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700/900 Series General Forum for the Volvo 740, 760, 780, 940, 960 & S/V90 cars |
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Front brake was stuck on; will it happen again?Views : 1360 Replies : 18Users Viewing This Thread : |
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Apr 19th, 2018, 12:25 | #1 |
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Front brake was stuck on; will it happen again?
I left my V90 "collectors car of the future" in its garage over winter and into the spring. Yesterday, I finally got around to starting it up and, as always (battery still 95% charged) it started instantly. I noticed that the car was reluctant to reverse out of the garage but I thought no more about it.
I soon noticed a steering wheel shake - similar to having a front tyre with a bulge. It got worse. I stopped to look at the front tyres. One wheel was hot, with a wisp of smoke coming from the brake assembly so it seemed pretty clear that that brake partially was stuck on. Before phoning for a breakdown service to take the car back home, I left the wheel to cool somewhat and a pressed hard several times on the brake pedal (engine running). I reasoned that this might either free it or lock it solid. In the latter case, I would be no worse off, still needing to call for assistance. The car would still move easily so I drove it for a short distance. I found that the steering wheel shake had gone so I carried on driving. Arriving home, with several checks for wheel overheating on the way, I found that the wheel was back to normal temperature. I presume that while not being used, the relevant brake piston had temporarily got stuck in its cylinder. Two questions: - Is this likely to happen again before too long? If so, what needs to be done? - Will the overheating of the brake assembly have done any harm? Any advice will be gratefully received. Martin |
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Apr 19th, 2018, 12:38 | #2 |
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I had a similar problem, steering pulling until brakes applied.
I had previously overhauled the caliper, brackets etc so all should have been good. After cooling it seemed to be ok and didn't happen again. |
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Apr 19th, 2018, 15:18 | #3 |
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Hard to say...
I had it on a van (still got it) and it happened several times, slowly becoming more frequent. Rebuilding the calipers sorted the problem If I were you, I'd use it and enjoy it - if the problem happens again start to think about rebuilding the calipers or checking the brake flexi hoses aren't breaking down internally. |
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Apr 19th, 2018, 16:32 | #4 |
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Not 100% sure about the type of brakes ons the V90 as I have allways had 940s.
If they are the same, then the caliper is conected via slider pins, it could be either the caliper or one ore both slider pins that are, or were siezed. The fact that you say it was OK on the way home suggests that it was not fully siezed but tight. I would still be inclined to remove the pins, clean up everything, a twist drill of the correct size is good for cleaning out the bore for the slider pins, lubricate with silicone grease or High temp grease NOT COPA GREASE. Also I would press the caliper piston back in a couple of turns with a "G" clamp, unwind a couple of turns, leave the "G" clamp in position and pump the pedal till it goes tight (the piston will have come up to the pad on the clamp). Do this several times, or until it is noticably easier to wind back in, asuming it was tight in the first place. All this asumes that you are confortable working on your brakes of course. |
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Apr 19th, 2018, 16:59 | #5 |
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Most people don't brake extremely hard often, I find a nice clear lane get to about 50 odd then press hard on the brake pedal to ensure nothing has a chance to stick. I do it every now and then as i've had a locked brake on both my old V70 and my 940, not had any problems since doing this, of course it could be a coincidence. Car's don't really like being parked up unused though i'm not really sure what the correct procedure for storing a car is, might be worth a google?
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Apr 19th, 2018, 17:57 | #6 |
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I've recently bought a "new" 1997 S90, and, as we all do I guess, for the first few weeks I driven it oh-so-carefully, almost nun-like in my stately progress!
The car had been stored relatively unused in a garage prior to my purchase, and as I started to get a bit more relaxed about driving it I noticed that under heavier braking there'd be a bit of a droning sound, which was also noticeable through the brake pedal. At first I was worried that the pads were shot, but a closer look showed that this was not the case. So, gritting my teeth I deliberately braked hard a few times on a quiet road from 50-ish down to stationary. The droning noise and sensation quite quickly disappeared after a couple of repeats of this, and I've now come to the conclusion that because the car had been stood, and because I'd been driving so gently, a bit of scale and corrosion had built up in the discs - probably the rears, simply through lack of use. The couple of "livelier" applications of the brakes had helped to shift this, and now the braking is silent. When you look at a car's brake discs after washing or heavy rain, it's surprising how much scale and rust quickly appears. The Nissan Note that I had prior to the S90 was left standing on the drive for just 10 days before being sold. And in that time the front brake discs rusted up completely, to the extent that the eventual buyer took one look and declared that new discs were needed! They weren't of course, and in the course of the test drive the discs started to shine again. The lesson is that like all machines, cars don't respond well to a lack of regular use. As for the proper way to store a car, no doubt there are all sorts of practical suggestions on-line, but mine would include: 1. Leave the handbrake off 2. If possible leave the car in neutral 3. Over-inflate the tyres to prevent the formation of flat spots, and check regularly to make sure that they stay up 4. If possible, before storage service the car and top up fluids. Grease things like door locks and bonnet catches. 5. At intervals during storage start the engine and let it run up to temperature at least once a month, if possible actually driving the car a short distance each time. With the engine running apply the brakes a few times to help prevent things from seizing up. 6. On re-commissioning the car again, change the oil and check fluids, pump the brakes a few time to get things moving. 7. Possibly turn the engine over with the coil disconnected on the first start-up, just to get the oil moving a bit. Ideally a car should I guess be stored somewhere dry, and away from extremes of temperature and humdity, perhaps with the windows open to keep the air in and around the car nice and fresh. A dozen or so years ago I bought an 1800ES that had been stood for over 20 years, but in a nice dry garage. Things did need easing off but because the car hadn't been subject to any damp, it really did all start moving again quite easily. One last thing, remember that petrol deteriorates with age. If a car is being left for a long period then I'd suggest either filling the tank to the brim, or leaving the tank empty but with the filler cap removed. What I found with the ES was that the tank had been left about half full. This petrol had started to gum up the fuel lines and filter, and stank absolutely terrible. I drained it and used the petrol in the old lawn mower - which I am certain led to the early demise of said grass-cutter! Because the tank was neither full nor empty, above the petrol line condensation had formed, which rusted the upper half of the inside of the tank. Rusty scale then dropped into the petrol - contributing to the general decay! If the tank had been left empty with the cap off I reckon that there'd have been no condensation, and I would not have had to remove the tank to be cleaned! Cheers Jack Last edited by capt jack; Apr 19th, 2018 at 18:15. |
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Apr 22nd, 2018, 14:15 | #7 | |
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Apr 22nd, 2018, 14:20 | #8 | |
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Yes, I'm happy to work on brakes. Is copa grease NOT silicone? It does not mention the word silicone on the can but somehow I had the impression it was. Maybe simply because they recommend it for exhaust system nuts etc. Martin |
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Apr 22nd, 2018, 15:08 | #9 |
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Coppa grease is not really a grease for lubrication. It is in fact an assembly compound. It has short term lubrication for assembly which is great for threads etc but not for long term lubrication of surfaces designed to work together under lubrication. The trouble with coppa grease is the lubrication dries out under certain conditions, heat being one of them. It just leaves a coppa film. The other issue being that it reacts with the rubber components as in your pin boots and makes them swell and go soft which then alows water, dirt, brake dust etc in which defeats the job of the boot.
That is why silicone greas is the prefered option as it DOES NOT attack the rubber bits. Also when I mentioned earlier about cleaning out the holes the pins fit into with a twist drill, I obviously meant by rotating it with your fingers and not with any form of power tool. It seems that people jumped on the band wagon when factors started selling copa grease as brake grease. The only thing I use it for is a small film behind the pad on any contact area to stop "Squeal" |
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Apr 22nd, 2018, 15:17 | #10 | |
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It's essentially very tiny flakes of copper suspended in a high melting point grease to prevent nuts seizing onto bolts, studs etc from heat, corrosion etc. It can also be used between alloy wheels and steel hubs to prevent eletrolytic corrosion which can cause the wheel to stick to the hub. Until very recently, copper grease was always the default grease for brake mechanism parts - rear of the pads (not the friction surface) to prevent squeal, slides to prevent seizing and so on. However over the past few years, silicone grease has gained in poularity for use in place of copper grease, why i don't know as they have similar properties. I use silicone grease on door seals, sunroof seals etc to keep them moist and prevent them drying out, squeaking etc and also as an alternative to dielectric grease on battery terminals as unlike hydro-carbon based grease, it won't carbonise once hot and cause problems.
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