Vauxhall Astra EPB issue.

1vincent

Newbie
Hello.

I have a Vauxhall Astra 09 plate car.

Due to Covid-19 the car has not been used for 4 months as my partner has been working from home.

We are going to have some work done on the house and the cars need to be moved off the driveway and parked elsewhere.

She started the Astra ok but when she was reversing we heard a squealing noise from the rear wheels. She applied the Electronic Parking Brake and then released it but it sounded different from what the normal sound used to be.

I had a quick check underneath but could not see anything hanging down that should not be there and there are no warning lights on the dashboard.

The car was serviced and MOT'd and has only done 100miles after them.

She had this issue 2 or 3 years ago but that was in the winter and Vauxhall dealer mechanic said it could be the snow, ice, salt or frozen cable and it should free itself on its own which it did about a week later.

The brakes were changed 2 years ago.

Has anybody had the same issue as me and what did they do to stop the squealing or has some advice for me.
 
Probably the rear calipers need looking at with the car being stood so long etc.
Also make sure the battery is fully charged so the parking brake activates and releases properly.
There is a sequence to put the rear handbrake into service mode releasing the piston pressure on the pads but if your not really clued up with how the system of brakes works etc best leave to a professional ok.
 
Probably the rear calipers need looking at with the car being stood so long etc.
Also make sure the battery is fully charged so the parking brake activates and releases properly.
There is a sequence to put the rear handbrake into service mode releasing the piston pressure on the pads but if your not really clued up with how the system of brakes works etc best leave to a professional ok.
Thank you for your reply.

I remembered there was a way of resetting the EPG by something like you said and i think there were 2 ways of doing it, one by using a Vauxhall tool that plugs into the socket under the dashboard and another that you follow a sequence but the later one is a reset.

I have not tried the later one.

Wondering since lying has the discs gone rusty and noise is pads skimming the rust?

Does the car move easily with handbrake off.

She has not taken the car on the road yet just in the driveway.

She mentioned it to me 2 days ago and she said the car moved ok but just the squealing made her panic and she stopped the car.

On the service/MOT paperwork it did mention about rust spots and this was due to the age of the car and advised that the fronts brakes be changed soon but they passed the MOT and the rears were ok.
 
Yeah its a pain in the rear when a car is stood so long with the handbrake engaged im afraid.
My car is garaged over winter but i just leave it in gear with the handbrake off etc.
May well just need possible cleaning of surface rust off the brake discs etc and taken for a run to bed them back in.
My sons car has brake pads fitted on the rear with a fixed wear indicator that scrapes on the disc when the pads are at min level etc

Like this
 

Attachments

  • brake-pad-wear-indicator.jpg
    brake-pad-wear-indicator.jpg
    17.8 KB · Views: 5
Yeah its a pain in the rear when a car is stood so long with the handbrake engaged im afraid.
My car is garaged over winter but i just leave it in gear with the handbrake off etc.
May well just need possible cleaning of surface rust off the brake discs etc and taken for a run to bed them back in.
My sons car has brake pads fitted on the rear with a fixed wear indicator that scrapes on the disc when the pads are at min level etc

Thank you.

About 2 years ago she left the car on the driveway and left the interior light on and the battery went flat. Were she had parked the car was close to 2 walls front and side so hardly any room to move the car and as the front of the car was facing away from my car we could not jump it as you needed 15ft - 17ft of jump leads so we had to buy a charger.

We charged it up overnight and tested the battery voltage and it seemed ok. Turned the car on and it started 1st time (diesel) but there were warning lights but after sorting them out all was ok. We she went to move back released the EPB by foot on brake and pushing down EPB button but when accelerated and released the clutch the back of the car rose up but would not move, tried 3 or 4 times with same result so left it running for an hour and tried again but this time there was a clunk and it moved.

Local Vauxhall dealer where she gets the car serviced and MOT done had a look at it but said it was ok and that having no battery and leaving for a long time may have led to the EPB sticking.

We have talked to 5 o6 people we know that have Astra's and all of them have had issues with the EPB at some point and 1 woman had the EPB stuck on when she was at a multi-storey car park at the barriers waiting to leave. All the people behind her were not happy.
 
Brakes were seized onto surface of disc or drum which is a common thing , forward or reverse movement break's the contact.

The crack or clunk was what you will hear when it unbonds , it also happens on other Opels with brake shoes and bring for a drive and use footbrake to clean surface of linings and surface.

Not sure if its the material they use in their brakes

Lockdown or not vehicles need a run on road to make sure everything is ok.
 
Yeah sometimes does more harm than good to leave a car parked up for so long without regular starting and a quick blip around the block.
Mind you the government didnt help matters with the extended MOT entitlement and i bet there was a fair few cars on the road with some semi dangerous faults waiting to occur etc.
 
I had a better look at the car today and the wheel discs have rust on them and not much shinny metal is showing.

The passenger side wheels are worse because where the car has been parked next to the neighbours garage that is joined to his house their guttering/facia board has sagged and and their downpipe from their hipped roof pours onto the garage flat roof and into the gutter and then should flow into a down pipe at the back of the garage but it has been overflowing on top of her car for a few weeks i think.

Is there a way getting the rust off these wheel discs in situ or would it mean taking the car for spin and using the brakes to smooth off the rust?
 
If they are heavily rusted i would personally remove each wheel and give the discs a rub with some scotchbrite and finish off with a can of brake cleaner etc
 
Post up photos as thinking time for new discs and pads. Get car out for a run and use footbrake on and off to help clean the discs.

Need photos of before car is moved and after your journey to see what's happening.

Brake cleaner is only used for cleaning rust protection on new discs.
 
Back
Top