www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

New to this, so please bear with me.

I called the AA out this morning after being unable to move my VW Golf TDI SE MK 5 (so 2005). I was able to release the handbrake, but despite this I couldn't reverse the car and despite being on a hill, the car didn't roll forward either. The previous day, I had driven 0.5 miles to work and when I got there I could smell burning rubber and smoke was coming from the back of the car. At lunch time, I tried the car again and no problem at all - no smell and no smoke!

The AA told me the caliper was stuck and would probably need replacing and so followed me to a local garage. I had the caliper replaced (driver's side, rear) and new brake pads on both back wheels (I was told these were fairly new, but the caliper problem had worn them considerably).

As I drove away from the garage - I felt a sense of relief that problem was over. But when I went to use the car not more than two hours later - I had the same problem of smell of burning rubber and smoke coming from the same wheel that had been replaced. I phoned the garage and they are picking it up tomorrow and taking it in again, but before they do, has anyone got any ideas what it could be? The garage seemed to have no clue on the phone.

The temperatures (I'm sure you aware) are particularly cold at the moment (-5 degrees when I last used the car today). Could this be part of the problem? Any help on shedding light on this is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

sounds to me like the garage have just cost you the price of a new caliper for no reason, i would have said the if they had of checked the slider pins on the brake caliper first they would have noticed they were seized up not allowing the caliper to move back and forward freely. so when the brakes or handbrake are applied the caliper moves as it applies pressure to the pads and then when pressure is released it would move back allowing the pads to also back off a little from the disc meaning the wheel can run freely again with no drag or heat build up.

you should check the slider pin located in the brake caliper carrier or get the garage to do this. this photo shows the location of them on the brake carrier

normally seize up due to water getting in there and causing them to rust also they do get hot and cold a lot as the brakes are used etc. if you get a spanner on the hex end you should be able to turn them to free them up then pull them out and check to see how bad they are, if they are not to rusty and pitted you can clean them up with a bit of fine wet and dry paper apply a thin layer of copper grease to the pins then before putting them back in clean the locating hole in the carrier out with some brake cleaner. will normally clean up and go again though with out issue, this is something that should be checked every time the pads or pads and discs are changed as it saves a lot of hassle and i must say im shocked the garage never check

if the pins are really rusted and pitted or the seals have gone you can buy new new pins and seals on ebay pretty cheap
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-MK5- ... .l4275.c10
if you have a VW dealer local you could genuine parts from them or if you are local to suffolk or dont mind them being posted i can get genuine VAG parts at trade prices.

Silicone grease is usually spec'd for sliders bolts as it doesn't degrade the rubber boots..

Thank you for your help. When they turn up to collect the car I shall quiz them about these things and askif they were checked at the first inspection. Your explanation really helped - thank you. I'll let you know how I get on! Have a nice day.

When was the brake fluid last changed ? if its old and has moisture in it, It could of froze

A abs fault could be locking that line, The same goes for a bad master cylinder

There may be a issue with the handbrake

edit. a crushed hose/brake pipe will also cause the calliper to hold pressure


I very much doubt its anything to do with the calliper bracket/sliders as A. The pads are fairly new pre this issue B. A new calliper and pads has been fitted. standard practice is to clean and prep before fitting - the fact that there is heat involved shows the calliper is held on

There is a chance that the brake line wasn't fully bled and there is bad fluid in the line still

Bob225 wrote: I very much doubt its anything to do with the calliper bracket/sliders as A. The pads are fairly new pre this issue B. A new calliper and pads has been fitted. standard practice is to clean and prep before fitting - the fact that there is heat involved shows the calliper is held on

There is a chance that the brake line wasn't fully bled and there is bad fluid in the line still

The caliper slider pins are not part of a new caliper mate, as all you get is the brake caliper itself and not the brake caliper carrier and its the carrier that house the slider pins. the caliper bolts to the slider pins which allows the caliper to move backwards and forwards as pressure is a applied and released. if the slider pins have rusted it can cause the caliper to get jammed and hold pressure on to the brake disc.

if the brakes had not been bleed properly after a caliper change you would have no or very little brake effect at all so no reason this would cause the caliper to stick but would cause a loss in braking performance or no brake performance at all depending on the amount of air in the braking system, the same would go for brake fluid that is contaminated it will just reduce the performance of the braking system

The brakes have been striped and calliper replaced, standard practise to clean and lube, if the calliper pins where seized you wouldn't be able to fit new pads without freeing them and the wear would be on one pad only, the calliper is locked on to lock the wheel, pins don't just seize

The car was fixed and driven with out issue the calliper then locked on

There is a issue with the brake line, hand brake lever on the calliper, handbrake cable or abs pump locking that line

Bob225 wrote:The brakes have been striped and calliper replaced, standard practise to clean and lube, if the calliper pins where seized you wouldn't be able to fit new pads without freeing them and the wear would be on one pad only, the calliper is locked on to lock the wheel, pins don't just seize

The car was fixed and driven with out issue the calliper then locked on

There is a issue with the brake line, hand brake lever on the calliper, handbrake cable or abs pump locking that line

yes normally but no saying the garage did this and how well it was done, if they are just turned with the hex nut on the end to free them up it would not take much to seize or jam them up again as they need to be taken out and cleaned. yes id agree something is holding the caliper on to them disc and the slider pins could be jammed up with bits of rust because they were not cleaned or freed of properly.

yes it could be a crushed brake line but not a very common problem, handbrake mechanism on caliper should be fine and working as it should have been replaced but could be the handbrake cable to that rear wheel is jammed up inside the liner not letting it free off, maybe water has got in the a rusted it or some of the wire strands from the cable have broken and got jammed up but id have thought a good mechanic would have noticed this when removing the old caliper. its possible if the car has ABS that the pump could be at fault but you would normally get the ABS light come up on the dash board/instrument cluster, granted this dose not always show up but for main components like the ABS pump id have thought it would have

the easy way to tell is by cracking the bleeder loose if it releases, Its fluid related - I have come across restricted pipes where they have been crimped/clamped for brake work - not a mark on it, but the inside of the pipe was narrowed

handbrake cable and the balancer/pulley would be my next point of call, it could of been missed

It may be water in their handbrake cable that has frozen. Had this problem on gear linkage also.


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