Hello everyone, :thumbsup:

I've searched on the forums but can't find what I'm looking for..

My auto RVR 4x4 was running perfectly until it had been sat for about 3 months on my drive; when I went to use it again it felt like it had run out of petrol and was about to cut out, it was juddering very violently! It eased off a bit but then started again, there didn't seem to be any pattern to when it happened. It would judder for about 2 minutes, sometimes really violently, other times not. It would slow down to about 20mph while this was happening.

Although it doesn't only do this when braking, I wondered if it might be the front left brake sticking, coupled with a warped disc (? maybe) and have spent today taking it apart! I first thought it might be seized sliders on the floating caliper but these are fine, however it's VERY hard to push the piston back into the caliper.

I've loosened the reservoir cap, sprayed WD40 around the edge of the piston, and forced it back and forth using a G clamp several times. Looking under the rubber boot though, the piston seems quite clean compared to ones I've had problems with before on my motorbikes!

Could this mean that the problem is a collapsed flexible brake hose? If this is the case, how do I go about testing it without dismantling the system? I can't freewheel the front wheel as it's quite stiff (I assume this is because it's an auto and therefore nothing to worry about?! Please correct me if I'm wrong as I know very little about cars!)

Sorry this is so long but I hope this is detailed enough to make sense to people! Any help at all would be very much appreciated!

:liebe011:

How do you do?

The piston in the front caliper is often quite difficult to push back in to its chamber. I usually have to lever them with the handle of a hammer while the caliper is bolted with only one bolt.

Warped discs usually are noticably only on braking and is felt mostly through the steering wheel?

Binding brakes may be your problem, but you wouldn't have been able to touch the disk or hub after driving as it would have been quite hot! The car should pull to the side of the binding brake.

You should be able to spin the wheel as long as the gearbox is in neutral and the diff lock ( if any) is off, even with an auto. Make sure you've chocked you wheels before putting the it in neutral.

You say the car felt like it was running out of petrol, It could possibly be an air lock has developed in the fuel line or perhaps something else like dirty fuel can often cause the whole car to judder violently. Did you do any work on the car before you got it back on the road? I remeber my corolla came to a complete stop 70 miles down the road after i changed the fuel filter and left a little air in the line. Lesson learned!

Hope I am of some help to you,
M

Hi Jenna.
As Salamander says, if you have a binding disc brake, caused by a sticky piston or siezure of the "floating" mechanism of the caliper, you usually can't touch the disc, it's very hot.
I have had this problem on several cars over the last few years,(but not on my RVR).
It usually announces itself by a slight judder through the steering wheel whilst driving along, but I have found this dissapears whilst braking.
To check if it is a sticky piston, I drive gently for a few miles without braking a lot, then come to a stop, again without braking much.
Immediatley carefully test the temperature of the discs with your finger, they should be slightly warm & at the same temperature.
If not you have a problem.
I find this usually happens to me when the car starts getting old, say after about 6 or 7 years, but I think it is not helped by the way I drive, very gently (I hardly ever have to replace brake pads). More "violent" driving is perhaps better at keeping the pistons free??
So every second year, at the annual service/MOT, I ensure my garage checks the pistons can be pushed back ok.
When I bought my 1995 RVR a few months ago, I had the garage do this check & all was well, but my guess is that as yours has been stood around for a while this has caused a piston to stick.

I've changed the brake pads because they were down past the minimum and this has got rid of the very violent judder!! I can still feel a vibration at about 60 and occasionally get a very strong asbestos smell even if I'm not braking.

I'm going to change the brake pipes in case they are collapsing, as I've bought them now anyway.

I didn't notice the brake disc being particuarly hotter than the rest (I did try my best not to brake much but someone pulled out in front of me as I was getting back to my house, doh!) but the actual wheel itself was incredibly hot compared to the others!! Could this be a sticking brake or would it be a wheel bearing making the hub and wheel hot?

Thanks for your help! :)

I would go for a short drive "round the block" without braking much & then test the temperatures of the disks again,
If the wheel itself is getting very hot without the disc getting hot then it does sound like a bearing problem, I don't have any experience of a wheel getting hot, if a bearing gets dry then you usually hear/feel a bit of a rumble for quite a few miles. But if the wheel is getting hot due to a bearing heating up then you have a major problem.
The bit of a judder at 60 may be wheel balance, suggest swapping the fronts with the backs & see if it changes.