REAR BRAKES SEIZED

[dylanj]

Hi all ,
i was stopped at a set of lights this morning on a main road , when i went to take off it felt as though i had the handbrake/ brakes lightly applied and the car was fighting to get moving . i got about 300m and stopped at the next set of lights straight away i could smell burning rubber and i had a fair bit of smoke coming from the rear end . i got around the corner and pulled over and had a look and the rear brake pads were well and truley smoking . i jumped back in and tried to take off and she wouldn't budge . I left it and walked the rest of the way .

i came back an hour or so later jumped in and it pulled away like nothing happened .i made it all the way home without a hint of it reoccurring ..

so my question is what is likely to have made them seize and what should i be checking to make sure it doesnt happen again ...

thanks in advance to any replies
cheers

[clubagreenie]

It may be that the inside of the hose has deteriorated and a piece ha lodged into the orifice in the caliper. Sitting there may have allowed the pressure to bleed back and the debris dropped out. Had similar happen in a RRC but at 110k's on the motorway.

[dylanj]

Thanks mate . Hopefully that's all it was .

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Are your pads worn down? Sometimes rust and crud on the pistons can prevent them returning into the cylinders. (Its more frequent that you can't get them back in to fit new pads.)

IMHO its a problem of not having boots on the pistons, but thats a Land Rover ommission. :mad:

[justinc]

collapsed / internally delaminated rear brake flex hose is my guess too. if you were to crack each of the rear caliper bleeders and this releases the brakes then yes, that is it.

jc

[dylanj]

hey fellas

The pads are only about 5 months old so they should still be decent .

it happened again today just as i was coming into my street so luckily i got home . I think i mite just replace with new flex hose and hopefully that'l sort the issue
How hard of a job is it to reaplace the hose .i wouldnt mind doing it myself so if you guys have any tips or tricks for the job would be greatly appreciated .

cheers

[clubagreenie]

You ideally need to check out the calipers and pull the pistons and replace the seals, the crap could still be inside the piston space (which since it happened again it is) and clean out. You really need to do this on all callipers and replace all hoses, suggest using braided teflon hose as it won't happen again.

[dylanj]

Thanks for the info mate . il grab a seal kit when i get the hoses .do you recon it would be worth rebuilding with new pistons aswell while i have them off .. should i do the front end aswell even if the problem was only in the rear .
and what should i be looking for when i check the calipers ..

cheers

[clubagreenie]

The hoses tend to follow one after another. It's a big hit financially but to do all hoses and seals is a minimum, the pistons depends on their condition. Maybe try to get a set on the basis on returning them if not required. Better than getting stuck on a weekend. Pirtek can sort out ADR approved braided hoses, just make sure they aren't the rubber lined ones.

[dylanj]

Any idea on diameter of hoses I want to have everything there before I start pulling it apart. And do pirtek do fittings aswell or do I reuse old ones . What do you recon I'm looking at $$ wise for all hoses , All new seals and couple sets of new pistons (ball park figure )

Cheers

[clubagreenie]

A set of hoses is around $200-$250-they have all the fittings. If they haven't made a set for your vehicle before they need a sample. Thats the only caveat. Not sure about the $$ on the rest, haven't overhauled a caliper since 1998.

Give Mick at Pirtek Blacktown a call for hoses, Peter at RangeParts for the rest. (9896 2355)

[dylanj]

I got onto pirtek up here in newcastle today they had the hoses for a defender in there data base but couldn't be 100% sure they are the ones I needed so il have to take them in to make sure . Picking up the rest of the gear in the morning . Got a kit with 4new pistons and seals to replace all old ones for about $140 which I didn't think was to bad . Any tips on bleeding them when it come time . Would it be worth my while getting a Blake bleeder kit ?

Thanks again for your help mate really appreciate it. .

Cheers

[clubagreenie]

A bRake bleed kit makes it easier if you're on your own. What was the price on the hoses out of curiosity?

[dylanj]

I actually forgot to ask for a price when I spoke to the guy on the phone . I'm taking the hoses in on Monday so il let you know how much they are .

[dylanj]

$350 for the new hoses . Bit more then I expected but I'm happy with that.