Caliper failure

[Meda]

Hi everyone,

I am just after some advice/know if anyone had this happen to them.

My caliper failed (van started making a mild juddering noise and right tyre pressure light came on just before the judder) i had to drive maybe ~800m at low speed to pull over, and when i got out the LEFT side of the car was smoking, the wheel was very hot incl tyre, some some parts literally red.

Recovered it to a local garage who said the caliper, brake pads, break discs need replacing plus new break fluid. however they are unable to undo the bolts as they are basically welded in so they are still looking into that.

Has anyone had this happen before? I’ve had many old jeeps before and changed quite a few calipers, but never had this much damage, and the caliper fail to this level!

happy to let the local garage sort it but if it needs more specialised work in addition to the above recommendations, should i take the hit and recover it to a specialist VW garage or is this work pretty straightforward for any garage?

Approx 90k miles 2016, vw serviced

Thanks so much.

 

[Dellmassive]

Hi everyone,

I am just after some advice/know if anyone had this happen to them.

My caliper failed (van started making a mild juddering noise and right tyre pressure light came on just before the judder) i had to drive maybe ~800m at low speed to pull over, and when i got out the LEFT side of the car was smoking, the wheel was very hot incl tyre, some some parts literally red.

Recovered it to a local garage who said the caliper, brake pads, break discs need replacing plus new break fluid. however they are unable to undo the bolts as they are basically welded in so they are still looking into that.

Has anyone had this happen before? I’ve had many old jeeps before and changed quite a few calipers, but never had this much damage, and the caliper fail to this level!

happy to let the local garage sort it but if it needs more specialised work in addition to the above recommendations, should i take the hit and recover it to a specialist VW garage or is this work pretty straightforward for any garage?

Approx 90k miles 2016, vw serviced

Thanks so much.

Not seen this before.

But the vans 10yrs old, so id say its just general maintenance.

Id says get the axel set both replaced.... Ie both rear calipers, discs, pads replaced.

Plus new fluid.

Keep us posted.

 

[manfrotto]

The caliper carrier bolts are torqued up much higher than you would normally expect, so they may not be "welded" in, just very tight.

For a VW T6, the front brake caliper guide pin bolts require 30 Nm, while the larger carrier bolts are tightened to 180 Nm. For rear brakes, guide pins are typically 35 Nm and carrier bolts are 165 Nm. Always replace caliper mounting bolts, as they are often considered stretch bolts.

 

[B19DRG]

Depending on what calipers you have I do have a pair of front calipers I took of my van when I replaced for big brake kit , come and take them away if you want them , I am in Exeter so not to far away from you ...

 

[Vanderlust]

We had the same happen to us a couple of years ago stranding us in Italy for a week til a garage could fit replacement Caliper and pads flexi hose etc. Like you no warning till the tpms warning flashed up . Stopped straight away and wheel cooked, never seen a stuck caliper so hot took 3 hours to cool down (I know as it took that long for recovery to turn up). Our van always serviced ahead of schedule but realised, unlike the old days when every service the brakes were stripped out , pins sliders carriers all cleaned , touch of high temp grease and reassembled. Now unless you need new pads or discs vw don’t take the wheels off making it more likely for this to happen. When we got home replaced and upgraded all the brake components, ditched vw for servicing now go to an independent vw specialist for all the complicated stuff and give the brakes an annual service myself.

 

[Skyliner33]

We had the same happen to us a couple of years ago stranding us in Italy for a week til a garage could fit replacement Caliper and pads flexi hose etc. Like you no warning till the tpms warning flashed up . Stopped straight away and wheel cooked, never seen a stuck caliper so hot took 3 hours to cool down (I know as it took that long for recovery to turn up). Our van always serviced ahead of schedule but realised, unlike the old days when every service the brakes were stripped out , pins sliders carriers all cleaned , touch of high temp grease and reassembled. Now unless you need new pads or discs vw don’t take the wheels off making it more likely for this to happen. When we got home replaced and upgraded all the brake components, ditched vw for servicing now go to an independent vw specialist for all the complicated stuff and give the brakes an annual service myself.

I remember passing a Merc car on the motorway. The rear wheel arch was glowing red hot.

 

[DXX]

I just rebuilt the front twin pot OEM ATE calipers on my 2016, 77K mile van.
I had one binding offside caliper, original pads were at 5mm and the original 340mm discs could have gone another set of pads at the same wear rate.
10 years is definitely enough time between a caliper overhaul.
Cause of the binding caliper was a slightly displaced dust seal which caused a small spot of rust on the piston.
I rebuilt the calipers with a pattern part kit from Autodoc, very easy job, the hardest part being the involvement from Evri.
The OEM ATE 340mm calipers are well made, the pistons are coated so if the dust seal had remained intact they may have lasted 15 years without issues.
Probably better than the Autofren parts I fitted.
Despite the disc running hot it definitely wasn’t ever glowing, zero runout when checked with a DTI.
Fitted a pair of Brembos discs as had them lying about my workshop taking up space.
The M16 caliper carrier bolts are 180nm PLUS 45 degrees. Easily done with the wheel at full lock to allow tools to clear the arches.
Best have a set in stock as there are quite a few reasons to remove them and they should never be re-used.