Volvo V60 Rear Brakes

[Rod1883]

The rear brakes on my 1 year old V60 stuck on - rusted on as it turned out - over a 4-5 day period, Friday to Tuesday just gone. The weather was very wet over the weekend, but it seems extreme.

They freed off when gently moving off, but then gave a thumping noise on application whilst driving. I had experienced a similar issue on my old Mondeo when they froze on a couple of occasions, they released with a small clunk and then worked fine with no ongoing issue.

Anyway - the local Volvo dealer was very good, told me that the pads had rusted onto the rear discs and caused damage when they released. They have replaced the discs and pads under warranty, but the advice I have been given is that 'this can happen with modern materials' if a car is left for more than a few days!

This seems very odd to me - what happens when we go away on Holiday for example, or as the weather gets wetter into winter?

Has anyone experienced similar, and/or have any advice on what can be done to protect the discs/pads if a car has to be left? I was wondering is there is anything that can be sprayed onto the surfaces that will protect, but also be removed when the brakes are used again?

Thanks

[Nick Jones]

Rod,

I am frankly amazed you got warranty from Volvo.

In my experience it’s just one of those things that happens, usually worst when you’ve gone through Deepish water shortly before the end of your journey meaning that you park with the brakes sopping wet and cold, so they don’t dry at all. Leaving the car unused for a few days just makes matters worse.

I have observed the OE discs are usually less badly affected that cheap and nasty pattern ones, but they are still affected. I just keep driving as usual and the lumps wear off.

Ive had bigger problems on drum-braked cars with my PI refusing to move at all the morning after a wading incident and the boys Arosa often having to be “cracked off” for no obvious reason.

Prevention? Not sure there’s much you can do apart from trying to make sure there’s a bit of heat in the brakes when you park.

[Rod1883]

Thanks Nick, on reflection you are probably right - I was perhaps a bit lucky getting it all done promptly and on warranty. The car is only 13 months old and just over 6000 miles so I guess they couldn't say it was high wear and tear?

I think, in future, it will be a case of making sure all is hot and dry before parking up, and if going away I may do what I do with the classics - leave it in gear with the handbrake off.

It is very odd though how bad it was - my wife's similar aged Polo (and our daughter's 4 year old Polo) don't suffer, neither did my old Mondeo - although with the Ford I do recall occasionally having to 'crack' it off in freezing conditions.

[Nick Jones]

They do definitely vary.  I've not worked out whether it's the pads of the discs which have the greater influence, but having done > 200k in my A6 it's seen a few sets of brakes in my ownership and some have been more prone than others.

As mentioned above, the Arosa we had used to stick it's drums almost all the time in the winter, even after just one night standing. Leaving it a week meant fairly violent treatment was needed to get it rolling and after it was parked for a month I eventually had to remove the wheels and clout the drums.

The other thing that bugs me about modern car brakes is the way the discs go rusty from the outer edge.  The corrosion then creeps inwards forming a glassy layer that wears a step in the pads.  If you catch it in time you can tap the layer off, but as it usually forms n the inner face of the disc it may be the MoT man who sees it first.....