W22 Front Brake dragging - guess I'm the latest victim

[deputydog]

I went out on my weekly drive in my 34' Alegro Bay today and all was fine until I got about half-mile from the house and I started to smell something burning. I live in Gainesville Florida and we don't have any hills so they can't blame it on that. I have a CDL and drove an MCI 7 coach for a church and trained people for the CDL test for several years so they can't blame it on the operator.

At first I thought it might be the A/C motor due to strong smell coming from A/C vent, but as soon as I pulled into the shed and opened the hood smoke came out. Having read the forums I got out my remote temp sensor. Right front rotor was 356° F and left front was 225°. The rears were also in the low 200's. The tire pressure gauge only showed a 2° higher temp in the right front tire probably because I caught it so soon. After parking about 30 minutes, the right tire had risen 7° higher than the left.

My coach is a 2005 on a W22 late 2004 chassis. I've owned it for 18 months and have put 3000 miles on it. I drive it every week 20 to 30 miles to keep it up. Total mileage is 5,900.

The nearest authorized Workhorse service center is in Ocala Florida about 50 miles from my house, so I either have to get it loosened up or have it towed. I jacked it up and it is definitely dragging badly compared to the left front.

I'll call Workhorse Monday, but in the mean time anybody out there have any experience with what Workhorse wants us to do to document an incident and how they want us to get it to the shop?

I have an well equipped shop and have worked on lots of brakes etc. but I don't want to mess with anything until I know what they expect. I bled the brakes several months ago, so it's definitely not bad fluid.

Thanks-

[bsinmich]

When I called WH on Thursday I was told to just use it and if it siezes to just pull over for an hour and let it cool. They will do nothing until October when the new parts are available. By the time you are able to drivie it the brakes will have cooled and they can do nothing unless it will do it when the mechanic is driving it.

[deputydog]

Thanks for the info regarding WH's response. I'll give them a call just to put my problem on the record.

I let it cool for a couple of hours and jacked it back up and it is free now. I checked both of the fronts and they have about the same resistance relative to each other and are significantly looser now and the brake pad tabs can be wiggled slightly by hand.

I must have caught it soon enough because I don't see any cracking or discoloration on the rotors and the ABS sensor looks fine.

My money says its something to do with the material the caliper pucks are made of, how they are fitted into the caliper, or something acting like a check valve and not letting the fluid back to the master cylinder.

I've seen lots of abused/nasty brakes on work trucks that have never had the pins lubricated or cleaned, nor the brake fluid even changed and 10+ years and 150,000 miles later they still work fine. Go figure??

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by deputydog My money says its something to do with the material the caliper pucks are made of, how they are fitted into the caliper, or something acting like a check valve and not letting the fluid back to the master cylinder.

The problem is well documented and is related to the pistons inside the caliper. Your service center should be able to change the failed part until the new components are available to resolve the campaign. See the Interim Notice.

Quote:

I've seen lots of abused/nasty brakes on work trucks that have never had the pins lubricated or cleaned, nor the brake fluid even changed and 10+ years and 150,000 miles later they still work fine. Go figure??

The is also consistent with Workhorse commercial vehicles. Brake fluid however should not be allowed to go 10 years and 150,000 miles. At that point I can guarantee that if the fluid were tested, the fluid will show something other than DOT3/4 brake fluid.

Quote:

I'll call Workhorse Monday, but in the mean time anybody out there have any experience with what Workhorse wants us to do to document an incident and how they want us to get it to the shop?

Please read the Interim Notice and the Glove Box Card located in the stickies at the top of the forum. These are the procedures that you are looking for.

[deputydog]

Thanks DriVer - that's was my first guess noted above - the pucks (pistons) jambing in the caliper due to material or fitting issues.

Regarding the abused work trucks, I don't treat my stuff that way and don't suggest that it is a good idea, just that these Bosch/WH brakes definitely have issues since there are hundreds of thousands of vehicles out there that get a lot less maintenance and yet don't have problems.

Lastly, I did get the interim recall notice and have the card with recommended procedures, but I was more wondering what the actual field response was when WH was contacted.

Hopefully some good replacement parts are in the works and the issue can be resolve for all.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by deputydog Lastly, I did get the interim recall notice and have the card with recommended procedures, but I was more wondering what the actual field response was when WH was contacted.

Calling Roadside Assistance would be step one. They are the ones that are tasked to administer and coordinate all campaigns.

When your vehicle gets to the service center, the center contacts the regional service manager and the RSM will evaluate what will be replaced under warranty.

Under the Interim Notice terms what's broke will get fixed at no charge to the customer.

[bdaball]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bsinmich When I called WH on Thursday I was told to just use it and if it siezes to just pull over for an hour and let it cool. They will do nothing until October when the new parts are available. By the time you are able to drivie it the brakes will have cooled and they can do nothing unless it will do it when the mechanic is driving it.

Who told you parts would be available in October?

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdaball Who told you parts would be available in October?

I'm thinking this time line may be a little optimistic. If it rolls out earlier than later that'll be a good thing. If it's October, It'll certainly get us on the road to recovery a lot quicker.

[BellaBo]

Deputy Dog.... I spoke to Turning Wheel in Ocala on Friday and they said they could get me next week to replace a caliper that hung up on me Friday. They didn't sound like they needed approvals or anything. You might double check with them.

[bsinmich]

The lady I talked to at WH stated the parts would be ready by October. I sure hope she was correct.

[BellaBo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bsinmich The lady I talked to at WH stated the parts would be ready by October. I sure hope she was correct.

That is what Turning Wheel indicated to me too. However, I don't think DriVer is as optimistic about that time frame.
Fingers and feet crossed!

[deputydog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Streamerman Deputy Dog.... I spoke to Turning Wheel in Ocala on Friday and they said they could get me next week to replace a caliper that hung up on me Friday. They didn't sound like they needed approvals or anything. You might double check with them.

Two questions for you Streamerman:

Have you used Turning Wheel before? I've never been there. I noticed one other WH authorized service center in Ocala, but it sounds more like a truck repair shop.

Also, did yours free up? Mine is fine now, but who knows when/if it will hang up again. I flushed the fluid from both front wheels and it looked fine.

[deputydog]

DriVer:

What is your take on WH's stand regarding continued use of our coaches until new parts are available. I'm not sure about everybody else, but I'm not real excited about not driving mine until October. Based on what they are saying, letting them sit for several months until parts are available might just be asking for trouble when we finally have to take them to the shop and they hang up on the way.

Also does WH have any kind of waiting list for those who have had problems verses those who have had no issues. If so, how do we get on that list.

I sure would hate to wait until October and then find out that due to limited parts availability that we end up waiting months after that to get them replaced.

Thanks for any input you can offer.

[BellaBo]

Deputydog... I have used Turning Wheel several times and have been very happy with their work. I usually dealt with Armando. I don't know if he is still at the Ocala location or not but they do good work there. I had a windshield replaced, they fixed a wandering problem with alignment and replaced shocks and repaired a generator starting problem.

Can't comment on the truck servicer.

I haven't been back to the M/H since last Friday, when the failure occurred, so don't know if the caliper freed up but I assume it did.

I asked Turning Wheel if they were starting a list of names for the "new calipers" and they said no, they are going to do first come first served when their available. I think the M/H will be sitting until I can get the calipers replaced as I don't like the option of sitting on the side of the road letting them cool off. Heck of a note for a $100k+ M/H.

I would be interested to hear of your experience if you get yours fixed there.