Brake Calliper Seized

I was driving my 93 Golf tonight and a really bad smell started to
come in the car. I stopped, and sure enought the front right wheel
was really hot and a smell of burning rubber was coming out of it. I
assumed it was the brake calliper, and limped it about 5 km back home
(where father in law will fix it).

When I got home, the rotor was literally glowing red.

I am right to assume the calliped is fully seized and needs changing?
Not being terrribly mechanically inclined myself, the glowing red
rotor didn't seem like a good thing. Will the rotor be potentially
damaged as well?

I was driving to the autoparts store to look for something for my next
question(see next post).....

Thanks
Glenn

Glenn Morton wrote:

> I was driving my 93 Golf tonight and a really bad smell started to
> come in the car. I stopped, and sure enought the front right wheel
> was really hot and a smell of burning rubber was coming out of it. I
> assumed it was the brake calliper, and limped it about 5 km back home
> (where father in law will fix it).
>
> When I got home, the rotor was literally glowing red.
>
> I am right to assume the calliped is fully seized and needs changing?
> Not being terrribly mechanically inclined myself, the glowing red
> rotor didn't seem like a good thing. Will the rotor be potentially
> damaged as well?
>
> I was driving to the autoparts store to look for something for my next
> question(see next post).....
>
> Thanks
> Glenn

I dunno about for an A3 but for an A1/A2 the rotors are so silly cheap
it'd be a waste not to replace both of them "while you're in there." I
would recommend thoroughly bleeding (i.e. change the brake fluid) the
system as well as all that head can't possibly have been good for it.
Needless to say, you need a new set of front pads as well.

Were it my car, I'd just get a pair of calipers, rotors, pads and maybe
hoses as well (if they look dry rotted at all, now is a good time to
replace them) and use a quality brake fluid like ATE Super Blue or
Valvoline Synpower.

good luck

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

1- caliper yes maybe
2-master cylinder
3-sticky brake pads in carrier. i.e corrosion/rust
What you can do is drive the car until it starts to stick again. The you
need to open the bleeder on the caliper. If the wheel spins normal then it's
a master cylinder. If it's still sticky then figure a caliper. But figure
doing pads and rotors since you already toasted them from the excessive
heat.


"Glenn Morton" > wrote in message
m...
>I was driving my 93 Golf tonight and a really bad smell started to
> come in the car. I stopped, and sure enought the front right wheel
> was really hot and a smell of burning rubber was coming out of it. I
> assumed it was the brake calliper, and limped it about 5 km back home
> (where father in law will fix it).
>
> When I got home, the rotor was literally glowing red.
>
> I am right to assume the calliped is fully seized and needs changing?
> Not being terrribly mechanically inclined myself, the glowing red
> rotor didn't seem like a good thing. Will the rotor be potentially
> damaged as well?
>
> I was driving to the autoparts store to look for something for my next
> question(see next post).....
>
> Thanks
> Glenn

Does anyone wonder if new wheel bearings are in order? I heard racers
change them out every few races. It sounds like that rotor got as hot
as one might get in a race.

"Woodchuck" > wrote:

>1- caliper yes maybe
>2-master cylinder
>3-sticky brake pads in carrier. i.e corrosion/rust
>What you can do is drive the car until it starts to stick again. The you
>need to open the bleeder on the caliper. If the wheel spins normal then it's
>a master cylinder. If it's still sticky then figure a caliper. But figure
>doing pads and rotors since you already toasted them from the excessive
>heat.
>
>
>"Glenn Morton" > wrote in message
om...
>>I was driving my 93 Golf tonight and a really bad smell started to
>> come in the car. I stopped, and sure enought the front right wheel
>> was really hot and a smell of burning rubber was coming out of it. I
>> assumed it was the brake calliper, and limped it about 5 km back home
>> (where father in law will fix it).
>>
>> When I got home, the rotor was literally glowing red.
>>
>> I am right to assume the calliped is fully seized and needs changing?
>> Not being terrribly mechanically inclined myself, the glowing red
>> rotor didn't seem like a good thing. Will the rotor be potentially
>> damaged as well?
>>
>> I was driving to the autoparts store to look for something for my next
>> question(see next post).....
>>
>> Thanks
>> Glenn
>


Jim B.

Wouldn't the master cylinder affect both front calipers in the same way? At
least it did on an 85 Audi 5000S. Both front wheels were locking up after
driving about 4 miles. It also had new caliper and hoses on it before the
master got changed.

The shotgun approach is to at least change calipers (both) hoses, pads and
rotors. Master Cylinder would be the last thing to change unless you know
for sure it is bad. Of course cleaning up the carrier and using the correct
lube on the parts will help. ;-)

The below method is a good quick an inexpensive way to determine what could
be wrong!
I would suggest doing this first before just buying everything, unless you
just have a pile of money to get rid of. lol
It could possibly be the hose too, if the wheel spins freely after opening
the bleeder on the offending caliper. Change both hoses if one is bad. I
try to keep things balanced! ;-)

just thinking out loud!
later,
dave

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> 1- caliper yes maybe
> 2-master cylinder
> 3-sticky brake pads in carrier. i.e corrosion/rust
> What you can do is drive the car until it starts to stick again. The you
> need to open the bleeder on the caliper. If the wheel spins normal then
> it's a master cylinder. If it's still sticky then figure a caliper. But
> figure doing pads and rotors since you already toasted them from the
> excessive heat.

> I dunno about for an A3 but for an A1/A2 the rotors are so silly cheap
> it'd be a waste not to replace both of them "while you're in there."

I agree completely, but my own opinion is to avoid rotors that are "silly
cheap" because they're made in China. Even though Chinese products are
gradually getting better in quality, one area in which they are still
miserable is the quality of iron and steel. Get new rotors, but make sure
they're from anywhere but China.