Brake Failure! Check your brakes!

[mkpatrol]

I dont think everyone needs to be flaming the original poster so much. He has admitted to his mistake and posted up about it out of kindness to ensure that it doesn't happen to anyone else.

How about we turn this thread back in the POSITIVE direction by people posting up a list of things that should be checked whilst servicing your own vehicle.

I'm sure that many people here do things like oil changes, filter changes, coolant changes, but don't know what else they should be checking at the same time.. so could people please post up
- What things should be checked when servicing your car
- How often? (every oil change or less/more frequently?)
- HOW to do the check (ie what to look out for specifically)

As with Ozuk & Ruffy, I am a mechanic by trade (been out for nearly 8 years though).

I have a pretty strict service routine for my vehicles and they rarely if ever let me down or leave me stranded (the last time I broke down was in Torquay in 02 when the heater tap on the old MK decided to crap).

Anyway:

Every 5,000km I do a minor service, this includes:
Change: Oil & filter
Top up: Washer fluid, coolant overflow (if required).
Lube:anything with a grease nipple
door hinges and strikers
Check: All lights
Tyre pressures & condition
Brakes and brake hoses
Ball joints/tie red ends
Driveshaft play & CV boots (Commondore)
Wheel bearing play
Shocks for oil leaks and rubbers for wear/loose bolts
All underbody fluids (gearbox, diffs, transfer)
Oil leaks form drivetrain
Uni joints for wear
Look around with torch just to see if there is any other issues under there
Engine moints for cracks
All belts
Fuel system for leaks
Pressure test cooling system (I know not every body can do this but haveing worked on Falcons for years this became a habit to check the head gasket)
A good test drive before & after service (if it is not your daily driver)


Every 20,000 my vehicles get a major service which includes all of the above plus a fuel and air filters (AF only if required), spark plugs, check tune, clean the throttle body & the other fluids get changed when they get dirty or it has been a long time.

If the brake fluid or coolant is low then you have to go looking for things. In this case with the caliper piston falling out there would have been a large drop in fluid before this that would have needed topping up which is a good indicator something is wrong with the system.

I dont get these sorts of breakdowns as I keep on top of it and as a result it costs me less & keeps the wife happy because she is not stranded on the side of the road.

[mkpatrol]

For budding home mechanics: if you have floating calipers with the bolt type slider you need to service the boots/sliders when you change pads (grease them). 4WDs driven offroad will hold water in the boots and they will rust out, seizing the caliper. I've had a very similar thing happen on an EF falcon i had, although the pad wore to metal (disc didn't break), since then i regrease floating calipers each time i change pads on all my cars. Old 4wds (like my old paj) use the ungreased metal on metal sliders, which i think are superior for offroad.

thankfully cars have a lot of redundancy built into their braking system!

Are you sure....

Are you sure it wasn't the slider bars on the caliper that seized, thus only allowing the contact of one brake pad?

SM is correct in what he says. The syles of calipers that have an external slide that is not sealed generally dont seize.

Its the calipers that have a machined sleeve with a hardened pin for closer tolerances that have a habit of seizing if not looked after.

I have a tin of caliper greas & always grease the slides otherwise they are a PITA later on (anyone remember the PBR calipers on the rear of XD-E-F Falcons).

[hugz]

I dont think everyone needs to be flaming the original poster so much. He has admitted to his mistake and posted up about it out of kindness to ensure that it doesn't happen to anyone else.

How about we turn this thread back in the POSITIVE direction by people posting up a list of things that should be checked whilst servicing your own vehicle.

I'm sure that many people here do things like oil changes, filter changes, coolant changes, but don't know what else they should be checking at the same time.. so could people please post up
- What things should be checked when servicing your car
- How often? (every oil change or less/more frequently?)
- HOW to do the check (ie what to look out for specifically)

As with Ozuk & Ruffy, I am a mechanic by trade (been out for nearly 8 years though).

I have a pretty strict service routine for my vehicles and they rarely if ever let me down or leave me stranded (the last time I broke down was in Torquay in 02 when the heater tap on the old MK decided to crap).

Anyway:

Every 5,000km I do a minor service, this includes:
Change: Oil & filter
Top up: Washer fluid, coolant overflow (if required).
Lube:anything with a grease nipple
door hinges and strikers
Check: All lights
Tyre pressures & condition
Brakes and brake hoses
Ball joints/tie red ends
Driveshaft play & CV boots (Commondore)
Wheel bearing play
Shocks for oil leaks and rubbers for wear/loose bolts
All underbody fluids (gearbox, diffs, transfer)
Oil leaks form drivetrain
Uni joints for wear
Look around with torch just to see if there is any other issues under there
Engine moints for cracks
All belts
Fuel system for leaks
Pressure test cooling system (I know not every body can do this but haveing worked on Falcons for years this became a habit to check the head gasket)
A good test drive before & after service (if it is not your daily driver)


Every 20,000 my vehicles get a major service which includes all of the above plus a fuel and air filters (AF only if required), spark plugs, check tune, clean the throttle body & the other fluids get changed when they get dirty or it has been a long time.

If the brake fluid or coolant is low then you have to go looking for things. In this case with the caliper piston falling out there would have been a large drop in fluid before this that would have needed topping up which is a good indicator something is wrong with the system.

I dont get these sorts of breakdowns as I keep on top of it and as a result it costs me less & keeps the wife happy because she is not stranded on the side of the road.

Thank you! I'll print this and keep it in my car

[smccask]

coxy321 wrote:

Are you sure....

Yes

[ISUZUROVER]

For budding home mechanics: if you have floating calipers with the bolt type slider you need to service the boots/sliders when you change pads (grease them). 4WDs driven offroad will hold water in the boots and they will rust out, seizing the caliper. I've had a very similar thing happen on an EF falcon i had, although the pad wore to metal (disc didn't break), since then i regrease floating calipers each time i change pads on all my cars. Old 4wds (like my old paj) use the ungreased metal on metal sliders, which i think are superior for offroad.

thankfully cars have a lot of redundancy built into their braking system!

Are you sure....

Are you sure it wasn't the slider bars on the caliper that seized, thus only allowing the contact of one brake pad?

SM is correct in what he says. The syles of calipers that have an external slide that is not sealed generally dont seize.

Its the calipers that have a machined sleeve with a hardened pin for closer tolerances that have a habit of seizing if not looked after.

I have a tin of caliper greas & always grease the slides otherwise they are a PITA later on (anyone remember the PBR calipers on the rear of XD-E-F Falcons).

What are these 2 types of sliding caliper? Anyone have pics?

I am familiar with the fixed calipers that have pots on both sides (e.g. rangie/defender 4-pot etc).

But of the sliding calipers, I think I have only ever seen the type with the rubber boots...

[smccask]

There are two types i have seen, one with two long bolts that are greased and run through bushes. the boots hold the grease at the bolts shaft and prevent contamination. The other type has a slot in the fixed half into which slides the other half of the caliper. The sliding surfaces consist of two stainless steel inserts, there is no provision for greasing. i tried to find some pics on the web to show you the difference, but i couldn't find much

[vit94]

Thanks for the post with the pictures Mike

Every body can be a critic with hind sight on their side. But we all get complacent with different things. If not one thing it's another. It's posts like yours which prompts us to pick up our game.