Why is alloy red hot ?!

[cjboddy]

Hello....

Not sure if I've just found the cause of my poor fuel economy I've posted messages on. Just stopped after about an 8 mile journey and the car smelt of burning. I trakced it down to the drivers front alloy wheel that was red hot to touch.

Firstly, why ? could it be the brakes on that side are binding or something. It's the only wheel that is hot.

Secondly, could this be something that has slowly got worse since i got the car 4 wks back and have a pretty negative impact on my fuel economy ?

I'll be onto the dealer first thing in the morn...lets hope they'll come for it cos I'm not keen on the 40 mile drive to them !

Cheers

Craig

2006 A4 Avant SE 2.0 tdi 49k

[Andy Avant]

Hello Craig


My mechanic skills are pretty limited but I 've had a couple of cars ( not Audi ) where this has happened and is was the caliper that was seized on, I take it your brake disk was also red hot. One of the ways I used to check this was to have the car role slowly and if it came to a halt with a bit of a jolt then the caliper was seized. The only thing I would say is to be careful taking the car to the dealer as the heat can cause the lacquer to crack on the alloy if possible try to free the caliper and take it easy on route to the garage .

Hope this helps and its not to expensive

Andy

[onzarob]

Seized caliper, if the front wheel is that hot, then its new disks pads and Caliper. Also get them to pick up the car if it 40 miles ;)

[Crasher]

Water damaged servo and master cylinder due to the servo sucking in water when the plenum chamber drains get blocked, very common problem, usually starts left front though but not always.

[cjboddy]

The outcome ....a day of nightmares ! Considering I had only owned the car for 4 weeks and bought for a large audi dealership you wouldn't have thought it would be so difficult to get it sorted.

RAC on drive for a couple of hours to free the caliper. Wrote me a report saying it needed new caliper, disk and pads but expected the other front side would be in a similar state. Said the were rusted up and had it been sat for some time. It hadn't with me obviously, but I have since found out the dealer had it from Aug last yr when they checked it over but it was there until I took it away in March and not checked since !?

It's going in over the weekend for a loan car and workshop next week. Hopefully new front brakes and a full service....as I pointed out it might be in their interests to do so while they have it as it's already been in for EGR prior to the brakes. They said we'll come to some arrangement so lets hope so.....

Cheers.

Craig

[onzarob]

Glad your getting somewhere, I must admit i seen a few car lately and they been on the respective forecourts for months..one car I've seen has been there for at least 12 months!!!

Buyers be careful.

As for your case, i would say not fit for purpose and its at there cost, don't pay them anything. get some advice 4 weeks is not fair ware and tear !!

[irishejit]

happened the previous owner of my car...
he got new discs an calipers fitted,must be very common

[onzarob]

I had a seized piston on the front caliper, but only after 145000 miles :D

I am a firm believe that a daily used car fails less than a standing still one;)

[irishejit]

also not keeping the calipers clean
eg removing the dust and greasing
them once in a while also causes them
to seized.
on bikes its not cleaning them when
you ride on salted winter roads
that is the main cause.

[Darren C]

Make sure you change the bearings. After a caliper seizes and the whole disc heats up to the point the Alloy is hot, the grease will have melted and run out of the bearings, they'll be knackered now. Dependent on how long you've been running the car like this, the ball joint grease may have overheated too.

Just as a point of note, how come you didnt notice the drag on over run?
(when you coast or slow down) Or a pull to one side if sticking on the front

You should feel a sticking caliper the instant it happens!

[cjboddy]

Not sure why I couldn't feel any sign of it.....guess new car etc etc, but I think it suddenly got worse hence the smell and rather hot wheel.


It's at the dealers at the moment. I was hoping they would service it as well based on the fact it has been stood since Aug'08 until I bought it in March. It's already been back for EGR and now the brakes and doesn't seem to be showing great economy (maybe due to those 2 things !). But the technician has said it doesn't need a service for 10k miles....which is what the DIS is showing.

Surely there must be some argument here over "fit for purpose" and the fact I've only had the car 4 weeks, it had been stood for some time and they should have given it a service before I collected it ?? We are taking a large Audi dealership here. :mad:

Cheers.

[Darren C]

Good Luck, with the garage, the car should have been fit for purpose when sold, under the sale of goods act?
The problem is they may argue that the car was fine when you picked it up. They may have a point if you've been driving it for 4 weeks.
If the brake had been binding all that time the pads would be charcoal and the disc blue and warped. It's more likely that it started a day or so before you "noticed" it. In this case its harder to claim against the garage unless you have a watertight warranty policy that covers the brakes.

Good luck.

[cjboddy]

Not sure as to why I didn't feel it...certainley no pulling to one side etc. I hadn't smelt or noticed the hot wheel during the 4 wks of ownership neither, but I do think something has been rubbing etc for a while because since getting it sorted the economy has improved...slightly !

Picked it up from the dealership yesterday and they had replaced disks and pads on both front and new caliper on the side that seized, plus serviced it and stamped my book. So I'm happy for now and fingers crossed the car is now sorted.

Just have to get rid of the previous owners smoking stench :(