Rear brake job, now hot wheels and smell!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
When you run thin pads for a long time,you expose the caliper piston to travel lengths its not normally used to.This also allows the inner end of the bore to be exposed to pitting for an extended time.Once you push the piston back into territory it hasn't been in for a long while it gets on those "pits" and will be hard to release.

When I did a brake job on my sportbike I meticulously clean with a toothbrush and Dawn dish soap work the piston in and out and repeated and rinsed a few times the results were amazing
 
One side getting hotter than the other and the accompanying smell are not normal. Take it back to the dealer that did the work. There is no reason to speculate this on the webs because as can be seen, some people don't bother readin the entire post and just respond to the thread title.
 
Yep, uneven heating is a common symptom of a seized caliper, it's one of the things I noticed on my Element that prompted me to replace the caliper. I cleaned and greased the pins a couple times, each time, the piston pushed back in with clamps perfectly fine and it worked for a while, then I'd notice the dragging brake and could feel the uneven/excessive heat on the wheels when I stopped. Put on a new caliper and it was all good.
 
Originally Posted By: pandus13
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
The caliper sliders are probably seized up preventing the caliper from centering itself over the rotor.

Dealer tech probably forget to lube the slide pins.

^^^THIS!^^^

OP/Greg,

If you want your pads to go in less then 3k miles, leave it alone...
You will definitely hear "pedal to the metal".....(been there, done that)

Go back and raise [censored]!

This is a safety issue!


Whoa.

No need to raise any [censored]. The caliper appeared to function fine at the time the brakes were serviced and after driving the vehicle for a bit it was discovered to overheat on one side. Repair shops and dealerships have zero reason to send a vehicle out the door if they think it is unsafe or if they think they can make a profit on additional parts and service. The shop was an honest shop who didn't charge him for 2 new calipers (and I have seen shops do this unneccesarily).

When they determine what the issue is, and I have no reason to doubt the diagnosis on here of sticking caliper, then they will certainly be glad to fix it and rightfully charge for the new parts.
 
Originally Posted By: ArcticDriver
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: Brybo86
Did you completely remove dust boots and slide pins?
Also did you spin the calipers back in?


He took it to the dealer. Greg don't turn wrenches.
48.gif



Ha !

All the above are really excellent posts in this thread.

Can I ask you guys how many of you still "bed" your new brakes?

i always have but few seem to anymore.


I don't bed them with the 0-60 until the smoke comes out, with non race pads it just seems to shorten pad life and make a mess. Harder race pads need the harder break in.

I make 10 30 to 0 stops to get some bite, then a few 45 to 10 until I get the new smell. Then I drive normally and let them cool off. It's enough to wear the coating off the rotor and get the rotor/pad surface worn to each other. Regular driving will build a working transfer layer with ceramics. I have akebono ASP and I did bed those mostly for fun even though the instructions say just drive normally. One thing about asp... I've always been able to get a ceramic pad to fade totally, until these. They showed some fade after repeated 60-10 stops, but they never gave out completely. Impressive for a streetable pad
 
Originally Posted By: ArcticDriver
Can I ask you guys how many of you still "bed" your new brakes?

i always have but few seem to anymore.


The job ain't done until a vigorous test drive is taken. (not just brakes)
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
Originally Posted By: ArcticDriver
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: Brybo86
Did you completely remove dust boots and slide pins?
Also did you spin the calipers back in?


He took it to the dealer. Greg don't turn wrenches.
48.gif



Ha !

All the above are really excellent posts in this thread.

Can I ask you guys how many of you still "bed" your new brakes?

i always have but few seem to anymore.


I don't bed them with the 0-60 until the smoke comes out, with non race pads it just seems to shorten pad life and make a mess. Harder race pads need the harder break in.

I make 10 30 to 0 stops to get some bite, then a few 45 to 10 until I get the new smell. Then I drive normally and let them cool off. It's enough to wear the coating off the rotor and get the rotor/pad surface worn to each other. Regular driving will build a working transfer layer with ceramics. I have akebono ASP and I did bed those mostly for fun even though the instructions say just drive normally. One thing about asp... I've always been able to get a ceramic pad to fade totally, until these. They showed some fade after repeated 60-10 stops, but they never gave out completely. Impressive for a streetable pad


Thanks for the follow-up.

Bedding new brakes was considered to transfer a thin layer of brake material to the surface of the drums/rotors.
We would find that when a vehicle is stored outside for several weeks without use in a wet environment, the rotors will develop a layer of surface rust but will not develop this rust if they have been properly bedded.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: mightymousetech
Take the car back ASAP. Sounds like you have a seized caliper.


It should be going back on Wednesday. It sounds like the caliper is seized as slide pins were fine before and cleaned and greased during brake job. They are only charging me for the part, no charge for labor.
 
A new Honda oem caliper won't be cheap. Napa ones are good and about $80 after core charge. I just had to replace the rear driver's side one on the 2012 Camry that was sticking. Put new Wagner OEX pads on as well. The dealer discovered it when the wheel wasn't spinning as it should when it was up in the air. It was in for an oil change but had an indy mechanic do the work to save hundreds.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
A new Honda oem caliper won't be cheap. Napa ones are good and about $80 after core charge. I just had to replace the rear driver's side one on the 2012 Camry that was sticking. Put new Wagner OEX pads on as well. The dealer discovered it when the wheel wasn't spinning as it should when it was up in the air. It was in for an oil change but had an indy mechanic do the work to save hundreds.


All these sticking caliper business on fairly new cars sounds quite fishy to me. My Mazda 3 has gone through 11 very salty winters and is still on the original calipers after 150k miles. If it were me, I would not be so quick to junk the OEM calipers for some cheap aftermarket remans.

Also, if OEM calipers were truly sticking after such a short time, then the cheap remans will likely need changing even sooner.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ

All these sticking caliper business on fairly new cars sounds quite fishy to me. My Mazda 3 has gone through 11 very salty winters and is still on the original calipers after 150k miles. If it were me, I would not be so quick to junk the OEM calipers for some cheap aftermarket remans.

Also, if OEM calipers were truly sticking after such a short time, then the cheap remans will likely need changing even sooner.


If you don't change your brake fluid often, the rear calipers will seize.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
I would not be so quick to junk the OEM calipers for some cheap aftermarket remans.

Also, if OEM calipers were truly sticking after such a short time, then the cheap remans will likely need changing even sooner.


I contacted one of the most knowledgeable people on here that works on cars for a living and asked him about Napa calipers. He recommended them and uses them often. No issues.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
A new Honda oem caliper won't be cheap. Napa ones are good and about $80 after core charge. I just had to replace the rear driver's side one on the 2012 Camry that was sticking. Put new Wagner OEX pads on as well. The dealer discovered it when the wheel wasn't spinning as it should when it was up in the air. It was in for an oil change but had an indy mechanic do the work to save hundreds.


All these sticking caliper business on fairly new cars sounds quite fishy to me. My Mazda 3 has gone through 11 very salty winters and is still on the original calipers after 150k miles. If it were me, I would not be so quick to junk the OEM calipers for some cheap aftermarket remans.

Also, if OEM calipers were truly sticking after such a short time, then the cheap remans will likely need changing even sooner.

My Accord's seen plenty of road salt and also has its original calipers.
 
The brake fluid is changed every 3 years so that's not the problem, I did end up having the caliper replaced at the dealer with the OEM part for $180. All is working well once again. I'm interested to see if my MPG goes up this tank. The last couple of fill ups have only returned 18-19 mpg.
 
I had something similar happen once. Thought the caliper had seized, but turned out to be simply too much grease buildup underneath the slide pin. Was effectively "hydrolocking" the slide pin resulting in a temporarily seized caliper. Used q-tips to remove the excess grease and all was fine. Weird issue that I'd never heard of before, but lesson learned to always swab out the recesses.
 
I had a similar issue that was caused by using improper lube on the guide pins and not properly adjusting the parking brake mechanism.

Keep in mind if you have rear disc brakes, once you reset the caliper piston into it's bore, you're supposed to pump the parking brake pedal/handle after you install the pads and rotors and the caliper is bolted back up. This allows the auto-adjuster to take the slack out of the parking brake cables.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

D
Time for new brakes, Saturn Ion Redline
Replies
11
Views
583
doitmyself
F
brakes sticking after rain?
Replies
18
Views
625
853okg
S
Pads: EBC yellow, red, MB OEM, or other
Replies
7
Views
1K
si1491
JeffKeryk
2015 Odyssey - Most expensive brake service ever...
2 3 4
Replies
64
Views
5K
John105
I
2019 Equinox Electronic Park Brake Problem
Replies
6
Views
2K
Ignitiondoc
Back
Top