Resistance to turning from wheel
 

I was doing some work on my car recently, and noticed that one of the rear wheels seems to have quite a bit of resistance to turning. If I spin it with one hand, it generally stops in 1 second, and stops quite 'suddenly'. Also it needs a fair bit of force to just turn it at all.

I think it has been like this for ages, because driving my Micra today (just got it back on the road!), I am amazed at how much faster it speeds up going down hills with the engine off and so on.

Do you think the brakes binding to the degree above would actually make a difference to coasting ability or not? (As, the force you can apply by hand is quite low anyway so shouldn't make much difference?). I'm seriously considering getting a new set of rear brakes, as I doubt the discs will make it through the next MOT test anyway.

I will post a video when I have time - I took one on my phone :)

Had the Same Problem
 

I had the same problem not too long ago.

Thread.

Are you smelling any burnt-brake type smells or notice any excess heat from that wheel? If not, it could be a bearing. Are there lubrication points, or is it a sealed system?

RH77

I sometimes smell a slight burnt-brake smell, but not always. If there has been a frost, that calipers will *always* seize, and give off smoke etc until it defrosts!.

What I think I will do is remove the caliper (but leave it connected to the brake line), and see how the wheel spins then. If it is the bearing I will replace it, but, if you saw my disks + caliper (the caliper is encrusted with rust, and disks have two levels... The outer 33% are rusty, lumpy, and seem to be not used anymore (the pads have worn more here), the inside is OK.

I've got some good quotes for calipers + discs (I also have 1 spare rear caliper anyway), so, I think I am going to go for a full rear-brake-system refurbishment :)

From my description, do you think it will make much difference to the economy?

Any brake dragging could cause effiency problems. It does sound like your brakes are dragging. Might not be a bad idea to check the front ones as well.

Should Help
 

Most certainly. Based on my own experience, I was having a tough go of it. Any resistance will decrease FE. Best of luck with the brake job.

RH77

Brake drag is definitely worth fixing. I had some on my first Firefly, and after I replaced the bad caliper, fuel economy improved measurably.

Go team OB!
 

Naaaa dont bother. Really, you are fine, not worth the time. :rolleyes:

Right, right! That's what I meant to say too.

Actually, the extra heat generated by dragging brakes is a good thing. Heat rises, so it makes your car lighter. That will surely save fuel.

This FE competition sure keeps us on our toes, looking for every possible benefit and sharing knowledge openly with the field.

Plus with the extra heat you dont have to use your heater as much!!:p

It has helped me a bit. It is great that there are so many other nutters out there willing to experiment for the good of efficiency. :cool:

(with a southern accent)

Now boys, you wouldn't happen to be givin' some bad advice to team members now would ya?

;)

Just Playin...

That huge tank of helium in the hatchback really helps my FE. I actually passed a tractor-trailer with liquified helium and thought to myself if that was a light load. I had to smack myself with the owners manual after I actually thought about it :rolleyes:

The Commish

:o No sir, just helping the out-of-towner. Like y'all know, this is a freindly sorta thing. Yesum?

I've had several incidences of the mechanical brake cable developing rust and binding in its housing. Applying the pedal or lever will pull the cable and engage the brake. The return spring in the caliper didn't have enough force to return the cable and fully release the brake when the pedal / lever was released.
The wear pattern described implies something misaligned or bent. Check the slide pins on which the caliper should 'float' or slide laterally to accomodate uniform pad wear.