A610 Binding/Dragging/Overheating rear caliper - again!

Hmmm... seems their warranty might not cover labour. Maybe the best I can hope for is a refund for my trouble? I still want them to fix them!

Or maybe I should give up. I bought a new seal kit anyway from Brakes Intl.

Maybe the best outcome would be for Bigg Red to give me a refund and for me to use that money to take the car to my local garage and have them fit the new seals for me, so I don't have to do it?

Andrew

[BIG_MVS]

I think a few peeps have had their Calipers refurbed by big red without any issues including 610 owners.

Strange it's fine for a while then starts, could it be the brake master or the brake balancing valve at the back?

If it's always the same one then poss balance cylinder or more the outlet/pipe to that caliper.
I might have some spare calipers if it turns out that is the issue and beyond a std refurb cure but if it all moves freely to start with and the seals are correct then I can't say via the interweb ....

Cable also may be biased too far and overdoing it ? Have you looked at that ?

Doubt they have fitted the wrong seals as that is an issue with the GTA rear only...... it's used on Citroen BX and it's peculiar fluid.

610 ones are used on the XM too...so the same problem can persist like the GTA.

Thanks all for your contributions!

I don't think it's an issue with anything else in the braking system other than the calipers. The original issue was the offside caliper binding so I sent both off for a recon. The nearside was just fine - never experienced any issues with it at all!

Now the issue is with both sides.

I tried the handbrake - backed it right off - even removed the cables, but the sticking issue persisted. I am definitely of the opinion that it's the seals - given that it's so hard to rewind the pistons back in to the pistons. It would also point to the seals being incorrect because the brakes work perfectly immediately after the recon but are now deteriorating and sticking again.

Andrew

I thought cilly citroen seals were green, GTA we had rear issue on had green seals in rear calipers.
The were fine until it had sat with fluid in, then locked up terrible, it was a right barsteward to even get the pistons out, they weren't just tight, they were solid.

If you've ruled out a pressure lock up, mechanical handbrake lock up, or the caliper being out of line on the sliders, then seals it is...............don't suppose you've kept it's original Renault seals?

Yes,they were green and stuck like the proverbial.Not sure then if all are but you'd like to think BiggRedd know the difference.

I thought cilly citroen seals were green, GTA we had rear issue on had green seals in rear calipers.
The were fine until it had sat with fluid in, then locked up terrible, it was a right barsteward to even get the pistons out, they weren't just tight, they were solid.

If you've ruled out a pressure lock up, mechanical handbrake lock up, or the caliper being out of line on the sliders, then seals it is...............don't suppose you've kept it's original Renault seals?

Yes, that's right. Seals for LHM fluid are green so, if you've been supplied black ones, they should be fine, in that respect. That doesn't mean that the seals couldn't be wrong, though. As turbell says, do you still have the original seals? It would be worth comparing them very carefully to the new ones that have been supplied.

Can't picture 610 calipers......but are they a bolted carrier or pressed fit?( I close my eyes when I see underneath them)
Had issues with press fit, corrosion builds up between two halves and makes bore slightly oval, go together with red grease fine but then bind.

Top slide bolt only.Pivots about that and has a locking pin assembly at bottom.

Thanks again all. I've not looked at the seals and I don't have the originals any more. Will wait to hear from Bigg Red. If it's any help, the brakes seem fine at the beginning of a drive but as I drive more, they stick more - it seems that they are worse when they get hot.

Then the problem starts happening earlier and earlier in each drive. Then they just stick.

Andrew

FIXED!!!! At last...

Turns out this last issue was in fact my fault. I don't believe the original problem was. I still suspect the wrong seals were fitted originally, but the correct seals were fitted when I sent the calipers back to Bigg Red.

I suspected the seals were still the wrong type, so I pulled the right-hand caliper off the car and pushed the piston back in. To my surprise it went in easily. That wasn't what had happened last time, so I began to wonder if there was another problem and that the seals were in fact fine.

In fact, it turned out that the sliding pin seal was damaged. In fact, somehow it had been trapped between the pad carrier and the pin, despite my best efforts. Then the seal had melted and got stuck in the caliper body! So I removed all the bits of melted rubber and put everything back together and test-drove. The right-hand caliper was perfect!

But the left-hand was not. So - I pulled it and found the same issue!

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So I removed all the bits of melted seal and put it all back together.

Problem solved. Now all I need to do is replace the seals but that can be done in the fullness of time. I put a load of red rubber grease on the pins in the meantime.

I actually wonder if the seals were fine but the sliding pins started to undo slightly, which led to the problem. I'm having difficulty in securing them. I used the wrong type of loctite first time, which led to pins that were almost impossible to remove. This time, it doesn't seem to be working. Or... the rubber seal got trapped, then melted, which means the pins were never tight!

Thank you all so much for your contributions and help. Shows how easy it is to stuff some simple stuff up...

Andrew

Oh and notice the corrosion. Caused by salt on the roads! I have been very careful to drive the car only when it's really wet, or dry after heavy rain so that I hoped all the salt had been washed off the roads. Obviously to no effect.

Note to self - wash off the underside of the car in winter if in ANY doubt.

Andrew