Using the caliper piston instead of a brake pad?
Discussion
Well didn't that title just grab your attention 
. I posted this in another section but maybe would have been better here, anyway for those
who never saw it.....
This one dropped my jaw just a bit, in all my years I've rarely seen something as dumbfounding as this one. Young girl brings her car to the
garage and tells me her brake pedal is sinking to the floor and there is a bad noise coming from the front passenger side, I tell her to leave it
with me and I will have a look over it, she hands me the key and heads away with her dad who had followed her down. She told me the handbrake
was fine because that's what she used to get it to me
.
Anyway a bit later on I start on it, remove the wheel, unbolt the caliper and then the expletives start to fly!.
So what has happened is the pad has worn away all the friction material leaving metal to metal contact, eventually the disc and the pad backing
plate become so worn down that the pad backing plate falls through the gap between the disc and carrier and does a bunk, the outer pad is seized
in the carrier and the sliders are rock solid, this then leaves the piston in direct contact with the disc, both of them then wear down to the point
where the piston pops out of the caliper and loses all the brake fluid, pedal sinks to the floor and that then becomes the stage where she
realises something is up.
This has had to have been ongoing for a considerable length of time and mileage to get to this condition, how on earth she didn't suspect
something was wrong long before this is just astonishing. Words fail me. It's MOT was due shortly BTW.
Look at the difference in thickness between the two faces of the disc. The piston had lost about 5mm, past the ring where the dust cover sits.
. I posted this in another section but maybe would have been better here, anyway for thosewho never saw it.....
This one dropped my jaw just a bit, in all my years I've rarely seen something as dumbfounding as this one. Young girl brings her car to the
garage and tells me her brake pedal is sinking to the floor and there is a bad noise coming from the front passenger side, I tell her to leave it
with me and I will have a look over it, she hands me the key and heads away with her dad who had followed her down. She told me the handbrake
was fine because that's what she used to get it to me
.Anyway a bit later on I start on it, remove the wheel, unbolt the caliper and then the expletives start to fly!.
So what has happened is the pad has worn away all the friction material leaving metal to metal contact, eventually the disc and the pad backing
plate become so worn down that the pad backing plate falls through the gap between the disc and carrier and does a bunk, the outer pad is seized
in the carrier and the sliders are rock solid, this then leaves the piston in direct contact with the disc, both of them then wear down to the point
where the piston pops out of the caliper and loses all the brake fluid, pedal sinks to the floor and that then becomes the stage where she
realises something is up.
This has had to have been ongoing for a considerable length of time and mileage to get to this condition, how on earth she didn't suspect
something was wrong long before this is just astonishing. Words fail me. It's MOT was due shortly BTW.
Look at the difference in thickness between the two faces of the disc. The piston had lost about 5mm, past the ring where the dust cover sits.
Dave Brand said:
That's just beyond belief! Is it new enough not to have needed an MoT before now? I can't see that amount of damage occuring between MoTs unless it's doing astronomical mileages.
Let's be charitable towards her & assume that the car doesn't have pad wear indicators!
Agreed. That has taken a long while to wear down. At least long enough for an awful noise and feeling to be noticeable by anybody, even without any mechanical knowledge or sympathy. Just unbelievable!Let's be charitable towards her & assume that the car doesn't have pad wear indicators!
Maybe likes her tunes loud.Reminded me of this from a while ago.
From https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/horror-story-... There are a few more horror stories <-Link in the main index !
From https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/horror-story-... There are a few more horror stories <-Link in the main index !
The pads were worn on the O/S but were still operating ok because they and the sliders were still free to move. The reason the disc has worn to the
edge is because the piston as it has gotten closer to falling out has tilted down and forward, which is visible in the picture.
And because the sliders and the outside pad were seized solid this meant that when applying the brake the piston was going full force into the disc
without help from the outer pad, and I reckon that's why it has worn away fairly quickly.
Unsuprisingly there was no oil on the dipstick on this car, even after sitting for several hours, there was however a full unopened 5 litre bottle in the boot.
You couldn't make it up. Millennial motorists
.
edge is because the piston as it has gotten closer to falling out has tilted down and forward, which is visible in the picture.
And because the sliders and the outside pad were seized solid this meant that when applying the brake the piston was going full force into the disc
without help from the outer pad, and I reckon that's why it has worn away fairly quickly.
Unsuprisingly there was no oil on the dipstick on this car, even after sitting for several hours, there was however a full unopened 5 litre bottle in the boot.
You couldn't make it up. Millennial motorists
.Pastor Of Muppets said:
The pads were worn on the O/S but were still operating ok because they and the sliders were still free to move. The reason the disc has worn to the
edge is because the piston as it has gotten closer to falling out has tilted down and forward, which is visible in the picture.
And because the sliders and the outside pad were seized solid this meant that when applying the brake the piston was going full force into the disc
without help from the outer pad, and I reckon that's why it has worn away fairly quickly.
Unsuprisingly there was no oil on the dipstick on this car, even after sitting for several hours, there was however a full unopened 5 litre bottle in the boot.
You couldn't make it up. Millennial motorists .
Not just millenials, many years ago i had to use someone else's lorry when they were on holiday, dipped the oil, nothing, put a gallon in, nothing, ended up putting 5 gallons in on something like a 6 gallon sump to bring it up to the mark, it actually drove ok but smoked a bit.edge is because the piston as it has gotten closer to falling out has tilted down and forward, which is visible in the picture.
And because the sliders and the outside pad were seized solid this meant that when applying the brake the piston was going full force into the disc
without help from the outer pad, and I reckon that's why it has worn away fairly quickly.
Unsuprisingly there was no oil on the dipstick on this car, even after sitting for several hours, there was however a full unopened 5 litre bottle in the boot.
You couldn't make it up. Millennial motorists
.About 6 months later the engine seized solid, no oil in sump, driver sacked, in house workshop about as much use as that driver.
Pastor Of Muppets said:
Unsuprisingly there was no oil on the dipstick on this car, even after sitting for several hours,
If the car doesn't tell you it's needed it can't be needed! Apparently a lot of "Prince" engine failures in MINIs were caused by low oil level. Not so with PSA cars. . .PSA fitted an oil level sensor.Dave Brand said:
PSA fitted an oil level sensor.
Yep, and rather prone to false readings / warnings, along with dipsticks that were the wrong size from the factory, and also made of plastic which breaks just above the maximum mark leaving a bit floating about in the sump and future owners thinking it has no oil and overfilling it. Seen all of
those several times.
Pastor Of Muppets said:
The pads were worn on the O/S but were still operating ok because they and the sliders were still free to move. The reason the disc has worn to the
edge is because the piston as it has gotten closer to falling out has tilted down and forward, which is visible in the picture.
And because the sliders and the outside pad were seized solid this meant that when applying the brake the piston was going full force into the disc
without help from the outer pad, and I reckon that's why it has worn away fairly quickly.
Unsuprisingly there was no oil on the dipstick on this car, even after sitting for several hours, there was however a full unopened 5 litre bottle in the boot.
You couldn't make it up. Millennial motorists .
I would also question WTF the parent was doing as I often drive my daughters car just to check it’s safe for her, we recently changed a strut top mount and did front discs and pads as I felt them grinding a bit and the inner disc face had corroded, don’t ask me about the power steering pump replacement as it turned in to a missionedge is because the piston as it has gotten closer to falling out has tilted down and forward, which is visible in the picture.
And because the sliders and the outside pad were seized solid this meant that when applying the brake the piston was going full force into the disc
without help from the outer pad, and I reckon that's why it has worn away fairly quickly.
Unsuprisingly there was no oil on the dipstick on this car, even after sitting for several hours, there was however a full unopened 5 litre bottle in the boot.
You couldn't make it up. Millennial motorists
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