Burning smell - front wheels

[Redbus]

Hi,

Help needed with my 93' 100. 2.5TDI estate.

I noticed a burning smell on a recent long journey. On pulling over I noted that the front OS wheel area smelt like burning rubber. RAC were called out but they found nothing wrong. I drove home later that day (in pouring rain) - it did not seem to be smelling and I did not fancy getting wet so just left it. I've now had a chance to do a few longer journeys and found that the wheel hubs are getting serioulsy hot (in comparison to our Touran). I pulled the front wheel off when I got home from work last night (30 mile trip) and the wheel nuts were almost too hot to handle, the hub was scorching hot and the caliper smelt like burning rubber again. The wheel seems to turn OK so I do not think the brakes are binding on. I've recently had new discs and pads fitted (before the smell) but they would have bedded in by now.
Should the calipers/hubs get that hot? No strange noises or movement in the hubs.
Any ideas?

[Redbus]

As an update, I've taken the calipers off to check the piston was not sticking (as the discs and pads were newish I thought that they have not had to reach that far for years). They are fine on both sides. I also checked the hub nut which is at it's recommended torque setting. The discs and pads are unipart items. As they are not OE would that be an issue?

[euroslap]

Have you been getting a whining from the front getting louder as you get faster? If so you've probably got a wheel bearing more than overdue for changing. If it is, I wouldn't leave it too long before you change it (if it's getting uber hot), you might end up with a front wheel overtaking the car!

[Redbus]

Hi - I've had a local independent garage take a look and the bearings are OK. Up on the ramp, everything turns freely. On a test drive, they also found the front hubs/brakes getting hotter than they should do. The finger is currently pointing at the brake servo or master cylinder as it seems that the brakes might be being applied slightly, so the more miles I do on a trip, the hotter they get. Could be an expensive repair if that is where the problem is. Investigating to see if there is water in the servo this weekend......

[RJS_90q]

Given the various inspections this has probably been covered by now but have you tried checking that the brake pads are not seized into the carrier ?

I had something similar on my own car at one time ... can you hear a squeaking noise coming from the brakes when driving at slow speeds [walking pace] (after say 5 miles of a run) ? I removed the pads and replaced them using an anti-sieze compound (Copperslip) on the pad metal edges - no problems since.

Another possibility could be that the flexible brake hose is damaged and restricting the pressure release on the piston (thus keeping some pressure on the brake pads) ?

Just some ideas - hope they help.