Brakes cooking incredibly quickly

[Tom Thorpe 10]

Hi,

 

The brakes on my Corrado seem to cook really quickly when I'm giving it some. On Friday I practically lost all my brakes within 10 minutes of driving. The discs had also turned blue and the heat had transferred into the alloys making them almost untouchable.

What brakes would people recommend putting on the front of the car. Would something like the bigger callipers and discs off of a diesel Passat be any better as my discs are only 256mm.

 

Cheers

 

Tom

[VR6Pete 0]

Do you have solid or vented discs currently?

[Tom Thorpe 10]

The discs are vented. Its a 1993 2ltr Corrado.

[VR6 0]

Sure the caliper(s) is/are releasing properly? Sounds to me like the brake pads are being bound against the disc causing the excessive heat you're describing. Does the same thing happen on both sides?

 

Either way, you shouldn't be thrashing it after 10 minutes anyway ;) Or if you mean 'after 10 minutes of thrashing it' .... in which case, it still sounds odd that you lose the brakes after such a short space of time.

[Jim 1]

I guess there's many potential issues there... as Tom says, are the calipers working properly? When was the brake fluid last changed?

[DriverVR6 11]

Doesn't sound right at all. My guess, as already mentioned, is that the brake calipers are binding on.

Do you know what pads are on there? The reason I ask is if they are really cheap ones, then they would fade very quickly, but that still would not explain the heat issue. I've NEVER had a car whose alloys were too hot to touch, and I'm including a track day car in that!!

Edited April 9, 2012 by DriverVR6

[Tom Thorpe 10]

Thanks for the response, yeah I meant after thrashing it for ten minutes, the engine was warmed up when I got to the good roads, I was braking late into the corners. I have only owned the car for a month so I haven't a clue what pads are in. They guy who I bought it off said that he always fit VW parts but when the fluid was last changed I couldn't say. How can I tell if the callipers are binding? The wheels spin freely when the car is jacked up. Also the breaks seem to work fine for normal driving, its only when I'm having some fun in the car that they get so hot. Also is it usual for the discs to turn blue?

 

Thanks for the responses everyone, much appreciated.

[Tom Thorpe 10]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]58893[/ATTACH]

[Jim 1]

To be fair the standard 2.0 16v brakes don't stand up to punishment well and I do remember managing getting noticeable fade off my old ones on my first 16v (11 years ago - god I feel old!) after just one hard stop from speed... so it doesn't surprise me that they start to fail after 10 minutes of abuse.

 

If the wheels spin freely when off the ground then that would probably rule out binding brakes. It's not usual for the discs to turn blue! Maybe investigate a brake fluid change first (cheapest option), maybe get the pads / discs inspected.. and maybe think about saving up for a 280mm conversion from a G60. Can normally be had cheap enough and are substantially stronger brakes than the 256's!

[sexybourbon 0]

Jims right mate the valver brakes are kak ! They wont stop you quik and they wont stop you for long lol my old valver was the same blue disks and had to stop to let them cool down

Even the vr brakes are poo i was giving mine some abuse the other day on the twistys and they faded fast aswell and thats with disks and pads that have done about 1500 miles

[anne t 10]

sounds like youv,e cooked the brakes,if calipers are ok,think you,ll need discs pads and a change of fluid .

Are both sides the same.i only know this because it happened on my mk2 golf

[DriverVR6 11]

Without getting too technical, brake fade caused by inappropriate pads/boiling fluid will not be prevented by larger discs . You cure brake fade by using pads with a higher coefficient of friction and brake fluid with a higher boiling point. Larger discs provide more leverage and better retardation, but they will still fade with inappropriate pads and fluid.

As Jim says, change your fluid first, then take a look at the pads. If they are worn, replace for a better set (there are numerous harder fast road compounds out there). Really basic stuff like having "closed spoke" alloys which do not allow air to get to the discs can have a big effect on brake system temperatures. So check to see if the discs have air channelled towards them, and brake ducts are an easy and cheap solution, and also look good.

The reason I say this is because I had a mk2 golf gti with the same size of discs as yours, and the only mods were racing spec fluid, harder pads (mintex) and Oz 5 spoke alloys. And I had no issues with fade, within reason.

Edited April 9, 2012 by DriverVR6
spelling

[Tom Thorpe 10]

I nearly bought a pair of g60 callipers on ebay yesterday too but I missed out. Do you reckon they'll be the best value for money then as my friend reckoned that the bigger discs off of a Passat would be cheaper to maintain and just as good.

[GlosterOx 0]

280mm are about the largest dia discs you can fit behind 15" wheels I believe.

 

Ian.

[Tom Thorpe 10]

Sweet, thanks for the advice, I'll see if I can hunt some down :-)

 

Thanks

 

Tom

[dragon green 4]

A set for sale on ED38

http://www.edition38.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=444634

[MattPc 0]

You can run Golf mk3/4 or Fabia 288mm discs & calipers behind 15" rims without any issues. I used to run Audi S2 twin pot calipers with no problems. pads and disc material will have an effect on fade.

One tip I have for track use is, bleed each caliper ' only by a pistons worth' before each session, as this will displace the fluid from behind the piston that sees the greatest temperature change and it helps to reduce the fade feel.

[Tom Thorpe 10]

Unfortunately the ED38 link isn't working :-( Thanks though :-)

 

---------- Post added at 7:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 7:11 PM ----------

 

Thanks, I'll have a look into the price difference between these and the g60 brakes :-)

[P3rks 11]

288's are 5 stud.

 

280's are 4 or 5 stud depending on the discs (G60 or VR6)

 

I have some spare 280's and 288's up for grabs if you're interested? They'll be getting advertised on the next few days either way.

[Tom Thorpe 10]

Is that for the front callipers and discs? What sort of price am I looking at? I'm not actually sure which stud my corrado is, I need to work out how to take the caps off my alloys, I'm assuming it will be easy but as of yet I haven't tried.

[P3rks 11]

You should have 4 stud buddy.

 

PM'd either way.