This morning I changed the pads on the front of the Disco. I'd put on a pair of rubber gloves so that I don't get covered in brake dust. Anyway, a couple of curve balls were thrown at me that I thought I'd share on here:

1) One of the wheel nuts on each of the front wheels had a concave wheel nut cover - which normally implies a lock nut. I don't have any lock nut keys and after a week of procrastinating I decided to see what happens. After whacking a 27mm impact socket on them, as it is a very tight fit, I could undo these wheel nuts! What a revelation and a relief but what was with the depression in the wheel nut covers then?

Well, in order to separate the socket from the wheel nut I had to put a screwdriver through the socket and belt the nut loose. (I know a screw driver wasn't the best but it was readily available and I was planning on replacing several of the wheel nuts with new ones). So my guess is everyone who has serviced the car before me has done something similar and it creates a depression which looks for all intensive purposes as a lock nut.

2) I replaced the pads and put the wheels back on including replacing 5 wheel nuts with new ones (the old covers were damaged/slightly twisted/scratched). Interestingly the 27mm socket fits easily on the new wheel nuts and covers. After a short test drive I go for a 15 minute drive, park the car, get what I needed and come back to the car. I notice fluid running down the outside of the both front tyres!!

My immediate thought is I've stuffed something with replacing the pads and I have brake fluid leaks on both wheels but how?? I check the fluid reservoir and it looks OK. I smell the fluid on the wheels and it doesn't have an odour but is oily. Brake pedal pumps hard. I also think that it shouldn't be running down the outside of the wheel unless it was something major which would then be obvious.

As I drive home some what cautiously I'm thinking what could be causing it. I pull into the drive way and have a closer look before taking the wheels off. Lo and behold 3 of the new wheel nuts had a thin protective oil/grease coating and in the hot weather today it became more fluid and the centrifugal force moved the oil/grease to the tyre tread making it appear as though the brakes were leaking. On closer inspection the oil/grease streaks run from the new wheel nuts only. (The other 2 new wheel nuts appear that they weren't coated in that thin film of oil).

Prior to putting the gloves on I had opened one of the new wheel nut packets. This wheel nut was dry. For most of the other new wheel nuts I had gloves on and wasn't able to tell if any were slippery. The only other new wheel nut I touched without gloves was oily which at the time I thought was interesting when the others were 'dry'.

Anyway, I'll know what to watch out for if there is a next time.

Mike