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Guess I messed up my brakes

5K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  Ed_S 
#1 ·
Brakes appeared to be somewhat seized, when I backed out of the garage tonight. Loud bang before moving... Ive had similar experiences with other cars over the years, but only after they've been sitting for quite a while. This was maybe 24 hrs since the car was driven last.

Now I have loud thumping coming from the rear of the car any time the brakes are used. So have likely broken something.

Guess I should have blow dried the car when I put it in the garage yesterday,😃. It was raining at the time.

So, something else to get fixed at my upcoming appointment. Unfortunately it isn't until late December.

It's not like my brakes don't get used during the average drive... Confirmed that tonight as I was trying to ensure I was just using regen, and there were a number of occasions where I was braking relatively lightly and heard felt the damaged brakes kicking in.

Sigh
 
#2 ·
Take it in and they will fix it under warranty. I had this about six months ago. Took two hours. There is a chunk of your brake pad that rusted to the rotor and ripped off. The thudding noise you are hearing is that chunk rattling around in there. I’m not sure if they put on a different formulation of brake pad, but I haven’t had an issue since.

There is a long thread on this in the XC40 Recharge forum. Because the physical brakes don’t get used much due to engine braking, they can be wet when you park. The friction on the brakes would usually dry them. The car doesn’t use a traditional transmission to park. Instead the brakes engage on the back wheels when parked (I think back right specifically - that’s where I had the issue). Wet metal pinched against other wet metal = rust. Then when you try to drive away later (can be as fast as over night), the wheel spins but brakes can’t release, so the stuck chunk of the brake pad rips off.
 
#9 ·
My sister just experienced the infamous rusted brake problem on her 2022 C40. She drove the car in rain and then parked it in the garage for a few days while traveling for business. When she returned and tried to drive the car again, the right rear brake pad was fused to the rotor and although it finally broke loose, a piece of the pad must have broken away and remained fused to the disk because it was making a banging noise. The dealer towed the car to the shop and diagnosed the problem as "right brake assembly, piece of brake pad fused to rotor." They kept the car in the shop for several days waiting for replacement parts. The work order she received when the car was returned stated that they installed 31687441-1 Brake Disc Kit (new replacement right rear brake rotor installed). The work was done under warranty. I assume they also replaced the damaged brake pad although the work order doesn't specifically state this. So my question for the group is this: Does anyone know if the replacement parts are any more rust resistant than the originals? Thanks.
 
#3 ·
Brakes appeared to be somewhat seized, when I backed out of the garage tonight. Loud bang before moving... Ive had similar experiences with other cars over the years, but only after they've been sitting for quite a while. This was maybe 24 hrs since the car was driven last.

Now I have loud thumping coming from the rear of the car any time the brakes are used. So have likely broken something.

Guess I should have blow dried the car when I put it in the garage yesterday,😃. It was raining at the time.

So, something else to get fixed at my upcoming appointment. Unfortunately it isn't until late December.

It's not like my brakes don't get used during the average drive... Confirmed that tonight as I was trying to ensure I was just using regen, and there were a number of occasions where I was braking relatively lightly and heard felt the damaged brakes kicking in.

Sigh
Yep happened to our XC40 Recharge Twin shortly after we bought it...washed the car, sat in garage for a few days, then same as you (big bang when brakes let go and thump-thump-thump). Dealer replaced pads and rotors under warranty. They occasionally get a bit stuck but no thumping. I have been much more careful to drive the car and apply heavy braking after washing the car to dry the rear pads. I'm not convinced it is "fixed" but will continue to monitor it. I bought some ceramic pads as a possible solution, but would need to figure out how to install them (need to disengage park brake - I assume dealer can tell the computer to do that with their software link to the car).
 
#4 · (Edited)
Thanks for the feedback. This sounds like what's going on with my car. Unfortunately I won't be able to get the car looked at for a month. Sounds like they's a tech shortage at my dealership.

I worry though, that the weather is just going to get worse for these things. I can try to clear the brakes as I get near home. But with snow and salt everywhere, I imagine this will be a repeating issue.

For now, I'll just consider myself unlucky, and try to move on... 😃

Now getting propulsion errors... hopefully its associated w/ the brake issue and not something new.
 
#5 ·
It may be worth calling the dealership and letting them know your brakes aren’t working right. I would hope they see that as a safety issue and can try to squeeze it in sooner. It is a well documented issue.

I read at some point that they changed the makeup of the brake pads to reduce the issue. So hopefully once they are replaced it is less likely to happen again. But I’m not sure.
 
#6 ·
It may be worth calling the dealership and letting them know your brakes aren’t working right. I would hope they see that as a safety issue and can try to squeeze it in sooner. It is a well documented issue.
I would agree with this. If you had the thumping sound after the brakes unstuck that means that pieces of your pad material pulled off and your rear brakes are not working 100%.

Hopefully the dealer will try to squeeze you in for a safety related repair like this.

Also check the "brakes rusting together" thread in the XC40 forum. Someone posted the volvo technical bulletin number in there so you could reference that to the dealer if you haven't already.
 
#8 ·
Brakes appeared to be somewhat seized, when I backed out of the garage tonight. Loud bang before moving... Ive had similar experiences with other cars over the years, but only after they've been sitting for quite a while. This was maybe 24 hrs since the car was driven last.

Now I have loud thumping coming from the rear of the car any time the brakes are used. So have likely broken something.

Guess I should have blow dried the car when I put it in the garage yesterday,😃. It was raining at the time.

So, something else to get fixed at my upcoming appointment. Unfortunately it isn't until late December.

It's not like my brakes don't get used during the average drive... Confirmed that tonight as I was trying to ensure I was just using regen, and there were a number of occasions where I was braking relatively lightly and heard felt the damaged brakes kicking in.

Sigh
It should be fine. I had a similar issue. I drove it rather spiritedly through the twisties and it was good as new, just need to clean the rotors.
 
#11 ·
Thanks BuzzyBud. Since it rarely rains in Arizona, brake rust isn't much of a problem. Buy my sister lives in Mississippi where they get a lot more rain and humidity. She likes one-pedal driving but in light of her experience, I have recommended that she use the regular brakes when it rains. And even if it doesn't rain, I suggested that she use the regular brakes on her commute at least one day a week.
 
#12 ·
Wise recommendation! Maybe it is just me, but I am happy to adjust my behavior to accommodate the new EV technology. Perhaps in 5 to 10 years from now, we will all laugh at the accommodations we made to be part of the early adopters! Ha!
 
#16 ·
Parts finally in. Will get the fix installed mid January. I'm still getting some seizing, even after cleaning the brakes before parking. I expect this to get worse as we move into salt season.

I'll also follow up with dealership, to see if they're just putting on the same parts as a replacement, or whether they have improved pads to install
 
#17 ·
It's a long thread, but this post identifies the work performed by a Volvo dealer to replace the stock pads with a different part due to brake pad rusting to the rotors.

UPDATE: Had my dealer service appointment today to examine/fix brakes after I experienced the "brakes rusting together" problem this week. Dealer service manager said an official Technical Service Bulletin was JUST issued by Volvo acknowledging this problem, in the last 2 days. I couldn't find the TSB online yet anywhere, on my work order it says BRAKE PADS DEFECTIVE 51227, VERIFIED PER RTJ 36169. (I think the latter refers to a Volvo Technical Journal article?)

Both my rear brake pads were damaged by the "rusting together" incident. They replaced both of them. Service manager said that - per this TSB - Volvo has now changed the brake pad formulation to a new composite to avoid this problem. We'll see, I guess.

They also cleaned/sanded the rotors, no damage done to those. All in all, took less than 2 hours. Covered under warranty, no charge.
 
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