Brake caliper not secure

[M.A.94]

Hello just after some opinions of from you guys.

Basically my car was booked in this morning for brake disks+pads and fresh brake fluid.

Picked the car up drove it home (1-2 miles) heard a knocking noise coming from the rear.

At this time the garage was closed to I decided to do some inspectin myself. Took the rear nearside wheel off and one of the bolts holding the caliper is loose.

What I want to know is has this happened to anyone before as this exact same scenario has happened with a friend who used a different garage.

He was told that the bolts didn't have enough lock tight on them and thus came loose with all the vibration. I have replaced brake pads in the past and never used lock tight and not had an issue (I tend to drive pretty hard too).

I know things could have been a lot worse say for example the caliper came loose and pulled the hand brake cable so I'm counting myself lucky this time. Should I accept this as a mistake from the mechanic and ask him to sort it or do I go and complain.

Lastly if the disks or bads have been scored who is responsible for new parts.

These questions may seem pretty obvious. However I know a lot of mechanics are on this forum and would like to here an opinion from your end of the stick.

 

[markjay]

I do use Locktite on clipper bolts.

Said that, I dont think the bolts became loose due to lack of Locktite, instead the issue here seems to be that the bolt wasn't torqued correctly in the first place (or maybe they did not use a torque wrench at all?).

 

[markjay]

I am not a professional mechanic, I should add, just DIY.

 

[a111r]

Should be up at around 80 nm.
Some one forgot...
Thread locks aren't really needed here.

 

[A250 Bennyboy]

Wind up thread just saying
Sounds it though
Takes one to know one
Cheers
Ben

 

[A250 Bennyboy]

I mean brake calipers not secure lol
Stop the car then and don't drive the death trap bla bla bla

 

[rorf]

Piss poor workmanship - that caliper bolt was never tightened up in the first place. It does not just vibrate itself loose.

You do not mention what garage worked on it, dealer, indy or pop's corner garage:fail

 

[RichardF]

I've seen similar happen! We had a ban on mobile phones in the workshop.

Unusual but it does happen.
Mechanic nips up bolt, then disturbed and forgets to torque it, or leaves the apprentice to finish and work not checked.

 

[Druk]

Mercedes recommend that calliper bolts are replaced every time. Since they are not 'stretch' bolts, therefore entirely re-useable, this is to ensure that they do have a loctite coating which new bolts are supplied with. DIY Loctite + correct torque is essential.

 

[grober]

^^^^^^ What Druk said. Mercedes use threadlocker on their bolts. Good Threadlocker has anti seize properties as well as locking. You should report it to the garage who did the work in a calm and reasonable manner . Could be an honest mistake/oversight or it could be careless work. They may well chose to do nothing about it, but unless you report it they are never going to know till the next"incident" where someone else might not be so lucky if it was due to slipshod work.

 

[markjay]

When I removed the calipers on my car (not MB) I did use new bolts and Locktite, but I suspect many garages won't be doing this.

On balance I think the key issue here is incorrect torque.

While new bolts and locking compound are no doubt important, I still don't think that a properly torqued re-used bolt would come undone on the way home from the garage.

 

[pmcgsmurf]

As others have said should be new bolts and these come pre-coated with the anti-sieze/slip on it.

Could be a genuine mistake bit shows a poor quality of workmanship.

Many garages now will let younger unqualified workers do jobs that should then be signed off/checked by a qualified tech.
Sometimes though with work going on in a busy garage things can get missed but the key should be it's not a race, check it, check it then check it again.

 

[Yugguy]

You do need thread locker but even without it the bolt should not come loose that quickly. I've changed countless discs down the years and not always used locker but NEVER had a loose bolt.

 

[M.A.94]

I mean brake calipers not secure lol
Stop the car then and don't drive the death trap bla bla bla

When did I say Im driving the car?

 

[tonysmb]

Most likely scenario is, as already stated, failure to torque, or torque correctly.

Was it the caliper that was loose, or the carrier, ie the frame that the caliper is fitted to?

The least you want done is for all of the bolts removed/replaced to be re-checked. I'm sure the garage owner/manager/whoever will appreciate the potential risks if the brakes haven't been fitted correctly, so a polite discussion is the way to start.

Last Saturday morning before Christmas, were they in a rush to finish?

Are the pads/discs actually scored? I wouldn't necessarily expect that after 2 miles just because the caliper was loose. If they are, it's reasonable, on your part, to expect the new brakes/discs to be 'as new' if all you've done is to drive 2 miles.

 

[M.A.94]

Most likely scenario is, as already stated, failure to torque, or torque correctly.

Was it the caliper that was loose, or the carrier, ie the frame that the caliper is fitted to?

The least you want done is for all of the bolts removed/replaced to be re-checked. I'm sure the garage owner/manager/whoever will appreciate the potential risks if the brakes haven't been fitted correctly, so a polite discussion is the way to start.

Last Saturday morning before Christmas, were they in a rush to finish?

Are the pads/discs actually scored? I wouldn't necessarily expect that after 2 miles just because the caliper was loose. If they are, it's reasonable, on your part, to expect the new brakes/discs to be 'as new' if all you've done is to drive 2 miles.

Cheers buddy. It's the caliper that is loose. I'll get the guys to double check all bolts etc when I go back tomorrow and hopefully this is all it would take to resolve the issue.

 

[DSM10000]

Wind up thread just saying
Sounds it though
Takes one to know one
Cheers
Ben

I mean brake calipers not secure lol
Stop the car then and don't drive the death trap bla bla bla

From reading the thread you seem to be wrong.........................Again!

 

[a111r]

Note to DIY:
A car needs to be well raised off the floor to enable an appropriately rated torque wrench to be used on these bolts.
Otherwise, there's insufficient space to use it.

 

[ExMercTech]

This is getting so comman lately
Picked up three cars this month with loose calipers.
One didn't have any bolts in it at all and the wheel was loose. (Garage at fault)

Phill.

 

[Druk]

This is getting so comman lately
Picked up three cars this month with loose calipers.
One didn't have any bolts in it at all and the wheel was loose. (Garage at fault)

Phill.

Another reason for not letting QuackFit anywhere near your car.