XA Rear Brakes

NOHURY · 10-01-2010, 08:23 PM

Hi There,
Just wondering if you could give me a couple of ideas as I have come to a blank.
I've got an XA with discs on the rear . The calipers are the worm screw type. Now whats happened is I went to change the pads and screwed the piston back in and fitted the pads and bolted them back on and went to bleed them but they no work. I think it's the right hand side causing the issues. So, I took it back of, unbolted the handbrake assembly, had a look inside and everything looked ok, bolted it back together and still no good. I got my wife in the car to press the brakes while I played with the bleed screw, but there doesn't seem to be enough fluid coming through. There was a fair bit of air that came out everytime the pedal went down, but I didn't feel it was a full pedals worth.
I took the caliper off and then pressed the brakes to see if they would squeeze in but I dont think it moved.
If the caliper is seized would there still be any fluid coming through the bleed screw when I'm tring to bleed it?
Is there any other ways I can check to see if the calipers working or not?
Thanks for any help,
Sam.

**FLOORED** · 18-01-2010, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NOHURY

Hi There,
Just wondering if you could give me a couple of ideas as I have come to a blank.
I've got an XA with discs on the rear . The calipers are the worm screw type. Now whats happened is I went to change the pads and screwed the piston back in and fitted the pads and bolted them back on and went to bleed them but they no work. I think it's the right hand side causing the issues. So, I took it back of, unbolted the handbrake assembly, had a look inside and everything looked ok, bolted it back together and still no good. I got my wife in the car to press the brakes while I played with the bleed screw, but there doesn't seem to be enough fluid coming through. There was a fair bit of air that came out everytime the pedal went down, but I didn't feel it was a full pedals worth.
I took the caliper off and then pressed the brakes to see if they would squeeze in but I dont think it moved.
If the caliper is seized would there still be any fluid coming through the bleed screw when I'm tring to bleed it?
Is there any other ways I can check to see if the calipers working or not?
Thanks for any help,
Sam.

Sam these calipers are awful and can seize inside but generally fluid will come out but depends on what is wrong with it.If you unscrew the rubber hose off the caliper and put your foot on the brake pedal does alot of fluid come out the hose or could the rubber hose be the problem.You may need to have the calipers overhauled and also check the threaded bolt inside that winds the piston in and out to see if it has rusted and any broken threads as this is sometimes an issue.

NOHURY · 20-01-2010, 09:41 PM

I've just come back inside from pulling the caliper off again. There seems to be enough fluid coming out the rubber hose. There doesn't seem to be any rust or broken bits but a trained eye might see something else. I will take it to a shop tomorrow and see what they think. I'll let you know.

**FLOORED** · 21-01-2010, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NOHURY

I've just come back inside from pulling the caliper off again. There seems to be enough fluid coming out the rubber hose. There doesn't seem to be any rust or broken bits but a trained eye might see something else. I will take it to a shop tomorrow and see what they think. I'll let you know.

No worries and these are a bit of a pain to overhaul as well but a brake specialist should know.

NOHURY · 11-02-2010, 07:34 PM

Hey guys, just thought I'd give you an update on the brakes.
It's fixed now, but not without a few dramas.
Ok, so I was visiting a friend at the panel shop I deal with and he asked "how's the car going", so I told him about the brake caliper. He say's to me, "go in to next door and see the old guy in there because he knows a lot about these brakes." I went and spoke to the old bloke and he said "bring it in to me and I will take it in to the shop I used to deal with", so I went home took it off and brang it in for him. A couple of days later I get a phone call saying "I've got your caliper here and it's all fixed." So I asked "what was wrong with it?" in which I got a reply "they didn't tell me, all I know is they fixed it." I thought to myself it's easy for someone to give it a clean and hand it back to you. When I got to my friends shop I looked at it and yeah, it was all nice and clean. I said to my friend "there's one way of finding out if it's fixed or not and thats by bolting it on and going for a cruise."
This is where it gets interesting. I got home all excited thinking I get to go for a drive because I haven't driven it for a while, so I bolted it on. I got my wife out into the garage to help me bleed the brakes and all seemed good. Woohoo. I jumped in and had brakes. I started it up and had brakes. I reversed out of the garage and had brakes. I drove 20 meters down the road and had brakes, so I started going down the hill and what the heck, "stop you piece of crap" I yell. All of a sudden the brake pedal fails and goes to the floor. Oh crap I thought, lucky I wasn't going any faster than I was. So I started thing what has gone wrong with it now? I did a U turn and started driving back up the hill and noticed a trail of wet stuff following the car. "What is that stuff?" I thought. Brake fluid! I started thinking I had left something undone. I got home jacked it back up to have a look. I got my wife to press the brakes and there's fluid coming out where the hand brake assembly goes in. Hmmmm, I thought. So I took the caliper off again and next day took it back to the old guy. He took it in to his guys (a big brake shop) and a day later he gives me a call to pick it up. I asked "what was wrong this time?", and his reply was "they forgot to put a seal in, sorry about that."
Sorry about that!!!!!!! What would of happened if I had smashed the car or hit a person walking across the road. Sorry about that!
Now, I'm a licenced plumber and sometimes I wonder if what I do requires a licence. It's not rocket science. The gas part I can see because if I do something wrong and something blows up there's trouble. I'm held accountable. I always tell people if you feel competent enough to do it yourself, go right ahead. I took my caliper off myself, but thought, no I want this fixed properly because I want it to stop when I ask it to stop. Why is it that any trained monkey can be working on brakes when it is such an important part? All I know is that if there was an accident all that would have been said is that "you installed it wrong." Looking though some of your posts I can see that you guys know what your talking about, but I still have'nt even met these guys that done my brakes. I'm wondering if your trade should be a licenced trade as it would make someone accountable for stuff ups like this.
My way of thinking is this brake kit would come with seals and clips. When installing them into the caliper you would be putting the seals in, and then when you have someting left over, I would be thinking, hmmm, where does this go, not arggghhh spares!
Anyway, thats enough from me. Hope it's not to much to read. lol.
Have a good day, Sam

**FLOORED** · 12-02-2010, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NOHURY

Hey guys, just thought I'd give you an update on the brakes.
It's fixed now, but not without a few dramas.
Ok, so I was visiting a friend at the panel shop I deal with and he asked "how's the car going", so I told him about the brake caliper. He say's to me, "go in to next door and see the old guy in there because he knows a lot about these brakes." I went and spoke to the old bloke and he said "bring it in to me and I will take it in to the shop I used to deal with", so I went home took it off and brang it in for him. A couple of days later I get a phone call saying "I've got your caliper here and it's all fixed." So I asked "what was wrong with it?" in which I got a reply "they didn't tell me, all I know is they fixed it." I thought to myself it's easy for someone to give it a clean and hand it back to you. When I got to my friends shop I looked at it and yeah, it was all nice and clean. I said to my friend "there's one way of finding out if it's fixed or not and thats by bolting it on and going for a cruise."
This is where it gets interesting. I got home all excited thinking I get to go for a drive because I haven't driven it for a while, so I bolted it on. I got my wife out into the garage to help me bleed the brakes and all seemed good. Woohoo. I jumped in and had brakes. I started it up and had brakes. I reversed out of the garage and had brakes. I drove 20 meters down the road and had brakes, so I started going down the hill and what the heck, "stop you piece of crap" I yell. All of a sudden the brake pedal fails and goes to the floor. Oh crap I thought, lucky I wasn't going any faster than I was. So I started thing what has gone wrong with it now? I did a U turn and started driving back up the hill and noticed a trail of wet stuff following the car. "What is that stuff?" I thought. Brake fluid! I started thinking I had left something undone. I got home jacked it back up to have a look. I got my wife to press the brakes and there's fluid coming out where the hand brake assembly goes in. Hmmmm, I thought. So I took the caliper off again and next day took it back to the old guy. He took it in to his guys (a big brake shop) and a day later he gives me a call to pick it up. I asked "what was wrong this time?", and his reply was "they forgot to put a seal in, sorry about that."
Sorry about that!!!!!!! What would of happened if I had smashed the car or hit a person walking across the road. Sorry about that!
Now, I'm a licenced plumber and sometimes I wonder if what I do requires a licence. It's not rocket science. The gas part I can see because if I do something wrong and something blows up there's trouble. I'm held accountable. I always tell people if you feel competent enough to do it yourself, go right ahead. I took my caliper off myself, but thought, no I want this fixed properly because I want it to stop when I ask it to stop. Why is it that any trained monkey can be working on brakes when it is such an important part? All I know is that if there was an accident all that would have been said is that "you installed it wrong." Looking though some of your posts I can see that you guys know what your talking about, but I still have'nt even met these guys that done my brakes. I'm wondering if your trade should be a licenced trade as it would make someone accountable for stuff ups like this.
My way of thinking is this brake kit would come with seals and clips. When installing them into the caliper you would be putting the seals in, and then when you have someting left over, I would be thinking, hmmm, where does this go, not arggghhh spares!
Anyway, thats enough from me. Hope it's not to much to read. lol.
Have a good day, Sam

Sam i know how you feel mate i knew a guy who new an older guy who was friends with this younger guy that lived around the corner from another guy and i never met him either.

Sorry mate i couldn't help myself there and people do need to be accountable for there actions even when sometimes it is a simple thing like forgetting to put a seal in as there could of been a terrible outcome from this.In the end i am glad you have your car fixed now and you can drive it.