[Piwoslaw]

Reposting from a different thread:

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

I've been hearing a squeeking/scraping sound from the front wheels for quite a while, but recently this has gotten very loud. After returning I asked my mechanic brother-in-law to have a looksy and it turned out that the brake pads were sticking to the discs. Lots of grime and rust (from salt, and from sitting outside and not driving for weeks at a time), so he cleaned each pad, filed it down a little and greased it and that made a huge difference! After I drove into his garage we both had to push to barely move the car, now I could roll it by myself. Three of the wheels wouldn't spin more than half a revolution when rotated by hand, now they do 2-3 revolutions. I haven't driven yet, but I expect much longer coasting distances. I'm sure this has been steadily chewing away at my milage.

A few days later:

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

Those dragging brakes were really causing havoc! Yesterday and today I did a total of over 130km of city driving, and the car's computer showed 4.3 l/100km on both trips. That's the first time in 2 months I've seen less than 4.8 l/100km, and the ride is noticeably quieter So brake dragging reduced my FE by 10%.