My wife drives our 2005 V50 around town with very little highway driving. At 50k miles, her brakes were worn out, which seemed a little early, but not that bad, especially considering the amount of stop-and-go traffic she drives in every day. I ordered new pads and rotors for the front and rear, and to my surprise, the rear pads were wore down to almost nothing, but the front pads still had around 1/2" thickness. Never having checked the pads when they were new, I shrugged it off and assumed the front pads must have been very thick when they were new. I replaced the rear pads and rotors, and returned the front pads and rotors.

Last week, 25k miles later (75k miles total), the rear pads are nearly gone again, and the front pads look the same as they did at 50k miles (!). It seems the rear brakes are doing all the work on this vehicle, which doesn't make any sense. A buddy of mine who has designed brake systems for Bosch for 20 years suggested that perhaps the front pads got glazed from some really hard stops early in the vehicle's lifetime. So now, even though the front pads are getting pressure applied, they can't generate any friction/heat, and the rear brakes are doing all the work. Seems logical enough.

Coincidentally (?), this past weekend a separate problem has developed. After a few miles of driving the other day, the car came back and the whole garage stunk like a burning clutch. Walking around the car looking for the source of the smell, I felt heat coming off the driver side rear wheel like a furnace, and I could hear it ticking as the metal was contracting in the freezing Michigan temperatures. So it seems the left rear brake caliper is stuck. Also, my wife had mentioned that the parking brake handle had no tension until it was half way to the top of it's normal travel. We use the parking brake all the time (it's a manual transmission). Now I'm in search of reasons why the parking brake cable would be stuck, and/or the caliper would lock down on the rotor like that. Any common areas for the parking brake cable to corrode, or let moisture in that freezes the cable in the taught position, such that when you release the parking brake lever, the tension is still applied to the caliper? I had that happen on a Ford Escort back in the early 90's. A rubber boot covering the parking brake cable allowed water in, and when that water froze, it would lock the parking brake cable in the taught position. I used to have to crawl under the car and beat the cable with the tire iron to break up the ice before I could drive it. There was a recall on that, and Ford fixed it for free.

Maybe this has the been problem for a while (stuck cable/caliper), and that would explain why the rear brakes are wearing more quickly than the front brakes?

 

As far as the rear pads wearing quickly, this is normal. Volvo's have electronic brake force distribution and, like most cars with these systems, bias to the rear under light braking. The Volvo pads are also soft to provide excellent braking performance. The down side is that the wear quicker. On all my Volvos, when using Volvo pads, I usually get about 35K miles out of the rears and 50-60K out of the fronts. I have switched to Hawk HPS pads for longer wear, less dust and nearly as good if not the same performance.

I haven't heard of the parking brake cable problem on these cars. Have you checked if debris could be jamming something?

I did have one corrode and jam on my '81 Plymouth Horizon just like your Escort. I had to do the same using a wooden pole to break them loose. Finally, it jammed permanently and the brakes got so hot that it boiled the brake fluid and I have to pump the brakes repeatedly to stop the car.

Stan

 

I work for a company that develops brake control systems (ABS, electronic stability control (ESC), etc.). You're right that most cars have electronic brake distribution, but it's not correct that manufacturers bias the force distribution toward the rear brakes; in fact, they purposely do the opposite for two main reasons:

1. There's typically more weight on the front axle, especially in a front-wheel drive vehicle like my V50. With the extra normal force on the front axle, they can achieve more stopping power due to greater tire traction. Greater stopping power leads to shorting stopping distances.

2. If enough brake pressure is applied to cause the tire to skid, OEMs typically want the front wheels to lock up before rear wheels. This causes understeer (vehicle plows straight ahead, even with the steering wheel turned). Understeer is generally preferred by OEMs compared to locking the rear wheels first, which, without ABS/ESC, would lead to spin out / oversteer conditions. Understeer is considered an easier situation for the average driver to handle compared to a vehicle that locks the rear wheels first and causes the rear end to come around, requiring aggressive counter steering maneuvers to correct the vehicle orientation.

These basic guidelines are true regardless of heavy or light braking pressure.

A few notable exceptions to this rule are some Porsche and other exotic cars. Volvo? Definitely not.

 

Perhaps the Volvo Tech Rep told me wrong. The reason that he gave was that by initially biasing to the rear (not to the point of lockup) under routine braking is to prevent nose dive and then balances with the front. The bias shifts more to the front under heavy braking. I am not a brake expert as yourself but it made sense to me and seems to fit what I have experienced.

Bottom line, the rear pads commonly wear more quickly on these cars (as they do with many makes these days). On my all three of my Volvos, I have replaced the rears twice as often as the front. My Toyota Sienna is the opposite.

You might be interested in this:
http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/tech/S40MY2005-Brakes.pdf

If you need, I can get info for replacing your parking brake cable off VADIS.

 

Got the wheels off and had a good look at the rear brakes this week. The driver side rear caliper was jammed pretty tight up against the rotor. The wheel wasn't roasting hot, but I could only turn the rotor using a pry bar instead of by hand. It must have been really locked up a few weeks ago when all that heat was coming off it. Needless to say, the brake pad and rotor look pretty scorched, so I'll definitely need to replace them. I think I may replace the hub/bearing as well, since they may have been damaged by all the heat.

I was able to carefully add some WD-40 to the parking brake hinge assembly (don't get WD-40 on your pads or rotors!) and work it lose with a small pry tool. The passenger side parking brake hinge wasn't as bad, but it was pretty sticky. Then I operated the hand brake lever several times to work the lubricant into the parking brake hinges on both rear calipers. What a difference! The hand brake lever feels like it did when the car was new; it now engages almost immediately when you begin to lift it up, and it has good tension.

The rear rotors spin freely again with the parking brake released. More interesting is that the brake pedal has more travel now before brake pressure begins to build during normal driving. It's not bad, just different. The sticky parking brake hinges were apparently holding the pads tight up against the rotors all the time, and therefore when the brake pedal was depressed, the rear brakes were engaging first. The extra pedal travel I have now probably means the front brakes are actually doing some work for once, and I can expect them to start wearing.

So it seems the rear brakes were doing most the work to stop the car under light/moderate braking, but not because of the Electronic Brake Distribution. Now that the parking brake hinge is free, the spring that pulls the caliper away from the rotor when the parking brake is released can do it's job, and the rear calipers go back to their relaxed position when the brakes are not being applied.

I wonder how common this problem is, and if this is actually what's causing the rear brakes to wear first on so many Volvos? When I replace the brakes in the next week or so, I'll post some photos so you can have a look at your own to see if you have the same condition.

 

Finally got around to installing my new caliper today on the driver side rear. After installing the new caliper, pads, and rotor, I put it back together, went out into the parking lot, activated the hand brake and released it, then drove it 12 miles from my office/garage back to my house.

When I got home, the smell of hot brakes greeted my nose again, and it was the new caliper that was hot. WTF?

I pulled the wheel off, and sure enough the new caliper was stuck. I pried it loose, applied some WD-40 to the hinge, and had my son apply and release the hand brake a few times. The first few times he pulled it and released it, the lever stayed in the applied position as shown in the first photo.



After working it 20-30 more times, it seems to have loosened up and now rests in the released position when the parking brake lever is released as shown in the second photo.



Pretty strange that a new (refurbished) caliper would do that. The cable seems free to move, so I can't help but think these calipers must be prone to this problem.

 

That is very strange. Where did you get the caliper? I had ordered a refurbished caliper for my '94 Integra. It was full of grit debris from when they cleaned it up.

I just did the brakes on my '04 Sienna. I wasn't having any trouble, just the front pads were worn. I found the passenger side was not worn quite as much as the drivers side. It turned out to be a seized guide pin preventing the caliper from clamping properly. Fortunately, the Toyota dealer near me is open until 6pm on Sat and they had the pin and caliper mounting bracket in stock. I am very thankful that my wife didn't have to make any panic stops.
Stan

 

My V50 (2007 T5 FWD) has the same problem. At first I noticed the rear wheels had a lot more brake dust than the front. I thought it might cause by different material used in the rear pads. This morning when I did a quick check on the pad (<32K miles), the rear pads are worn down to almost nothing while the front pads are still like now.

IMHO (again I am not expert here) the problem is caused by the integrated parking brake feature and a weak return spring. From now on, I am going to carry a brick in my car and use that as my parking brake instead.

 

Are you sure the parking brake is sticking? Do you notice drag while driving? These cars go through rear pads in about 30K miles (assuming you are using Volvo pads). They are soft material and the electronic brake force distribution favors the rear in normal braking. Expect about 60K miles out of the fronts.

The system works in conjunction with ABS to prevent rear wheel slippage. The system allows for less rear wheel slippage than the front which controls to 15 to 20% slippage.
Stan

 

Jacked my car up today. Spinned the rear wheels and no stuck caliper I suppose the brake pad material is just too soft: 32K miles and there is less than 3mm left on the rear pads. BTW: The pistons were a bitch to push in. I bought the KD rear brake caliper kit from Amazon. The adaptor does not quite fit and keeps slipping You can cross that out from your list if you are going to buy a set.

 

I have the kit from Astro Pneumatic. It seems to work well.
Stan

 

This is probably an old thread and i'm a new member, so please excuse, or tell me, any protocol or etiquette breaches.
I am wondering if by "..kit included 'adapter'.." you are talking about a brake piston wind-back tool ? because i just replaced rear pads yesterday( 8 jan '21) on an '08 V50 and had to make my own windback tool- i live in nz and stuff is damned expensive and often hard to get, so we 'get by'.
this tool is simply 2 short pins of 5mm dia.by 14mm long(9/16") welded 19mm(3/4") between centres( onto a 10mm(3/8) round bar 140mm long(5.5")
I can usually wind most park brake pistons with readily available tools but these were really tight to 'break' and took a few half turns before freeing up- this tool will only allow 1/2 turns. It is simple,works really well and took about 30mins to knock together from available steel rod i had lying around.
I have never experienced any park brake seize that seems to be a problem on this thread. Many times i have seen caliper slides seize and it is surprising how little it takes to lock a brake on through this hence i always use caliper grease(high temp.) on the slides/pins and pad rear metal faces- this eliminates most squeal, if not all...well i've never,ever had a problem and i've been in the car business for nigh on 50yrs haha.
I logged onto this site because i am having a terrible job finding rear brake piston dust boots for Volvo, i can get a rebuild kit but doesn't seem to incl. the outer dust boot- and the pistons/seals etc do not need rebuilding. The ones on this V50 don't look too flash so i thought i'd do those as well ??
Ah well i'll go back to searching....bye and well done if you put up with my rambling thus far haha.