On my Alhambra (and common on Galaxys and Sharans too), this happens when there is internal rusting of the parking brake/self adjustment mechanism which is located inside the caliper. It also prevents the parking brake lever on the caliper to return fully to its stop (by 3 or 4 mm). For some reason it affect the offside only. I nurse mine by occassionaly lubricating the shaft (under the rubber seal) with penetrating oil and working the lever by hand. I now dont use the parking brake too often (park in 1st gear unless on a hill then I use the brake as well) but when I do I will subsequently check the disk temperature (comparing offside/nearside) and if it starts to heat up,I check and push the lever back with my hand (laying down on the ground to reach...)

Although the (stuck) movement involved is only 3 or 4 mm, its enough to get the disk stinking hot.

The permanent solution would be to change the caliper.

Did you wind the rear calipers back?

I'm thinking with Brum (again) above.

Is the handbrake the small shoe 'top hat' design, with the drum being a small integral part of the rear disc casting.

These designs are notorious in my experience for mechanics (incl main dealer) ignorance of adjusting and maintenance.

Seldom if ever will the handbrake cable ever require adjustment, though people do for no avail. The adjusters are usually ratchet manual type veisible through small hole in the front of the drum when wheel removed. If new discs have been fitted without new shoes as often happens then it wil take forever to bed the old shoes to the new drums because the shoes should never see wear as they are only used when parked.

Some mechanics then tighten the cable as much as possible to givesome semblance of a working brake, it won't happen untill new shoes compatible with the new disc/drums get fitted.

In practice when fitting new shoes the cable should be slackened off and the shoes adjusted properly by the ratchets, then give vehicle a short drive applying the parking brake now and again to bed the shoes in, then readjust the ratchets...and only then adjust the cable correctly.

Course if the handbrake on this car operates inside the rear calipers ignore all that waffle...;)....they're seizing.

No idea if it applies to the Toyota MR2, but on some cars, to change a disc, you take the hub off.

Running hot even when the brakes are not used brings three possibilities to mind, Firstly, the bores of the brake cylinders are poor or corroded, and the pads are not returning properly. Secondly, the garage have been idiots, and the rear wheel hubs have been put back with the bearings seriously overtightned. Correct tightness varys quite a lot depending on the type of bearing. If they were overtightened, very strong chance the bearings now need changing. The third one is as above - handbrake set wrongly.

Rear brakes don't do much on most cars and even when the fronts start to run a bit warm, rears should still be quite cool.

Edited by SlidingPillar on 06/03/2013 at 20:16

The ABS block is usually a high point in the system & so is easy to trap air in there. Some cars need a diagnostic tool to operate the ABS in a certain way to rid it of air.

It does if you drop a piston out by mistake and don´t say anything or you do no bled the system out correctly or you let the level in the resorvour drop to low .I have heard it to many times "Honestly I have not done anything"

My only comment on the cause of the problem was only to say that hoses perish from the inside acting like a one way valve which will cause the pads to stay on and heat the disc.