Pad Sticking To Disc, Wheel Won't Turn Freely

[Guest visionary]

Hi guys,

 

Recently failed an MOT due to the front offside pad sticking to the disc, and the wheel not turning freely when it went up on the ramps. I've had the wheel off and the pad and disc are fine, the disc will turn, but only under a fair bit of pressure. I took the drivers side wheel off as well and the pad/disc wear is around the same on both sides. Any ideas?

A friend of mine suggested there could be a caliper problem, but thought it unlikely on a van of this age (Y - 2001).

The MOT centre said I could take it back in on Monday and they would take it all apart and quote me for a repair, but I'd obviously rather get this done at home...

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers

[KirriePete]

Haven't looked at the brakes on the Blingo, but I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that it's a single piston setup with a sliding caliper. If that's the case, the likely culprit is seized (or just plain sticky/rusty) sliding pins that are stopping the caliper body from moving back away from the disc. Clean 'em up with a wire brush and give 'em a smear of copper grease (or a high temp silicone grease) and they should be fine.

 

9 years without needing this done? Every bike I've had with this setup has needed doing after every winter (and sometimes twice!).

[Guest visionary]

Thanks for the advice, i'll give that a go.