Old Ford Focus 2010 front driver side disk brake seized.
Basically on a couple of short 5 mile trips could smell something like burning wood when I stopped but couldn't work out were the smell was coming from because I was looking (smelling) in the engine compartment.
Then today go to do an hours drive and the car was really unresponsive and using far more petrol than usual. After 10 minutes driving I drove back home went to check rear brakes they seem OK and then as I give the drivers side wheel a quick once over I notice its very hot and is where the smell is coming from.
Leave it for few hours take wheel off to check for part specifics (57mm piston) and wheel very had to move however it all comes to pieces easy and I can get the piston back inside the caliper with the amount of force I would expect. Clean everything up, put a tiny amount of copper grease on the calipers moving parts (nowhere that will get on the pads) and reassemble.
Everything seems OK. Pads still have about 7/8mm on them and disc is still serviceable. I will replace both discs and pads in the next couple of weeks. The question is should I leave it at that or should I replace/service the caliper?
Now it was worth writing that as it got me thinking that perhaps the drivers side disc is warped and if it wasn't with the heat is might be now, still can't decide if I need to spend €70-80 on a caliper?
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Disc Brake Seized?
Re: Disc Brake Seized?
No mechanic or expert ...but after thoroughly cooking the whole disc and piston assembly for an hour like you did I wouldn't trust it as far as I could throw it.
Metal fatigue and all that...could turn a brake disk into a break disc at the next emergency stop.
I'd probably replace the whole shebang ...at least have it thoroughly inspected by somebody who knows more than me.
Metal fatigue and all that...could turn a brake disk into a break disc at the next emergency stop.
I'd probably replace the whole shebang ...at least have it thoroughly inspected by somebody who knows more than me.
Re: Disc Brake Seized?
Now I take P's point 100% and safety first, but tbh I'd suck it and see. I've seen similar be absolutely fine after what you've done. TBH after some "spirited driving" once or twice. Allegedly your honour. I've had disks near glowing with heat to no great detriment. I mean you'd feel the heat on the back of your hand from a foot away from the wheel. Now to be fair they'd be more beefed up than average brakes and the car would be lighter too. Still... Track days can really cook brakes but the pistons/calipers are usually fine. Plus you can get a caliper kit to replace seals etc for a helluva lot less than a whole caliper. One thing I'd defo do is change the brake fluid.
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Re: Disc Brake Seized?
Actually "cooked" it for about 20 minutes, turned back after 10 minutes. Any mechanic is either going to seize on the idea that it all needs replacing or going to say it all looks OK, what you worried about. Cast iron will take a lot of abuse, there are no leaks which I'd expect if it was really cooked and no obvious signs of warping of the disc which would happen if it really got to hot. Brakes worked the whole time and if the fluid boiled I'd expect the feel of the braking to change which it didn't.
Replacing it all isn't that big a deal, basically 5 wheel nuts, two bolts holding the caliper in place and one spring clip. Only bother is removing the brake hose which means bleeding the brakes.
I've measured disc and pad thicknesses on both sides and they are nearly identical, I was expecting to find massively more wear on the side that was seized. Both discs are down to about just below 24mm thickness (start 25mm replace at 23mm) so half worn. I'll replace them anyway along with the pads.
I'll take another look tomorrow as I've just realised that there are two sizes of disc that could fit that model and with the wheel on I can't accurately measure the diameter even though with alloy wheels I can see the disc. I can't be 100% sure if its 300mm diameter or 278mm. Annoyingly it seems bigger than 278mm but not quite 300mm only answer is to take it off so I can measure along the flat back of it.
Seized may be to strong a word, binding might have been better.
Replacing it all isn't that big a deal, basically 5 wheel nuts, two bolts holding the caliper in place and one spring clip. Only bother is removing the brake hose which means bleeding the brakes.
I've measured disc and pad thicknesses on both sides and they are nearly identical, I was expecting to find massively more wear on the side that was seized. Both discs are down to about just below 24mm thickness (start 25mm replace at 23mm) so half worn. I'll replace them anyway along with the pads.
I'll take another look tomorrow as I've just realised that there are two sizes of disc that could fit that model and with the wheel on I can't accurately measure the diameter even though with alloy wheels I can see the disc. I can't be 100% sure if its 300mm diameter or 278mm. Annoyingly it seems bigger than 278mm but not quite 300mm only answer is to take it off so I can measure along the flat back of it.
Seized may be to strong a word, binding might have been better.
Re: Disc Brake Seized?
Checked disk diameter this morning with wheel off and its 278mm, glad I didn't order anything last night as I thought it was much nearer 300mm.
Interestingly checking all the usual suspects online, Amazon turns out to be the cheapest. Discs and pads come in at £82 delivered. Micks garage wanted around €120 just for the discs and Mister auto conned me into a clickbait sale by listing the disks as (2) which I thought ment you got two then at checkout doubled the price because (2) means the price is for one but you need 2.
I could have gone local and probably got a slightly better deal for the parts but I'd have had an hours travel, difficult parking and no choice of the actual brands. In no hurry so went with Amazon.
I've only sort trips into town and back for the next two weeks so will keep checking the rim to see if its still getting hot and then decide if I need to replace the caliper.
When the wheels off I'll bleed the brakes on the front and bleed enough through to change most of the fluid.
Interestingly checking all the usual suspects online, Amazon turns out to be the cheapest. Discs and pads come in at £82 delivered. Micks garage wanted around €120 just for the discs and Mister auto conned me into a clickbait sale by listing the disks as (2) which I thought ment you got two then at checkout doubled the price because (2) means the price is for one but you need 2.
I could have gone local and probably got a slightly better deal for the parts but I'd have had an hours travel, difficult parking and no choice of the actual brands. In no hurry so went with Amazon.
I've only sort trips into town and back for the next two weeks so will keep checking the rim to see if its still getting hot and then decide if I need to replace the caliper.
When the wheels off I'll bleed the brakes on the front and bleed enough through to change most of the fluid.
Re: Disc Brake Seized?
Just as a follow up. Drove the usual 6 mile into town and out today no problem everything back to the way it was. Hard braking from 80km/h was fine and the car with almost hands off gentle wheel control stayed in a good straight line.
Just to see the state of it I bled about 200ml through each of the front brakes. I really expected some air and dirty discoloured brake fluid but on both sides it came out much cleaner than expected, the worst you'd say about it was it wasn't quite as clear (see through) as fresh Dot 4 out of the bottle. I know 200ml is nothing like a full brake fluid change but it did make me feel that there isn't anything wrong with the fluid. I didn't have enough for a full change anyway.
Because its a pain to work on a gravel drive I plan to do a full change of brake fluid when I next have the wheels off when I do the discs and pads. I'll take a look at the rear shoes at the same time IF they come off relatively easily.
Just to see the state of it I bled about 200ml through each of the front brakes. I really expected some air and dirty discoloured brake fluid but on both sides it came out much cleaner than expected, the worst you'd say about it was it wasn't quite as clear (see through) as fresh Dot 4 out of the bottle. I know 200ml is nothing like a full brake fluid change but it did make me feel that there isn't anything wrong with the fluid. I didn't have enough for a full change anyway.
Because its a pain to work on a gravel drive I plan to do a full change of brake fluid when I next have the wheels off when I do the discs and pads. I'll take a look at the rear shoes at the same time IF they come off relatively easily.
Re: Disc Brake Seized?
Sorry if this has become my brake blog.
Finished everything yesterday and just thought I'd fill in the prices.
Brake Discs ~ €75 - Amazon
Brake Pads ~ €25 - Amazon
Brake Shoes - £35 - Motor factor 60 mile round trip but not paying €48 local guy wanted.
Liter of Dot 4 - £10 - Local Motor factor
Total ~ €145
~ because paid some prices in pounds sterling and did a rough conversion.
Stuff from Amazon came from Germany and took 2 working days. Same make and model discs from Micksgarage were €142!
At one stage did wonder why I was bothering but as I started dismantling stuff I realised it made a lot of sense. Everything I could see was well within tolerance but the back face of both discs were in much worse shape than expected, outer edges of the braking surface were badly rusted and pitted (front face fine). The rear shoes, while one pair were well within spec at 2mm the other pair that I'd not check previously had one shoe down below 1mm.
I was in two minds after changing rear pads to adjust the handbrake cable. The lever came up about 10-11 clicks when previously it only went to 5-6 clicks. It made no sense that the new shoes would make the handbrake higher? Anyway glad I left it as now they have bedded in after a few miles the handbrake is down at 7-8 clicks, obviously the asjusters in the rear brakes had taken up the slack. Handbrake even when hard on was previously crap, passed NCT but wouldn't hold you on a steep hill. With new shoes thats completely changed and its holds well now when only lightly engaged.
Used about 3/4 of a liter of Dot 4 flushing flushing the brake lines through. No idea if thats enough as I didn't find any reliable info online as to how much the system holds. However I kept going until the fluid came on each wheel looking cleaner than what came out to start with.
Finished everything yesterday and just thought I'd fill in the prices.
Brake Discs ~ €75 - Amazon
Brake Pads ~ €25 - Amazon
Brake Shoes - £35 - Motor factor 60 mile round trip but not paying €48 local guy wanted.
Liter of Dot 4 - £10 - Local Motor factor
Total ~ €145
~ because paid some prices in pounds sterling and did a rough conversion.
Stuff from Amazon came from Germany and took 2 working days. Same make and model discs from Micksgarage were €142!
At one stage did wonder why I was bothering but as I started dismantling stuff I realised it made a lot of sense. Everything I could see was well within tolerance but the back face of both discs were in much worse shape than expected, outer edges of the braking surface were badly rusted and pitted (front face fine). The rear shoes, while one pair were well within spec at 2mm the other pair that I'd not check previously had one shoe down below 1mm.
I was in two minds after changing rear pads to adjust the handbrake cable. The lever came up about 10-11 clicks when previously it only went to 5-6 clicks. It made no sense that the new shoes would make the handbrake higher? Anyway glad I left it as now they have bedded in after a few miles the handbrake is down at 7-8 clicks, obviously the asjusters in the rear brakes had taken up the slack. Handbrake even when hard on was previously crap, passed NCT but wouldn't hold you on a steep hill. With new shoes thats completely changed and its holds well now when only lightly engaged.
Used about 3/4 of a liter of Dot 4 flushing flushing the brake lines through. No idea if thats enough as I didn't find any reliable info online as to how much the system holds. However I kept going until the fluid came on each wheel looking cleaner than what came out to start with.