Car brake fitters!

Ring them, say what's happened, they should be apologetic as hell, come and get the car and give you a new disc and caliper. Don't accept anything else, but don't be an arse.

This stuff happens, rarely, they need to make it good.

Sounds like the kwikly need to come get it and fit the pads correctly.

Apprentice been let loose I hope.

Fill the car full of bomberz and sausages and send it flaming through their waiting room at 40mph.

No pudding for them!

I like scruffy's idea. But I suppose moly's suggestion is the right thing to do. 

Molgrips is right -give them a chance to fix.  Don't be cross on the phone.  Just tell them what happened.  New disc and caliper required unless there is no visible damage to either which is unlikely.  They have to collect from your house.

Perhaps a courtesy car if that car is needed

This stuff happens,

only by people that are incompetent assholes and should not be running a garage. They have 1 simple job, they mess it up...what did they think the other pad in the box was for?

+1 suasages and bombers.

Public safety in the hands of idiots, its not rare, its everywhere all the time unfortunately.

only by people that are incompetent assholes and should not be running a garage

...who exist...

I'm not saying it should happen or that it's right - but it does. That wasn't meant to be an excuse for it.

Yeah , but you pay these professionals to do a, let's face it, relatively simple job .
Which in most cases is an hour's work. Unless it's a weird set up with bearing in disc .
They charge you for their time and accrued knowledge. So they let a 19 year old lad loose on your car who is interrupted every minute by his phone which he deems to be more important than the job he's paid to do. The distracted lad failed to get the job finished properly by home time but left anyway.
And this is what you end up , a bunch of ****less idiots who couldn't organise a shit show in a sewage works so someone's safely is put at risk by being handed back a car that would fail an MOT and behave very strangely in a forced stop situation.

what did they think the other pad in the box was for?

I've worked beside plenty 'technicians' who are unable to carry multiples of 4 pads to the skip, instead leaving single pads lying around.<br />And brake fitters are generally a lower level of intelligence...

Would it not be better to find out exactly what has happened rather than the kangaroo court for the 19 year old on his phone, if he is not qualified for the work or capable of knowing what he's doing should it not be up to the boss or someone checking his work

I don't think anyone would last anytime in work if they were constantly on their phone

A few years ago a bike shop in Edinburgh fitted a headset all mixed up , only noticed it 45 miles back home wondering why my campag headset was so notchy

A wee bit annoying to say the least

@onewheelgood user name checks out.

I have nothing useful to add; molgrips and redmex +1

Wow. Alot of people on here still think mechanics are stupid....

I'd call them.  They should come straight out.  Presumably you've got the wheel off?  It either needs recovery or them to correct it there and then. 

No need to go apeshit.  You'll get a better response by being nice and calm. 

You should also get the caliper checked, for damage to the face of the piston, and also as the piston isn't designed to be loaded with a sideways force and it would have been pumped almost all the way out of the caliper.  Normally the brake pad would take the sideways load.

Wow. Alot of people on here still think mechanics are stupid….<br /><br />

The fact that one of them has managed to forget to fit a brake pad would suggest that some of them are…

'looks like' they forgot to fit a pad?

Any possibility before the mechanic gets shot that this isn't one of those rare occurrences where pad and backing separate?

There some misplaced apologists on here - I would be going absolutely batshit mental if a professional 3rd party who id entrusted to work on a major safety system fails in such an easily avoided way.

Then the backing plate would still be in between the caliper piston and the disc.
The backing plates almost always have a mechanical fixing so in the event of a delamination the above situation doesn't happen

As for yoofs addicted to mobile phone use , it's endemic. Work comes second to the dopamine hit of a watts app ping on their phones

Any possibility before the mechanic gets shot that this isn’t one of those rare occurrences where pad and backing separate?

Nope. I can clearly see the piston, no trace of a pad.

Two questions:

Can you even fit one disk? (Thought you'd need a pair)

Are "we" sure there's no pad in? I didn't even know the piston could come out far enough to touch the disk

Is it possible it's like a MTB set of pads where the pad is retained by a pin, therefore if he never aligned it correctly, the pad WAS in there, but within a few mins it fell out...

 I didn’t even know the piston could come out far enough to touch the disk

I didn't either, but I'm quite glad it can because otherwise it would have been catastrophic - no braking at all and brake fluid everywhere.

There some misplaced apologists on here

Whilst I agree that it was dangerous and unprofessional and needs to be sorted ASAP, there some OTT comments on here. E.g

And brake fitters are generally a lower level of intelligence…

Imagine making that sweeping generalisation about any other occupation or group of people? I can only hope that the commentator who made that snidey, sneering insult is a renowned genius. Despite the evidence to the contrary.

Can you even fit one disk? (Thought you’d need a pair)

Ordinarily I'd concur, but presumably the other side is only a day old and unlikely to be excessively worn.

no braking at all and brake fluid

Not possible as cars have had dual circuit brakes for a very long time - but I get your meaning.

Cougar: didn't see that disks had been changed as well (they aren't always)

Before berating mechanics, let's not forget everyone, including experienced professionals, make mistakes occasionally.
I once got distracted when assembling a piece of equipment and missed fitting a trigger device (and packing the spares) simply because someone asked me a question which I stopped to answer then I missed a step in the process. That involved a german warship sailing 4 days back to port to pick up the missing bits.

It's not the mistake but how they deal with the response that should define how good they are.

Update. They've answered the phone, listened to what I've said, called me back, been very careful with what they've said so as not to admit any liability, but are sending someone to collect the car.

I am also of the view that you paid a professional to undertake work on a safety system - and they failed miserably to ensure the vehicle was safe. They certainly have not road tested it - even for a hundred metres.

I also puzzle how you can not touch brakes for a few miles from a garage! Even things like turning out from the garage would need a dab of brake...?

I also puzzle how you can not touch brakes for a few miles from a garage! Even things like turning out from the garage would need a dab of brake…?

Does seem odd. I always test the brakes as soon as I pick up the car.

If it was me i’d take photos before they collect car, then you have evidence in case of further dispute. Bearing in mind this is a major safety issue i would also think about reporting them to their head office and maybe trading standards.

been very careful with what they’ve said so as not to admit any liability

I would say liability is crystal clear here...

Update. They’ve answered the phone, listened to what I’ve said, called me back, been very careful with what they’ve said so as not to admit any liability, but are sending someone to collect the car.

That sounds like a perfectly good response so far. I too would be careful with my words in this circumstance. That's they picking it up without quibble is a good thing I'd suggest.

I hope whoever is collecting it is bringing a recovery truck.

Also, I'd make sure they listen to the noise as you move up and down the road, and video it, ideally with them in the video, even if you just record the audio from inside the car.

As an aside, how difficult is it to change disks and pads yourself?  Our garage says we probably need to do them at next service and have quoted 1000eur.  It's an XC60 for what's it's worth.  Last time I did any mechanics it was changing the clutch on my Allegro so quite a while ago...

As an aside, how difficult is it to change disks and pads yourself?

It's pretty easy, generally. I mean, they are consumables, but there are gotchas. You do need to be basically competent with car stuff and how to free up seized bolts and whatnot.

You take the wheel off, then the calliper and disc are exposed. You can undo one bolt on the caliper and it will swing up out of it's carrier, and you can then pull the old pads out. If you have an electronic handbrake, you may need a computer/dongle/device to wind them back in, otherwise you just push the pistons back in like you do on a bike - but make sure the brake fluid hasn't been 'topped up' otherwise it will now overflow at this point.

If you want to change the disc, you will need to remove the calliper carrier which is just two more bolts behind the disc. Then you need to get the disc off the hub. There is one tiny bolt holding it in place, which will strip so you need to drill that out. Then you need to beat the living daylights out of the old disc to get it off the hub, it will have corroded onto it. Then you will need to file flats on the stub of the bolt you stripped earlier so you can get the adjustable spanner on it and remove it.

Then you need to get a wire brush tool or rust remove for your angle grinder or something to remove all the rust from the hub. This is quite an important step otherwise you risk vibrating brakes.

Refitting is the reverse of removal. Oh, and don't forget to support the calliper by tying it up onto a spring or something because you must not leave it hanging on the brake hose.

As an aside, how difficult is it to change disks and pads yourself? Our garage says we probably need to do them at next service and have quoted 1000eur. It’s an XC60 for what’s it’s worth. Last time I did any mechanics it was changing the clutch on my Allegro so quite a while ago…

See the recent oil change thread for similar discussion!

Is your XC60 and older Gothenburg or the newer Gealy style?
If its the older original model then they are easy* to change - I have an XC90 and a V70.
Pistons retract with a g-clamp. You do need a 7mm socket hex key (Allen key) to get the caliper off.

ATE are the original supplier for Volvo braking components - order them from Autodoc of Germany when they have one of the +40% sales.
There are also a few Volvo trade parts counters on eBay who sell genuine discs & pads.

*Your level of competency may vary

6 hours to change rear discs and pads and only fit 3 of the pads. Wow...

I once drove the car down for it's MOT, IIRC I'd just had the caliper off to check for sticky sliders. Horrible grinding noise when I braked. Turns out the back pad wasn't refitted and was still happily sitting in the shock.

Now, I'm not a professional fitter but I obviously got distracted by something and messed up hard. Not thick either (got a degree and everyfink). Familiarity breeds complacency, I'd wager that fitter won't do that again (one way or another). I bet if people here were honest plenty of us have made similar mistakes.

Just food for thought.

Thanks both.  It's a slightly newer model with electronic handbrake so I may need something to wind back the pads.  I'll check in autodoc to see what the saving will look like.

Was going to post about electronic h/brake.

You might need dongle/software to reset the caliper position to home and/or adapt the braking system to the new pads.

Thanks both.  It’s a slightly newer model with electronic handbrake so I may need something to wind back the pads.

Quite a few cars now need the rear calipers retracting with software.  My local indy had a problem with my car a few years ago as the software he had didn't "grind*" the rear pads properly and he had to have it taken to the dealer to have this bit completed - apparently more cars have this now and his software works!

* his word not mine - he said it's to calibrate the new pads.

It's a Gealy era so outside of my knowledge range I'm afraid.

6 hours to change rear discs and pads and only fit 3 of the pads.

4 pads takes 8 hours as any fule kno' 🙂

It’s pretty easy, generally

Until something is seized or you need something digital to sort the handbrake out, dead easy....if the former happens. You are stuffed.