Burning brakes!! please help :(

[saxo-clarence]

Hello!
Does anyone have any advice on this one? Im at the end of my tether with my beloved little car!
I've got a 1.1 east coast (fab little thing). I recently paid out £400 to have all the brakes redone. New pads/discs/bleeding etc etc, lovely.
The next day after a few miles out and about I found his front drivers side brakes really smelling of burning. So back up the garage he goes!
After a few days my local garage hands him over, says they don't know what was causing it but they put a new master cylinder in (apparently) and now it's fine.
He's been running lovely for a couple of weeks but yesterday, im out and about and he suddenly starts really pulling and losing speed. Got to a set of lights and the smell of his brakes was alarming! Managed to limp him into a bus stop (by now hes lost all power completely). His brakes on both side stink and his discs are literally blue from the heat. Had to be towed back to the garage.
Today the garage have said they cant find anything wrong and that they don't seem to be sticking at all!!
They don't seem to have any idea what is causing it, but its only since the new brakes were fitted that this is happening!!
Does anyone have idea what's going on? I don't fancy finding myself on a motorway or country lane and this happening again!
Sorry its such a long post

Nikki :)

[EclipseVTS]

hi, have you tried to adjust the brake servo's tip? It is just behind the brake master cylinder and adjust the distance of the brake pedal (and accordingly the distance beetween disc and pads if they are too close)

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/85/dsc0211jw.jpg

[mlawlan69]

£400 for brakes sounds like they saw you coming a mile away Jesus christ., and then not only that but they don't even work. Personally id say the caliper is sticking on that's the problem, either way get it down there first thing Monday and tell them you expect it fixing or you will be getting trading standards involved.

[Prickle]

As above.

£400!

[saxo-clarence]

The £400 issue horrified me too but I paid it as I was pretty much having to put my foot straight through the footwell and stop like Fred flinstone.
I just can't figure why his brakes are fine one minute and the next they decide to stick on? And then go back to fine?
My family have been using this garage for 12 years now and they've always been great but I'm starting to wonder if I should get a second opinion :/

[Bedford126]

Next time you fancy your brakes doing come to me and ill do them on Monday morning and use the money to have the rest of the week off.

As said take it back tell them that £400 is unjustified and you want them sorting as they were the last to touch them.

Did you "bed" the breaks in once they were fitted or just drive as normal?

[saxo-clarence]

I've dug out the receipt :)
1 rear brake shoe
2 rear brake cylinders
2 front brake discs
Front brake pads
Front calipers
Labour and bleed
Came to £413 - should I be kicking myself? :/
Was very careful to bed them in at first, although I didn't get much of a chance as the first time I took him out was the day after thework was done and the problem was almost instant!

[Alfie09]

Could be a collapsed flexi house not allowing fluid back and so the piston is pushed out and pads on the disk

[SnakeVTR]

sounds like the pistons on the caliper sticking as if they have fitted a new Brake master cylinder then you can confidently rule that out, you put front calipers on your list??? Did they change your front calipers? are they shiney and new? this would explain the high bill aswell, il be keeping my eye on this one :wacko:

[AlexB]

Im gonna throw in the vaccume line to the servo not working and pulling the mc back causing the sticking

[Sophia_Bush]

tonto is down your way somewhere I think he is pretty honest and decent maybe give him a shout see if he is willing to help out?

[saxo-clarence]

Thankyou for the advice so far, im cracking out a list of questions from this tomorrow and see what they say.
Definitely had shiney new calipers on him, could tell as his old ones were looking very old. However whether the new master cylinder is entirely true im not sure, I've got no receipt for that. Its what they claim to have done when I took him back the first time they stuck...
Im going to interrogate them tomorrow morning, if they still don't have a clue I'll have to find someone trustworthy for a second opinion :(
I will keep you updated in case this spirals out of control... I might need a bit more advice!!
Nikki

[stevo67]

I've dug out the receipt :)
1 rear brake shoe
2 rear brake cylinders
2 front brake discs
Front brake pads
Front calipers
Labour and bleed
Came to £413 - should I be kicking myself? :/
Was very careful to bed them in at first, although I didn't get much of a chance as the first time I took him out was the day after thework was done and the problem was almost instant!

Why did the garage change the calipers?The other things I can understand.:y:

[MartinObviously]

New calipers? but no new hoses?

What kind of garage is this!?

It's probably collapsed hoses.

[saxo-clarence]

Hmmm stumped me there. We originally his brakes were pretty pathetic. So I got them to have a look at them. They said they were in bit of a dire state and that he was leaking brake fluid. Apparently if it carried on the brakes would seize. Now to look at, the calipers and discs really did look old and were starting to rust so I can't say mechanically why they were replaced but they were rusting so I can only assume that's why?

[saxo-clarence]

Hearing a lot about hoses. Im thinking of asking them to replace the hoses. I will not be footing the bill though!!
Also, I know he's an elderly car but honestly he is so mechanically sound *touch wood* apart from this recent brake issue it's like he's brand new. It's bit of a fuss for what most people class as a 1.1 banger but this car is loved like a family pet haha.

[hillyberry2009]

Lol like a family pet never heard that one before b

[saxo-clarence]

Lol sad but true!!!