# new rear discs and pads mk3, locking up tire(s)



## cabrlicious (Jan 27, 2008)

don't ask how but I stripped two threads on a rear disc.

So, new discs and bearings installed, old pads. On the passenger side .. inside pad had smaller thickness than outside, compared to the driver side which both were even. Didn't occur to me that might be a problem, put them back on and the passenger wheel was dragging -- the car would pull to the right when not braking. Also, i realized because it was smoking a bit when i pulled over, though the smoke may have been the paint / coating they put on the disc to make it look pretty.

At this point, if i put the parking brake on, it would engage at 2 clicks instead of the normal 5 which i found weird, but that would seem to make sense as the new pads are thicker than the used ones. . 

SO, thinking it was the oddly worn pads, i put on my new set of ebc green pads and went around the block trying to bed them in, and now any time I brake with substantial force above 15mph the rear right locks up ... I'm not 100% its the rear right and not both rears ... im not really sure how to check that except have someone watch my wheels when i stop the car. 

I should note, when I put the brakes back together after putting the replacement discs, i did not push in the pistons. I'm thinking this has caused a problem and possibly damaged one or both of the rear calipers. 

Calipers are low mileage, less than 20k. Carriers slide pins work nicely. If you put the car in the air both rear wheels spin fine. Now, with the new pads, the parking brake is back to the normal 5 clicks i had before. I know it ideally should be adjusted slightly tighter but this is just for reference anyway. 

Car is 1995 12v cabrio with corrado front brakes, mk4 aluminum calipers in back. Came with ABS, though I know the wire to the front passenger abs sensor is mangled -- I'm going to fix that wire tomorrow (keep forgetting about it) even though I'm quite sure this is a mechanical problem and nothing to do with ABS (that wire has been mangled for a while and never caused the ABS system to do anything weird).


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## cabrlicious (Jan 27, 2008)

cmon now, anybody? i got a list of things to look at when i get a chance, starting with 100% new fluid and a junkyard caliper to see what happens...


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## shwak23 (Feb 28, 2009)

Did you put the pads on the wrong way? Double check. I did that on my MKII and it caused the brakes to lock up. 

Sent from my DROID X2


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## germancarnut51 (Mar 23, 2008)

#1 The ABS is not working. The ABS wire to the front wheel that is mangled should have caused a CEL, and would prevent the ABS from working correctly.

If the ABS was working the rear wheel would not be able to lock up before the front brakes.

How were you able to install new brake pads without retracting the caliper pistons? Were the pads you removed near new thickness? Did you force the calipers back over the rotors? You could have dmaged the caliper then, or it could have already had a problem. I'm thinking that if the pad wear was uneven, the caliper already had a problem.

Or maybe you have a damaged (pinched or clogged) brake line that is inhibiting fluid return to the master cylinder?


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