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View Full Version : Urgent help and advice needed please....



drsmith1979
23-02-2007, 19:56
Just been driving home from work now, i was accellerating upto the slip road to join a fast moving 60mph dual carriageway when i heard an almighty 'bang!' it sounded as though the car had been hit with something. All of a sudden, like in a movie, i had hardly any brakes! scary shit! lol i coasted off the dual carriageway and pulled over to find...

... the passenger side rear calliper was at the top of the disc miles from where it should be and it had lost its pads! is this a common fault? its dark so i cant give it a thorough inspection but i will be needing the car for work and want to be able to patch it up until i can get it sorted. it makes sense that the caliper bracket may have broken or could it be the actual disc? any suggestions as to what it could be?

all help appreciated

MAXIBOY
23-02-2007, 19:58
not common but

http://www.williamsclio.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19339

drsmith1979
23-02-2007, 20:02
just read through that and it seems similar, however, the disc looks fine with no pieces ripped off like that? i think the carrier snapped which allowed the calliper to move and then the pads fell out afterwards, if the carrier has broken is it a simple swap and change or is it change the whole disc, rear beam etc... :( not happy

stan
23-02-2007, 20:03
worked on the brakes recently
?

MAXIBOY
23-02-2007, 20:06
difficult to say without pics really.

drsmith1979
23-02-2007, 20:08
not touched them stan, only had the car from a previous member a number of weeks and havent done anything. it passed its MOT though so should all be ok. one thing to mention is now the handbrake is tight and wont go on from its off position, im presuming its because the cable has been pulled tight due to the caliper moving? i will try and get some pics tomorrow when i get the wheel off. anyone thing of anything that it could be? anyone local to me with loads of knowledge able to have a look this weekend for some cash in hand? im in warrington area

drsmith1979
23-02-2007, 20:22
while this has happened i may as well bite the bullet and get a full brake set up, font and back, discs, pads etc..... How much are the discs with already pressed in bearings from renault? can you get away with simply changing the discs? not sure on the set up so sorry if its a dumb question. im presuming front standard discs with ds2500 or similar, braided hoses and what about the rear?

drsmith1979
24-02-2007, 12:06
Here are some pics- after close inspection it appears the pad retaining spring has not been fitted properlly, the pads have come loose and out allowing the caliper piston to open out fully onto the disc causing the carrier to grip suddenly and its sheered off all 4 carrier bolts and pulled off the brake feed pipe! all in all a lucky escape and testamount to Renaults 'cross over' brake design which still left me with some amount of braking capacity!

carrier is undamaged, bearing looks and feels good, disc isnt damage, but the bolts will need drilling out which is what im going to try this afternoon.

pics:

This is the pic as i took the wheel off, obviously the caliper isnt supposed to be round there! and the pads are missing

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v220/drsmith/24022007027.jpg

Here is a closer pic of the caliper and bent break pipe:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v220/drsmith/24022007028.jpg

you can just about see the missalignment of the carrier holes:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v220/drsmith/24022007030.jpg

Im majorly pissed off, as not only are the rear brakes having problems due to bad fitment, the fronts are ruined too... by an all together seperate incident. thankfully i may get away with a patch up job to get me through this week, having to hire a car till tues tho to give me time to get the parts i need which im not happy about. im hoping i can get the bolts from Gaz and after i have drilled them out fit the new ones and build it all back up. can someone give me a detailed description on how to bleed the breaks? mine has ABS but it is disabled for track use, not sure if that makes a difference?

MAXIBOY
24-02-2007, 13:07
what has happened then. did the bolts fall out or snap off etc.

drsmith1979
24-02-2007, 13:30
well having looked at everything, its apparent the pad retaining clip has been fitted incorrectly, this has allowed one of the pads to come loose and eventually the other one, these fell out and allowed the caliper piston to fully exert itself and catch on the disc. this gripped it suddenly and turned the housing/carrier around 45 degrees, snapping off the carrier mounting bolts. just been to homebase for some drill bits as im going to have to drill them out! the brake line is broken at the inlet bolt but should be repairable. im trying to get some bolts from ste at port formance from a salvage car, then im going to have to buy some pads with retaining clip from halfords or somewhere. anyone know where i can get a new retaining clip?

MAXIBOY
24-02-2007, 13:40
think halfords stock pad fitting kits.

drsmith1979
24-02-2007, 14:02
ok now i have diagnosed the problem i have a new one! lol i have just been to homebase to pick up some metal drilling bits so i can drill out the bolts that are stuck in, however, they are hardly denting it! anyone got any ideas?

MAXIBOY
24-02-2007, 14:35
yes mate buy some quality drill bits. start really small and go up slowly. use some oil to keep them cool

drsmith1979
24-02-2007, 14:36
just bought some of the best ones homebase has to offer! any suggestions as to what brand? where to get them etc..?

MAXIBOY
24-02-2007, 14:43
well mate. i,ve got two sets. one black and decker and one halfords diamond tipped jobbies as brake bolts tend to be really hard. there 12.9 and the constant heating and cooling tends to harden them up. either should do just go slowly with plenty of cooling

drsmith1979
24-02-2007, 14:58
got some black and decker pirahna specialist metal drill bits from homebase, should i be looking at carbide or diamond tipped drill bits?

MAXIBOY
24-02-2007, 15:49
no mate they should be alright thats what i,ve got.

drsmith1979
24-02-2007, 17:44
ste at port formance has got it so hopefully it will be sorted asap, we all know hes a bit of a dab hand at these things 8)

MAXIBOY
25-02-2007, 02:11
hope it goes well mate

Coops
25-02-2007, 02:30
ai good luck, rear calipers loosing pads seem to be common occurances atm, but yours went with a big bang! :shock:

drsmith1979
25-02-2007, 13:22
the big bang was the pads being thrown and the carrier bolts being ripped off! sounded like i was hit with an RPG! lol

MattyH16valver
25-02-2007, 13:36
I managed to loose a pad after I fitted some new ones to the hybrid....so I lost the retaining plate and clip too. I bought a new kit from Brakes International and the retaining plates seem to be a very very tight fit, so I would hope its almost imposible for the pads to fall out now. Bit of a shit system really for holding them in. :roll:

drsmith1979
02-03-2007, 23:03
ok so i have now had the bolts drilled out and the carrier sorted. The original caliper and disc were fine i just had new brake pads and a fitting kit applied to the passenger rear and new brake pipe. fits like a glove! however we now have one problem! we bled the whole system and can get fluid coming from all the caliper nipples except one, the one where the failure occured. we traced it back along its fixed pipe and flexi pipe to see if brake fluid was actually getting through from the front. we have fluid getting to the Bias valve but not from it. is there a special way of bleeding the back brakes and the bias valve? does this sound like a bias valve failure? any suggestions?