miles underneath the car according to internet pics. Got as close to them as i could and it seemed to work okay.
Tried tapping the callipers with a mallett and a bit of wood to free them, no joy. Tried putting towels underneath the wheels. Tried letting the tyres down to get more contact patch. Tried getting a bit of gravel under in the hopes it would "dig in" to the floor a bit.
Might try and tap the pads with wood, but I'm tempted just to get breakdown people out, rather than wing it as an amateur hoping I don't damage anything. I forgot to renew our policy last month, so just have, but obvs have to wait the mandatory few days before they'll come without me having to pay an extra chunk
tapkaJohnD said:
This is such a bizarre and dramatic story, compounded by your claim that this (front pads seized to discs) has happened to every single car you've previously owned, that
A/ you must be winding us up.
OR
B/ you are doing something to your cars that is wholly unusual and is causing this.
Disc brakes normally retract slightly when the pedal is released, so the pads are pulled back from the disc. The hand brake presses the pads on, and we've all had that 'seize' the pads to the disc, but a hand/parking brake only works on the rears. You must have an odd habit, like leaving a pile of bricks on the pedal, or tying it down, to keep the pads pressed to the front discs, so they seize. Or, of telling terrible porkies.
Either way, stop doing it.
John
No custard, but....A/ you must be winding us up.
OR
B/ you are doing something to your cars that is wholly unusual and is causing this.
Disc brakes normally retract slightly when the pedal is released, so the pads are pulled back from the disc. The hand brake presses the pads on, and we've all had that 'seize' the pads to the disc, but a hand/parking brake only works on the rears. You must have an odd habit, like leaving a pile of bricks on the pedal, or tying it down, to keep the pads pressed to the front discs, so they seize. Or, of telling terrible porkies.
Either way, stop doing it.
John
And it's not just the front pads, it's all pads. Every car I have had I have seen the discs get a littler rusty on the surface, every now and then and stick to the pads, normally after washing if I didn't get a chance to take the car for a quick spin immediately after. Normally I've been parked on tarmac so with a bit of welly they give as there's enough friction with the road surface. Happened on our Disco 4 about a month ago on gravel, but given it's proper 4wd it released but required quite a bit of gas. I'm guessing that since the 4wd on the R8 is so biased to the rear it's not helping like it did on the Disco. Also happened on my 997 which I had before the R8 etc etc.
Anyway, to everyone else: thanks for you suggestions. I managed to get the car in the garage by getting trays under the front wheels and inching it forward off the gravel. Jacking it is a 'mare, it's low to start with but even lower with the rear dropped a couple of inches into gravel. Luckily I have a low jack for the Caterham. The jacking points however appear to be bloody miles underneath the car according to internet pics. Got as close to them as i could and it seemed to work okay.
Tried tapping the callipers with a mallett and a bit of wood to free them, no joy. Tried putting towels underneath the wheels. Tried letting the tyres down to get more contact patch. Tried getting a bit of gravel under in the hopes it would "dig in" to the floor a bit.
Might try and tap the pads with wood, but I'm tempted just to get breakdown people out, rather than wing it as an amateur hoping I don't damage anything. I forgot to renew our policy last month, so just have, but obvs have to wait the mandatory few days before they'll come without me having to pay an extra chunk
tapkaJohnD said:
This is such a bizarre and dramatic story, compounded by your claim that this (front pads seized to discs) has happened to every single car you've previously owned, that
A/ you must be winding us up.
OR
B/ you are doing something to your cars that is wholly unusual and is causing this.
I could show you several full hangars of cars at work which all have their pads stuck to the disks after being washed and parked. Every single car I drive either sets off with a loud 'crack' or skids across the painted floor before releasing as it goes through the exit onto concrete.A/ you must be winding us up.
OR
B/ you are doing something to your cars that is wholly unusual and is causing this.
Sounds like you have some brake issues in general.
Calipers sticking, hoses not letting fluid back, excess worn discs holding the pad.
A momentary stick is 1 thing, but fully locked isnt just water/corrosion. I understand you have to free them to move car, but they need looking at properly.
Calipers sticking, hoses not letting fluid back, excess worn discs holding the pad.
A momentary stick is 1 thing, but fully locked isnt just water/corrosion. I understand you have to free them to move car, but they need looking at properly.
Coilspring said:
Sounds like you have some brake issues in general.
Calipers sticking, hoses not letting fluid back, excess worn discs holding the pad.
A momentary stick is 1 thing, but fully locked isn't just water/corrosion. I understand you have to free them to move car, but they need looking at properly.
Could be I guess, I've only had the car 10 months. But our Disco's brakes stuck really hard the other day as well and they've just been looked at (well, 5 months ago or so). Also, bear in mind that our garage floor is a sort of rubberized paint like you find in carparks, so it's not massively grippy to start with. Add a bit of wet/moisture from the recent rain and I'm skating about in there in regular shoes. And ironically now that we have the garage it means the brakes would have sat there wet longer as it'd have been out of the wind. Plus they're pretty big pads from what I can see so lots of surface area to get "glued"!Calipers sticking, hoses not letting fluid back, excess worn discs holding the pad.
A momentary stick is 1 thing, but fully locked isn't just water/corrosion. I understand you have to free them to move car, but they need looking at properly.
I'm hoping it's just a confluence of events, but I can drop the car in to a trusted mechanic to take a look when I have moment.
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