Brakes... what brakes?
u You may recall our buying of three ‘cheapy’ cars during 2019 – all bought from British Car Auctions without first viewing them! Our dearest car was the Rover 75 at £500 (hammer price), the Hyundai Coupé at £425 and finally a Chrysler PT Cruiser at £250. All still work, all with MOTS, although the Hyundai is due to visit very soon.
The Rover hasn’t turned a wheel for a while as, when I last lifted the rear-end to tackle the brake shoes, my trolley jack and the jacking point decided to not like each other, and the jack won... A rust hole has developed, and within a few minutes of pulling with my fingers, a bigger hole was soon created.
I think I may send this car to CM writer, Rob Marshall, as he likes to get his welding torch out. The sill repair he conducted on the PT Cruiser (CM, Nov 2019 issue) was a masterclass in welding, filling and spraying.
As you will read on page 88, Rob Marshall has been running our Hyundai Coupé for most of the year and we believe that the electrical issues we are experiencing are down to the body control module getting wet (or damp). We’ll see if Rob can get on top of the situation over the coming months.
Back to the Chrylser – the price we paid was literally rock-bottom and we shouldn’t expect too much from it. However, with an MOT certificate only five months old, we were rather shocked to see ‘major’ faults. The hole in the sill may have come after the test, just like my adventures with the trolley jack and weak metal. Yet, the worn out front brakes didn’t just happen.
I travelled to the auctions to fetch the PT Cruiser and heard the grinding from the brakes at the first roundabout. I could see there was meat on the outer pad so was hopeful of stopping the thing, yet when I finally got the road wheel off, the reason for the metallic noise was obvious. The inner pad’s friction material was non-existent. And so was pretty-much most of that side of the metal vented disc – it had been wearing away for some time.
Fitting Blue Print replacements was easy enough, but after first working on the offside, when I went to move the
Cruiser to do the other side, it was stuck solid. Even though I’d pushed the caliper piston back as far as possible and after slowly pumping the brake pedal to settle the pads, I was having trouble turning the road wheel by hand. It did move under its own steam but was struggling.
Consequently, both calipers were deemed to be unfit for purpose. Left too long with worn pads, the caliper pistons had extended out more than intended – got damp, rusty, then seized.
ECP supplied remanufactured calipers, the brake fluid was replenished and all has been great ever since. It doesn’t take much to look after the braking system, yet some motorists seem not to worry as long as the vehicle stops!
Tell us about your braking disasters – write to me at the above email.