MK1 1.8 auto 1995.
The car has been laid up for at least 8 months and just started driving it
near side rear caliper and disc is hot after driving, had the wheel off, the handbrake goes on and off ok. I levered it on and of, it works quite well.It has no effect on the sticking so it must be the caliper.
I will order a caliper rebuild kit but wanted some opinions on quality of kits out there and if the pistons are usually ok so just a seal kit or do you find the pistons are always corroded? I would normally strip it to look first but if I want to drive it at the weekend I’ll need to buy the bits asap.
Thanks, I’ll begin to strip it tomorrow, then I can see if the slide pins are sliding or not.
I was reading about some allen key adjustment for the handbrake, could someone have cranked that up too much?
A 4mm Allen key is required to slacken off or take up slack on the rear caliper piston. The adjuster is situated behind the caliper and you need to remove a cover bolt first to access it then you can insert your Allen key. Back off the handbrake cable first before working on the rears, there’s an adjuster at the handbrake lever.
Still going well or more importantly stopping well.
It’s worth checking, cleaning and lubing your calipers/pistons annually as they are prone to sticking if not used.
As MickAP says check the slider pins. Give them a good clean with wire wool and lub them up DO NOT use cooper slip on them.
Good luck!
To make sure that you don’t have sticking brake issues when leaving the car for a while, leave it in first gear with the hand brake off. If it is outside your garage, put a wheel chock on to make sure it doesn’t roll. It will not stop calipers from sticking, but if they are well lubricated, they would be ok, but it does prevent the rear hand brake from keeping the pads in contact with the disc.
