Board logo

Volvo back brake issue
Mr Whippy - 26/10/15 at 08:33 AM

Hi,

My S60 has developed an unusual issue with one of the back brakes. It’s getting quite hot, to the point where I’m putting the hose on it to stop the bearings being cooked.

I’ve replaced the calliper (my first thoughts), new disk, new handbrake shoes, new hose and totally cleaned the brake carriers and greased all the normal surfaces. Handbrake is backed right off and I can turn the wheel with one finger and it’s totally quiet so the wheel bearing is ok.

So yip its very annoying (and expensive) that the brake still gets hot, obviously I have not fixed the fault. All the other brakes are running fine and I have no errors on the dash or my code reader.

Any ideas what to do next? When I get home I’m going to run the car with the back wheels in the air to see if it drags with the engine on.

Cheers

[Edited on 26/10/15 by Mr Whippy]

joneh - 26/10/15 at 09:50 AM

A quick look on Google shows others with similar issues. One guy reports the wheel bearings were toast and replacing them sorted it. No other bearing related symptoms though...

wheel bearing issue

Mr Whippy - 26/10/15 at 11:54 AM

hmm thanks that's very interesting reading, it does sound just like mine and he said there was no extra noise from the bearings which is odd.

I did tank it home last friday at 100+ and wow was the disk as hot as hell hence the hose and I was very supprised just how much water was needed to cool it down if it was just the disk plus when I took the pads of I was supprised to see they didn't look remotely overheated. Could it really be a wheell bearing then??? maybe

[Edited on 26/10/15 by Mr Whippy]

Mr Whippy - 26/10/15 at 12:20 PM

I think I'll take the calliper off and stick a bit of wood between the pads then take it for a short drive down the road, if it still gets hot then it must be the bearing

Mr Whippy - 27/10/15 at 10:32 AM

We’ll done a fair bit of investigation yesterday to identify exactly what is getting hot. Basically it’s the calliper that is not letting go once pressure has been applied and it is dragging.

This is an new calliper and I’m thinking that the fluid is not able to return for some reason. Any idea’s in an ABS system where this could be happening??

big_wasa - 27/10/15 at 01:24 PM

I've had the above with two cars. One was a master cylinder and the other was an internally split hose. ( a little flap acting as a one way valve ).

sdh2903 - 27/10/15 at 01:41 PM

As wasa says I've had the issue with the hose breaking down. But you say you've already replaced it?

ian locostzx9rc2 - 27/10/15 at 03:57 PM

Collapse brake hose would be favourite .

ken555 - 27/10/15 at 04:52 PM

maybe a bit of dirt/flake of rust acting as a one way valve as it's stuck at a join.

Take the hose off caliper, and see if you can push fluid both ways to/from master cylinder, a big syringe should do it.
Then if it's a problem, take the fexi off and see if the solid pipe is the problem, and so on.

rusty nuts - 27/10/15 at 06:30 PM

Drive the car , get the brakes to play up , then release the bleed nipple on the offending calliper. That will at least tell you if the fault is the calliper or pressure not being released.

Mr Whippy - 28/10/15 at 06:38 AM

quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
Drive the car , get the brakes to play up , then release the bleed nipple on the offending calliper. That will at least tell you if the fault is the calliper or pressure not being released.


that is a good idea.

I have a new calliper and hose on now on that side so I'm thinking it must be further upstream. I don't know much about how the ABS systems work but that its just one wheel makes me think it's not the master cyclinder as they are usually for two wheels each port so I'd expect to have another wheel doing the same. I'm thinking I should pressure flush the whole system with the ignition on (incase valves open and shut with the ignition) incase it is a bit of dirt jamming something. Yeah long shot in the dark otherwise I'm going to have to start replacing other more expensive bits.

britishtrident - 28/10/15 at 11:37 AM

Start upstream --- split circuit brake hydraulics sometimes appear to break the basic laws of fluid mechanics so I would start by trying to release any trapped pressure at the master cylinder outlet.

MikeRJ - 28/10/15 at 12:51 PM

Interesting, a friend has the same fault on his V70. The brake was binding quite badly (smoking pads!), and since it all looked quite tired anyway he fitted new calipers, pads, discs, handbrake shoes and flexible hoses to both sides but it's still binding on the same side. Google suggests this is a common problem on Volvos but no single underlying cause seems to be shown.

hizzi - 28/10/15 at 04:25 PM

there was a brake servo recall on some volvos, my old mans v50 was back twice for a brake recall