Pads not releasing

[Tylerharris]

06 dsg jetta tdi. Brake pad(s) on one wheel are hanging up. There a common failure causing this on these cars? or should I just start digging in and try to figure it out. I already took the caliper apart and cleaned everything and lubed it up.

 

[Tdijarhead]

Front or rear?

 

[Tylerharris]

Front or rear?

Front drivers side

 

[Tdijarhead]

Are the slides free? Are the pads hammered into place? Whenever I do a brake job sometimes I need to grind a bit off the metal part (ears) of the pads to make them fit better. Anything with made in China stamped on the box is particularly problematic. They almost never fit right, but I’ve had to adjust the metal ears with my bench grinder on all kinds of pads.

I like to make them slide easily into the clips. My brother had a Subaru once the the pads were hammered into place, if that happens they will be permanently seized.

 

[Tylerharris]

Are the slides free? Are the pads hammered into place? Whenever I do a brake job sometimes I need to grind a bit off the metal part (ears) of the pads to make them fit better. Anything with made in China stamped on the box is particularly problematic. They almost never fit right, but I’ve had to adjust the metal ears with my bench grinder on all kinds of pads.

I like to make them slide easily into the clips. My brother had a Subaru once the the pads were hammered into place, if that happens they will be permanently seized.

Obviously I didn’t notice anything like that the first time around but I think I will start by giving it all another looksie

 

[rocky raccoon]

It may be time to replace your flexible brake hoses. Over time, say since '06, the interior of the hoses will deteriorate and "swell" thus preventing the brake from fully releasing. Next time you have this condition loosen the bleed screw on that brake to relieve the pressure. If that releases the brake, change those hoses.

 

[jetlagmech]

are they grabbing during driving, or starting out after releasing the parking brake. the parking brake cable is known to get sticky.

 

[Tylerharris]

are they grabbing during driving, or starting out after releasing the parking brake. the parking brake cable is known to get sticky.

Dsg. I’ve never really used the parking brake. But this is on front wheel therefore it has nothing to do with parking brake right? But it appears to just grab all the time

 

[Reddogg12]

just did the fronts on my 98 Beetle. rt side not releasing. replaced both calipers, rotors and pads. much better now.

 

[Tylerharris]

just did the fronts on my 98 Beetle. rt side not releasing. replaced both calipers, rotors and pads. much better now.

I see...I ordered the calipers and I think/hope that will do the trick!

 

[03TDICommuter]

You can crack open the bleeder on the affected caliper to see if hydraulic pressure not releasing is the problem.

 

[Reddogg12]

I see...I ordered the calipers and I think/hope that will do the trick!

When you press the caliper in you will know if they are bad. The resistance was too high on the rt side so the caliper was bad. I replaced them both to make sure the braking balance is equal. Sometimes the hose is bad but not that often in my experience. I have repaired a lot of brake systems in the shop.

 

[BobnOH]

The simple of it- Nothing actually pulls the pad back, the caliper lets up and the rotation of the disc causes them to back off slightly. So the pad ears need to move free in the bracket, in fact we put a bit of high temperature grease on the ears. You can tell by simply grabbing the pad and seeing if it moves, if the caliper is not tight they should move. If the caliper is tight could be a bad caliper, bad master cylinder, sticky park brake or bad hydraulics.

 

[03TDICommuter]

The simple of it- Nothing actually pulls the pad back, the caliper lets up and the rotation of the disc causes them to back off slightly. So the pad ears need to move free in the bracket, in fact we put a bit of high temperature grease on the ears. You can tell by simply grabbing the pad and seeing if it moves, if the caliper is not tight they should move. If the caliper is tight could be a bad caliper, bad master cylinder, sticky park brake or bad hydraulics.

Supposedly the square seal between the body and the piston does the piston retraction. I had a problem with one of my other cars with a sticking caliper. There was build up of crud (not rust but not sure what it was) in the groove the caliper seal rides in (IIRC, the machined groove was beveled on one side a little), and the seal was hard. Rebuilding the caliper (getting all the crap out of the groove and putting in a new piston seal) fixed it cheaply.

 

[BobnOH]

That could definetly be the issue. Especially if the car (like many) has not got it's regular brake fluid service.