simonds1
New member
- Location
- Pembrokeshire
Hey guys, I bought an 07 Golf GT TDI 140 a few months ago and it's been a fantastic car, allthough the brakes are starting to do my head in. You'll have to bare with me for the long and boring story, sorry!.....
The car had literally just been MOT'd when I bought it, and it had an advisory that the rear discs were worn. I could see that from looking at them aswell. I thought that's fine, I'll just get new ones asap. Anyway, a month or so after I bought it, I had to drive to Swansea which is about an hour's drive from where I live. When I got there, I could literally feel the heat off the front driver's side wheel when I got out of the car. It was mentally hot, all the others seemed fine. So about 5 or 6 hours later I drove home and took it really easy but it was absoluely fine on the way home for some reason? Anyway, I was pretty sure I might have cooked the discs/pads and also the fluid, and I knew the rears needed changing anyway, so I treated myself to brand new discs & pads all-round, and also bought some more brake fluid. So I took the front driver's side caliper off and took the piston out etc, expecting it to be ruined......but it all looked absolutely fine. That was a bit annoying because I was hoping it would have obviously been the problem like, but it didn't seem to be. So put it all back together, changed the discs and pads all-round and then started to bleed. We bled LOADS through on each wheel because the fluid seemed to be really shitty and full of crap. Car seemed absolutely fine after doing all this, so we just assumed the shitty fluid might have been the problem.....happy days. Had to go to Carmarthen the other day though, which is about a 30min drive from here, and it happened again. Front driver's side wheel was hot as hell. Managed to drive home again a few hours later, taking it really easy. I then borrowed the laser temperature gun from work and kept it in my boot so I could start checking my disc temps after I'd been driving. Fronts were mostly within a few degrees of each other, but the rears were always about TWICE as hot as the fronts?!! That isn't right surely?! I think maybe my handbrake is dragging a bit. Great, something else to sort out!! So the day after this, it was pretty obvious that the front driver's side caliper was stuck on. My drive to work is only 2 miles so I was making it there and back and not noticing it too much, but I had to go somewhere after work one night and even though it was only an extra 5 minutes of driving, my front disc temps were as follows......
Passenger side.....
Driver's side.....
Yeah so that's pretty ridiculous and definitely not right. So I drove home and took the driver's side caliper off to have a look. It was not a pretty sight.....
The seal was on properly by the way, it's just peeled back like that for the benefit of the photo. So I ordered a new piston and seal kit from Big Red, as the piston was a bit pitted now.....
My mates that were helping me change my discs & pads when I initially looked at the piston (when it was all fine) put copper grease on the piston when they were putting it back in. I told them I'd read online that copper grease doesn't agree with rubber and they told me I read way too much shit on the internet and it would be fine. But I'm guessing it's that copper grease that did this to my seal.....
.....and that's what lead to shit getting in and causing it to horribly rust etc like the above picture, and then eventually jam on. So, put the new piston on yesterday and it is not jamming on anymore but I do still think it's binding. I actually reckon ALL of the wheels are possibly binding a bit. As a comparison - I do the 10 minute drive to my parent's house and my fronts are about 60 degrees (driver's side) and 40 degrees (passenger side) and the rears are both about 80 or 90 degrees......and my sister who's got a mk6 golf and came down from Bristol lastnight (2.5 hour drive) - every single one of her discs was around 27 degrees. I just don't get it, what the f*** is going in?!
A) Why are my brakes so hot in general?!
B) Why is the driver's side caliper that I have just put a brand-spanking new piston in, STILL hotter than the passenger side?
C) Why are my rears always hotter than my fronts?!
D) What do I try next?! Trying to avoid putting it into a garage because of cost, but I think I'm going to have to :frown:
The car had literally just been MOT'd when I bought it, and it had an advisory that the rear discs were worn. I could see that from looking at them aswell. I thought that's fine, I'll just get new ones asap. Anyway, a month or so after I bought it, I had to drive to Swansea which is about an hour's drive from where I live. When I got there, I could literally feel the heat off the front driver's side wheel when I got out of the car. It was mentally hot, all the others seemed fine. So about 5 or 6 hours later I drove home and took it really easy but it was absoluely fine on the way home for some reason? Anyway, I was pretty sure I might have cooked the discs/pads and also the fluid, and I knew the rears needed changing anyway, so I treated myself to brand new discs & pads all-round, and also bought some more brake fluid. So I took the front driver's side caliper off and took the piston out etc, expecting it to be ruined......but it all looked absolutely fine. That was a bit annoying because I was hoping it would have obviously been the problem like, but it didn't seem to be. So put it all back together, changed the discs and pads all-round and then started to bleed. We bled LOADS through on each wheel because the fluid seemed to be really shitty and full of crap. Car seemed absolutely fine after doing all this, so we just assumed the shitty fluid might have been the problem.....happy days. Had to go to Carmarthen the other day though, which is about a 30min drive from here, and it happened again. Front driver's side wheel was hot as hell. Managed to drive home again a few hours later, taking it really easy. I then borrowed the laser temperature gun from work and kept it in my boot so I could start checking my disc temps after I'd been driving. Fronts were mostly within a few degrees of each other, but the rears were always about TWICE as hot as the fronts?!! That isn't right surely?! I think maybe my handbrake is dragging a bit. Great, something else to sort out!! So the day after this, it was pretty obvious that the front driver's side caliper was stuck on. My drive to work is only 2 miles so I was making it there and back and not noticing it too much, but I had to go somewhere after work one night and even though it was only an extra 5 minutes of driving, my front disc temps were as follows......
Passenger side.....
Driver's side.....
Yeah so that's pretty ridiculous and definitely not right. So I drove home and took the driver's side caliper off to have a look. It was not a pretty sight.....
The seal was on properly by the way, it's just peeled back like that for the benefit of the photo. So I ordered a new piston and seal kit from Big Red, as the piston was a bit pitted now.....
My mates that were helping me change my discs & pads when I initially looked at the piston (when it was all fine) put copper grease on the piston when they were putting it back in. I told them I'd read online that copper grease doesn't agree with rubber and they told me I read way too much shit on the internet and it would be fine. But I'm guessing it's that copper grease that did this to my seal.....
.....and that's what lead to shit getting in and causing it to horribly rust etc like the above picture, and then eventually jam on. So, put the new piston on yesterday and it is not jamming on anymore but I do still think it's binding. I actually reckon ALL of the wheels are possibly binding a bit. As a comparison - I do the 10 minute drive to my parent's house and my fronts are about 60 degrees (driver's side) and 40 degrees (passenger side) and the rears are both about 80 or 90 degrees......and my sister who's got a mk6 golf and came down from Bristol lastnight (2.5 hour drive) - every single one of her discs was around 27 degrees. I just don't get it, what the f*** is going in?!
A) Why are my brakes so hot in general?!
B) Why is the driver's side caliper that I have just put a brand-spanking new piston in, STILL hotter than the passenger side?
C) Why are my rears always hotter than my fronts?!
D) What do I try next?! Trying to avoid putting it into a garage because of cost, but I think I'm going to have to :frown: