C5 conundrum and long journey ahead.

[waynedance]

Have you jacked up the car and rotated the wheels to see if they are binding or is one of the wheels getting hot?

[qprdude]

Last resort.
Try Mann Automotive in Laurenckirk if it's within your reach. He is a Landrover specialist really, but Richard Mann is a very helpful guy and a very good mechanic. You could do worse than give him a ring anyway, he might be able to help.

[boristhespie]

Et voila!

Got another mechanic. Took wheel off. Was fantastic. Saw how it all worked. Not sure I could do it but with practice yeah. Anyway the brakes were on. Having fitted new pads (and yes it was both wheels I was mistaken, the bill didn't indicate it) they had not ground away the lips from disk wear. So the lip on the disc was ripping into the new pad as was the rust on the inside centre.

[boristhespie]

Car feels fantastic driving back what with this sorted and the tracking bars tightening things up.

[myglaren]

Nice result in the nick of time.

Enjoy the holiday

[boristhespie]

Did try the Bosch garage in Laurencekirk when the head gasket blew. Cheap as chips. Relatively at £450 but got pump, timing belt full service and they needed to pressure test. In end cost £850. All other garages quoted £1500 for head gasket alone. They were great, very professional, but hard to get to and from. But stations open now I suppose.

[boristhespie]

Nice result in the nick of time.

Enjoy the holiday

Thanks I hopefully will. Dunno, always seems to be a drama just before I need the car for a long journey. Without fail and I begin to panic like a girl (no disrepect to girlies) Anyway hopefully that will be that, fingers cross. Watch for a fat bloke on Alpe D'huez during Tour.

[qprdude]

Enjoy mate, hope all goes well.
Glad it's sorted.

[Stewart(oily)]

You could always remove the offending front wheel and move the handbrake lever on the caliper to the off position, ie forwards, once you identify the lever you might even be able to release it through the holes in the wheel, Then do your big trip without using the handbrake A couple of wooden blocks to chock the wheel when parked might help.
If you can get the rubber boot off the handbrake mechanism on the rear of the caliper (assuming it is similar to Xantia/BX) you can directly lubricate the handbrake mechanism, you might even spot the damage to the handbrake cable, it is often the outer that fractures where it bends around the strut.

[boristhespie]

Thanks for that advice. The handbrake appears ok. We checked. But nice to know I can do this. Going on ferry so no handbrake would be dodgy. I've seen the result of moveable cars and lorries on shetland trips. Messy. Anyway seems ok. May have sticky caliper but for now it seems to be fine(fingers crossed). The brake pads were getting ripped up.

[boristhespie]

Well in the south of France. I have to admit I worried (as I always do) whether we'd get here. Same problem seemed to exist throughout journey. Was especially bad through France. To recap:

The car seemed to be pushing/pulling against something. As if foot was pushing on brake.

The car vibrates. Not Massively but enough to make you worry.

The wheels on driverside were hot but not scaldingly so but i never touched brake area. The otherside the wheels were cold to touch.

So where are we?

This has only begun since brake blocks were changed alongside tracking rod end. Quick deduction- it's to do with that.

The car ran much smoother after mechanic ground off worn in protruding rim on the disc which had been digging into new pads (see picture) as was some rust around centre.

My feeling. The same may have been happening to the drivers side wheel. I know there is a worn in lip as before as I can feel it but when checked it seemed to move around freely-ish. Doesn't rotate freely but will move around when pushed (I assume this is the brakes normally touching) However maybe after heating up it expands too much?

I do have a flat spot on a wheel and a tyre which has a wobble but mechanic said this wouldn't cause issues. They are on the back now I think.

So will check for lip but don't want to be taking cars brakes apart without supervision or on first day of holiday.

Any thoughts folks? I guess the pad or a sticky brake cylinder are the main concerns.

[boristhespie]

OKay so I guess I am bumping this but thought some may like to know.

Travelled to south of france. Car just wasn't right. Same juddering. Never used car much in france but morning of return trip noticed tyre wearing into edge and material below top rubber. Had no choice but to chance it so did the 7 hours to ferry. Went to garage in Locksheath morning after. They said tracking. Went to another tyre place. They said tracking. None could do it for our trip so again chanced it (Stupid I know) and did the 10 hour trip north. Got home. Worn into potmarks etc.

Took to get new tyre next day. Had tracking checked. Was way way off. So had that done.

Bearing in mind the garage that I had check things over and do the work prior to the trip said they had done the tracking and had rebalanced wheel in the days leading up the trip. I have to say this set of affairs was disappointing. I mentioned the tracking right off when I felt the car start to shudder on dual carriageway but no no they had done tracking, with lasers too, and therefore it couldnt be that. So tracking wasn't done right and brakes were not done right. Bad day at the garage methinks.

[Stickyfinger]

Sounds like they should repay you for the Tyre at least

[boristhespie]

Sorry to bump this but thought better to retain existing thoughts.

Anyway journey to Aberdeen, 55 miles odd on dual carriageway, I felt juddering and as I overtook my sister she phoned (she wasn't driving) my wife to say that she smelt something she thought was frae me.

This is at 70mph mind.

Anyway reaching carpark and getting out, the driver front wheelarch absolutely reaked of that plastic smell that the brake disks and pads exhibited before.

Had the lip filed off. Had the brake pads replaced etc. What the hell is causing this on motorways around 70mph? Coud it be a stick caliper (I did have these checked the previous time) it just is doin my nut thinking we made breakdown as we did which this first occured when our brakes disappeared.

[dnsey]

Almost certainly a sticking handbrake mechanism or cable - both are very common.
Sometimes the mechanism can seem fine when checked cold, but can still stick on a run.
Easy way to tell is to feel for slack in the initial movement of the handbrake lever ( driver's control, not the caliper lever).