The rear brakes on my ND 2.0 are sticking overnight after driving in the wet. My recent MOT had an advisory around rear disc rust, although there is plenty of disc remaining.
I currently drive 10k miles/year, but my driving style means I typically use my brakes very little on the daily commute and only give them a decent workout at the weekend. However, I’ll now commute by train, so it’ll have very little use during the week, and I’m worried they might seize up completely.
What confuses me is that when I’m parking up in the drive I don’t use my brakes at all, I just use clutch control the entire time and leave it in gear with no handbrake engaged. I don’t understand how the brakes are seizing when they’re not being applied the whole time I’m parking up?
Unfortunately it is one of those cases where conserving does not work in your favour.
I guess this car has spoked alloys that are quite porous to any rain, allowing it to get onto the discs and pads.
The rears do not clear rust off the discs anything like as efficiently as the front so all things being equal will suffer more in this situation.
The solution is to use the brakes more which probably won’t suit you and would not suit me either. Why use them when you don’t need them and drive sensibly with the gearbox.
I have resorted to placing fertiliser bags against wheels with a weight holding the bag in place on top of the tyre and another holding it against the tyre to minimise water ingress and stop this type of problem.
Surprised the brakes have seized at the rear when handbrake not in use but it must be because water is getting between the pads and disc and creating a corrosion adhesive.
When safe to do so, a tip I was told of many years back ( and I’ve owned 2 x 5’s for 15 years, still do, same cars) was to apply the hand brake against the throttle on and off for a few hundred yards and get the rear discs as bit smelly hot…now and then.
Remember, the 5 is lightweight, and TBH rear discs do not have a lot to do…around 20-odd % of the retardation work. In short…they are really a bit overkill but drums would look grim as well. They are designed to be worked…hard…but rarely do. Used to run a tuned 200 BHP Capri Injection which did fine with rear drums…but with modded Tarox front rotors.
Result?
My evidence lies in historic fact.
I only replaced our 2002 Sport’s rear discs & calipers 2 years back after 14 years & 96,000 miles. That car gets a good Italian Service every other week
My 146,000 miles '93 Mk1 only got new rotors and calipers all round as part of a chassis rebuild 6 months ago. That one gets a good Italian every time I drive it.
Both these cars were daily work cars in the worst and best of Scottish winters.
Conclusion? Not a lot to lose by giving them a darn good seeing to every other week as I described. Keeps 'em fitter.
Also spent 10 years of wonderful of 2 Opel Monza 3ltrs, both of course with rear discs. They were both rear brake issue sisters…unless I tanned them silly…which was easy in a Monza.
I typed out a response to this already… I must not have hit post!
Thanks for the replies, folks.
Scottishfiver, I’d read that somewhere else too re:handbrake. I’ll definitely give that a try.
bainbridge, as of next month this will no longer be a daily driver, more like once or twice a week, so it’s more of a concern now as it might be sitting long enough to get pretty badly stuck.
Don’t use the handbrake when parked up - just leave it in 4th/5th gear. I’ve been in this habit with my '5s for years, for exactly this reason. Obviously discretion advised regarding camber.
I must not have hit post!