Brake issues - Need advice

Ineedtoknow07

So,


I've had a MOT fail because of park brake below requirements and one pad worn on rear


Replaced both rear pads, brand new caliper too
Handbrake tightened up

Resubmitted for test, failed now on imbalanced rear brakes and park brake below requirements on one side.

Now I have a new handbrake cable which I'm going to fit to one side as it's seized

That will sort the park brake


But please can someone clarify this brake imbalance.
Am I right this is just because the new pads new to bed in?
As previously there was no imbalance.


Garage who failed it complete joke, now wanting to charge me a total retest so going else where.


All advice welcome
So far spent £400 on the pads and new caliper and fitting it all

Cheers

EdGasketTheSecond

To be in balance you ideally need the same brand of discs each side, same brand of pads, both calipers working and no grease or brake fluid on disc or pads. It may just have been the handbrake that was imbalanced though?

Ineedtoknow07

Thanks for the response.


This is what is reported


Brakes imbalanced across an axle (3.7.B.5b)


Discs are fine, pads are brand new and have been replaced as a set, same brand each side.
Brand new caliper, other caliper working fine
Only thing that's now been found is seized hand brake cable, now purchased this (£54)

Any other thoughts?
Brakes work fine mind, it's not pulling to one side and it stops straight.
Pads were only put on 2 miles of wear before it was brake tested again, which this failure came up

tedted

why is the garage a joke? you have one free retest and then full fee is payable again for anothert test.

sevenhills

Ineedtoknow07 wrote: »

So,
I've had a MOT fail because of park brake below requirements and one pad worn on rear
Replaced both rear pads, brand new caliper too
Handbrake tightened up
Resubmitted for test, failed now on imbalanced rear brakes and park brake below requirements on one side.
Now I have a new handbrake cable which I'm going to fit to one side as it's seized
That will sort the park brake
But please can someone clarify this brake imbalance.

If the handbrake was seized, and you tightened it, that would cause the imbalance - so they failed it. Should be ok, now you have replaced the cable, need to adjust them so they are both the same.

Ineedtoknow07

We are talking foot brake imbalance mind, so would the cable affect this imbalance?
Handbrake is just below requirements not imbalanced.

Ineedtoknow07

Won't go into mass details but, do you think a quote for brake pads alone with labour, just for the rear wheels, at £189.90 is reasonable?
Given Euro sell the most premium brand for my car at £42.

Secondly, the first garage who mot'd it, were the ones to advise it needed possible new caliper etc saying I needed discs too, other garage, also a MOT station looked, discs are fine, no scuffs or uneven wear.
First garage wanted £350+ for discs and labour.

MOT testers attitude also, was to say the least that of a drip.

I guess we learn the hard way, never mind.
I did let him know his advice was taken on, another garage got the work, and I had all the jobs done cheaper than half what they quoted.
And wanting to charge me £50 for another retest just to check the handbrake? Lol, I'd rather go elsewhere than line their pockets.

Joe_Horner

Ineedtoknow07 wrote: »

And wanting to charge me £50 for another retest just to check the handbrake? Lol, I'd rather go elsewhere than line their pockets.

You had below standard brakes, you introduced a new problem while trying to fix that, and you don't get unlimited free shots until you score.

If you did the work yourself then your skills obviously weren't up to the job, if you paid someone and they created an imbalance then it's them you should be annoyed with, not the garage that refused to pass dodgy brakes. They were just doing what they're supposed to do.

Out of interest, did they charge you at all for the retest?

Ineedtoknow07

Job was carried out by a garage; they replaced the caliper and pads but it wasn't rolling road brake tested, merely road tested and appeared fine I gather as it was given back like it.

Retest fee was £20.00.

To be fair though, a seized handbrake should of been detected by the first garage on the MOT surely? All that i was told was it could be a faulty caliper fitted, again not really possible given the fact the brakes are fine and that it's always been this handbrake that's the issue.


I'm going to have the cable replaced and try again.
It's unfortunate that these garages don't actually carry out the correct process, a simple inspection BEFORE carrying out work would of shown the cable being faulty. Who knows, maybe didn't even need a new caliper but least I've removed that as a issue for the foreseeable.


One other point, the first garage never wanted to quote on a job, saying it would need 2 hours first of labour, to strip it down and see what they find lol.
May I add I've found a review online about this garage, 8 months ago someone was charged £129 for a brake fluid change... Lol

Lastly, when asked when I wanted my retest, they opened the diary... No word of a lie, empty, empty, not a single job on any day booked in.
They took a phone call while I was waiting too, booking someone in, saying we have any day available
Strange how somewhere doesn't have a single booking yet lies and says they are very busy.

Both times I went there, not ONE single other customer

System

Ineedtoknow07 wrote: »

One other point, the first garage never wanted to quote on a job, saying it would need 2 hours first of labour, to strip it down and see what they find lol.

Why a lol to that? It takes time and that costs them money. They charge because many people were abusing free diagnostics to get a fault diagnosed for free then doing the work themselves.

It's unfortunate that these garages don't actually carry out the correct process, a simple inspection BEFORE carrying out work would of shown the cable being faulty.

Given your comment above and your complaints about the re-test charge no doubt you would be unwilling to pay for them to carry out an inspection which is probably why they didn't.

Both times I went there, not ONE single other customer

And? At one place near where my last place of work was there wasn't any there either yet he was fully booked out. That was because it was on an industrial estate so people would drop their cars off on the way to work then collect them at dinner or teatime.

angrycrow

So car failed on handbrake below required level due to seized cable. New pads fitted and handbrake cable tightened so the handbrake held the car. The seized side would not have moved so all the tension went to the good side creating drag on the pads when the handbrake was released causing brake imbalance. Correct repair is to replace the cable and pads if they have worn unevenly.

Calliper on the side with stuck cable may also have seized due to lack of use which is why they needed to replace the calliper.

Just be warned a lot of aftermarket callipers can be crap. My last car had an after market calliper fitted before I owned it but it seized due to poor quality seals. Ended up rebuilding it with a new seal kit. The other side still had the factory original calliper ten years on. Aftermarket one lasted less than 2 years.