Disaster strikes, brake pad fallen out of caliper

Mark A

Mark A

Mark A

Soldato
Joined
19 May 2005
Posts
18,202
Location
Lancashire
Hi,

I know this is my own fault for not sorting it sooner but just wondering what could cause the brake pad to come away from the caliper?

I set off to pick my brother up a few hours ago and as i was braking at the end of my road the brake pedal went to the floor. I managed to reverse the car back up to my house and park up using the hand brake. Found the brake pad on the road, its missing the clip on the back and its over a cm thick so not too worn? Ive been getting a slight judder in the steering wheel under heavy braking which i thought was a warped disc. Could it have been a loose brake pad perhaps?

Ive got the pads and discs here to fit but it could be a more serious problem with this happening so i might just leave it to a garage to sort.
 
Last edited:
it wasn't fitted properly in the first place.
maybe the retaining clips were worn or bent and they didn't replace them. depends on the caliper really
 
Car is a Ford Focus 1.6 x reg.

Yeah really lucky. Its my own fault, i should have sorted it as soon as i noticed the judder. But the brakes were working great, no play in the pedal and they stopped the car as good as they did when i first got it so i didn't think it was a major problem. My dad even drove it and said he didn't notice a judder but then again he wont have done any heavy braking.
 
I can't even think of how they could fall out of the caliper unless they were fitted by a class A idiot.
 
Gaygle said:
I can't even think of how they could fall out of the caliper unless they were fitted by a class A idiot.
Click to expand...
For me by the looks of it the retaining pin had snapped (due to age) and over time the rod that holds the pad in has vibrated out over time. (I'm not one for checking these things often).
 
digisatman said:
my front brake car has been squeling a lot for a few months now (not enough copper grease i think), can any damage be done to calipers/pads through this?
Click to expand...

Is the squeaking when you use the brakes or is it all the time?

Either way, give em a strip down, check the pads - they could need replacing. Damage to the discs happen when the pad backing plate score the disc making it uneven.

Also, try copper greasing the caliper sliding pins, you may have a very slight bind - i have had that one before (if your brakes are squealing constantly).

Otherwise, you may have to do what i did and just get new pads!
 
Gaygle said:
I can't even think of how they could fall out of the caliper unless they were fitted by a class A idiot.
Click to expand...

Not sure either mate. They were fine for months after i got the car then i started to get a slight judder through the wheel when braking from 70+ .

Also the brakes would sometimes lock on if I'd left the car for a while.

Then today it clunked and my foot went to the floor. Its just the abrasive surface thats come off, the metal part of the pad is still in the caliper. Looks like the brakes locking on might have broken the pad?

Would it be worth me changing the discs and pads or just getting a garage to fit them for me?
 
Mark A said:
Then today it clunked and my foot went to the floor. Its just the abrasive surface thats come off, the metal part of the pad is still in the caliper. Looks like the brakes locking on might have broken the pad?
Click to expand...

Ohhh ok, now it's making a bit more sense - doesn't make it any less scary, but at least it makes sense ;)

Basically, your pads were ****. I can't believe they actually separated from the metal backing plate :eek:

I would examine the disc and check for any kind of scoring which may have occured when the friction material separated. If there is no damage to the discs and they don't have much of a lip on them, around the circumference, i'd just get a new axel set of OE quality pads and fit them myself.
 
Looking at the pad it doesn't look like a fresh break either, there looks to be rust on the back of the friction material.

I think the discs have seen better days, the outer edge is flaking with rust and theres about 2-3mm lip on the disc. A set of Mintex discs and pads for my car only cost £40 so i may as well do both at the same time.

Could this have caused the juddering, a loose brake pad?

Just hope the caliper isn't knackered.
 
It happens. I service vans for S A Brains Brewery and they drive them to destruction. They have brought a Sprinter van into me and one of the back pads wernt even in the caliper. The driver had driven around for a day like this, using the piston to brake on... Was a right mess!
 
crankbro said:
It happens. I service vans for S A Brains Brewery and they drive them to destruction. They have brought a Sprinter van into me and one of the back pads wernt even in the caliper. The driver had driven around for a day like this, using the piston to brake on... Was a right mess!
Click to expand...

Did they check if he had been sampling each delivery so didn't notice the god awful noise coming from the back of the van every time he braked ?
 
crankbro said:
It happens. I service vans for S A Brains Brewery and they drive them to destruction. They have brought a Sprinter van into me and one of the back pads wernt even in the caliper. The driver had driven around for a day like this, using the piston to brake on... Was a right mess!
Click to expand...

:eek:

That's crazy!
 
This happened on my clio when I was using the 21T calipers. The star pin came loose and the pads flew out. Always use loctite :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom