Clementine's Garage
Clementine the Cat
 
Image of flower
Yellow R4
 
home my cars restoration tech tips guides forum
Réparateur d'automobiles

Brakes Seized

Tripyrenees

Tripyrenees

Enthusiast
Messages
391
Location
Luscan, France
Did my longest trip in the 4L today. 100Km to Toulouse at around 100 kph. No problems. On the way home I noticed the brake pedal to get harder. Another 20 km and I was starting to slow.
I pulled off the motorway and stopped, smoke coming from the front right wheel. Paint on the rim was melting off. Took the wheel off and took the hub off (took a while). Brake shoe was torn to pieces, no damage on the drum itself.

Now was this me adjusting the Brand New Shoes to tightly (it span well and passed its CT last week) or could this be a faulty set of brake shoes. :?::?:

I let them cool down and adjusted them out as far as they would go - reset the drum and drove home - no problem although brake pedal a lot softer due to the extra travel now.

Anyone know what could be the cause :?::?:


Untitled by Tripyrenees, on Flickr


Untitled by Tripyrenees, on Flickr
 
Brakes

hello could be your front brake hose,had the same thing happen to me once it was ok when ihad only done short trips but anything longer and it started to seize up , the fluid was not returning when i took my foot off brake pedal so it was like i had the brake on all the time hope this helps .mike, ;) ps also check the wheel clyiner moves from side to side sometimes they stick too . good luck
 
Could also have been the handbrake not releasing.
I mentioned in one of your posts to copper grease all joints and parts that touch and rub against each other. Sometimes they can just stick especially with heat
 
This is a pain - I just drove up the road (fitted new speedo) for a test and got about a kilometre (cold and wet here) and pushed the brakes on. The back brakes seized on and did not release.

The front one is fine this time (still adjusted right out for clearance).

So could this be the b$%dy valve limiter that I thought I had cleaned out. Could this let fluid through then block it coming back out hence, locking the brakes on.

But why did the front brake do the same yesterday :?::?:

Getting a little fed up now I have to replace the shoes after only 1 week.
 
May I ask you again, what type of brake fluid did you use, and why was it green?
 
angel said:
May I ask you again, what type of brake fluid did you use, and why was it green?
Click to expand...

It came with my brake kit from Melun Retro. It is mineral based hydraulic brake fluid. I didn't think much about it being green as my brake fluid (which is silicone) for my 2CV is purple.

So this could be the issue - bugger!!! Should I purge the lot and get some DOT 3 first before I do anything else:?::?:


Untitled by Tripyrenees, on Flickr
 
That's bad news. LHM is petrolium based and the seals in the brake system aren't resistant. That could well have caused the seals to expand and the brakes to seize.

The recommendation tends to be flush the system and replace all the seals and flexy pipes as brakes are a bit safety critical and you don't want all the fluid coming out if a seal fails.
 
Everything is brand new -this fluid has been in a week.

Do I have replace everything - and when you say seals - what seals do you mean. All the brake cylinders, master cylinder etc.... I might just chuck the bloody car if that is the case and stick to my 2CV :mad::mad:

Could Melun not advised seeing this or are they just bit packers.... even my local garage would have said that is not good. Bloody internet :mad::mad:
 
At least late model 2cv's use LHM in their braking system ;)
 
Whoever put this fluid in your order should not be working in an automotive parts shop, to say the very least.
All rubber parts in your brake system are scrap now, plus you have to flush THOROUGHLY all the remaining parts (wheel cylinders, master cylinder, all rigid pipes etc.). Don't just replace the brake fluid and hope all will be well-it's potentially dangerous to drive the car (as you may have already noticed).
 
It does look like an old and dusty can, how on earth did it end up in your order?
 
What could have happened is the rubber flexible's swelling and so not letting the fluid run back after putting the brakes on. :(

I would say flush it out with normal brake fluid asap at a minimum !
 
LHM in a R4 whatever next, chip fat in your sump... I'd get on the phone to meluns and explain the problem. If they supplied the can of oil what does your invoice say Dot 3 or lhm?
 
alewis said:
What could have happened is the rubber flexible's swelling and so not letting the fluid run back after putting the brakes on. :(
Click to expand...

No, the master cylinder seals swell, and as the main seal is only 1-2 millimeters behind the compensation orifice at rest, it immediately covers it, not allowing the fluid to return back to the tank.
But all seals get attacked by the wrong fluid equally fast, and results are very nasty...that's why Tripyrenees could not bleed brakes properly, too.
 
Looks like I will be scrapping this car then as I do not have time to work on it now - it was a rush to get it on the road before my work season starts - too late now.

The invoice does say LHM but I did a search last night on Melun and there is no way I would have found that product unless it was on the 4L catalogue section. I had no clue what LHM was but because it was in the Melun order I used it without thinking.

Oh well, that was my short experience with the 4L.
 
Been following your progress and up's and down's which is very annoying i know and i can appreciate that you feel pi.... off with it but i think because you've so much time and effort on it you should persevere, i have a similar problem a couple of years ago with one of mine but glad i persevered, so hope you do to as it looks a great little car.
 
I'm with Bobble, don't give up. I know you've had a bad experience, but if you just shelve the R4 for the time being, enjoy your 2CV, and after a while you will probably look at it in a different light. Just put it down to experience. Your R4 looks to be a great little car with potential, so please give it another chance.:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Community platform by XenForo® © 2010-2024 XenForo Ltd.
Back
Top