wydraz

The car had me concerned this evening, it ran faultlessly all day but when I got home I smelled the dreaded burning brakes/clutch smell.....

I put it in the garage, then noticed the rear passenger side brake disc was very hot, almost too hot to touch and that seemed to be where the smell was originating from.

Sticky caliper?

Ideas please?

loftust

Sticky caliper almost a cert. I freed mine by lifting the dust seal, spraying some grease around the sides, then pushed the piston back in with a G clamp. I did this several times and have no dragging brakes now.

When discs/pads are nearing the end of their life, calipers are more prone to seizing, as the piston has to extend further, so you may want to check them too.

s2konroids

You need to fell the alloy wheel if thats hot then its a seized caliper.

When cleaning the piston etc you usually find the problem will reaccur down the lines.

Si2k

You shouldn't use a G clamp on the rears.

Reconditioned calipers are cheap enough anyway

Bundle of Mayhem

I also have a strange burning smell but calipers have been checked and aren't sticking and it had a service a week ago and nothing reported.

Any suggestions?

m1bjr

Don't rely on the garage... my local VAG dealer sent my A3 back from a full major - about two weeks later I had metal/metal on one rear and shagged a disk.
Incompetant twats even argued it was not their faut and would not pay out.

Only similar smell is clutch. What mileage is the car?

wydraz

It isnt the clutch, the smell was defo coming from the wheel.

Nottm_S2

Sticky calipers are a common on these cars, i've just done mine.

It's just a case of stripping down the rear brakes and cleaning, it was for me anyway, there and two sliders for the front pad and a piston for the rear one.

Remove the pads
Press the brake pedal so the piston is extended
Clean the piston
Wind piston back in
Grease the two sliders (you can remove these from the cast case)
Rebuild it all

i'm on my 3rd set of rear discs now. daily driver with mainly dorris lightfoot driving

Bundle of Mayhem

If this question is to me - it's 33k on the clock. They did advise new pads etc in 3000 which leads me to my next question as other half will do these for me - which ones to go for?

m1bjr

You can see yourself if you need new pads.
Honda dealers are notorious for telling EVERYONE they need pads and discs, it's an easy hit.

Get a torch and look through the wheel spokes down onto where the pads contact the disk, you can clearly see the backing metal and the small step, then the pad material up against the disk.

The change limit is a little under 2mm thick of pad.
I still have originals on my 34k car and have about 5mm left.
Its impossible to tell how many miles they will last, but I drive pretty darned hard and so theres a guide.

Brands?
The Honda brake oem is superb so why change unless you want to stop even quicker (trackdays?)
And then its something like Ferodo DS2500 pads, good but very expensive.

Steve.