Hiya!
I have a 2004 freelander TD4, this morning having driven for about 1/2 an hour (on a-roads at 50mph, a few roundabouts but generally just chipping away!), I then came up to a roundabout and the car started making a scraping/knocking noise around the roundabout and then continued after it on a straight section. I thought it sounded a bit like the noise from a failing driveshaft. However, I then had to brake quite hard because the car in front braked and I nearly lost control! the brake pedal felt fine and pushed as normal but it was almost like it was braking only at one side. The car swerved hard one way then felt like it wanted to pull hard the other way, basically it went out of control
It did eventually stop and I managed to pull over without hitting anyone which was nothing short of a miracle.
I got out and had a look, brake resevoir wasnt hot, nothing leaking and nothing to be seen on discs etc. I then set of again, it was fine for about a mile then started doing the same thing again when I tried to brake, generally just going all over the place. I then stopped again for about 10 mins (cancelled mornings appointments, wasnt going to risk going on a motorway!) and went to limp home with her. However it never did it again and typically drove all the way home absolutely fine. I tried braking hard again and nothing affected it.
I don't know what it could be and it's making me nervous to drive it again in case it lets me down on a fast road.

Sorry for long post but any thoughts would be much appreciated

Its possible a calliper seized and wouldn't release.
If you have some DIY skills take the wheels off & inspect the pads & pistons. If not take it to a garage.
I had a calliper seize on the front of my motorbike, in the winter, wasn't fun!

hiya

many thanks for your reply

i'll get my other half to take a look at it (I'm rubbish at DIY!), but that gives us a starting point which is great. I was glad to get home but annoyed at the same time that it had stopped doing it as faults are so much harder to find then arent they!

oooh if the same thing happened on a motorbike no that would not be fun. it was scary enough in the car this morning!

thanks again

Maybe you got a chipping or something stuck between the pads on one side ( it could explain the clicking ) it would hinder the braking on that side after a bit it may have dropped out.
Just a thought

Quick check for seized brake-feel the wheels. A hot 1 has probably got a seized brake, or a collapsed bearing but it's a good place to start.

edge said:

Maybe you got a chipping or something stuck between the pads on one side ( it could explain the clicking ) it would hinder the braking on that side after a bit it may have dropped out.
Just a thought

Click to expand...

Good point- happened to me before.

Even more obvious- the pads on the side of the disk you can't see- have they got friction material still on them? If the calliper has seized it could have worn one pad down the the metal.

If suspension is damaged it will cause the car to drag to one side under braking but I'd expect this to be a more permanent problem rather than only happening once or twice.

thanks for the replies we're going to take a good look at the brakes, hopefully that is what the problem was. I'll let you know if we find anything!