Brakes hung up

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SO this was weird. Did my wife's Explorer (2014) brakes about a week ago (one tank of gas on the new parts). Other than an a little initial brake odor during the official wagner break-in procedure they have been great. Smooth, quiet and powerful with no pulling or other problems noted.

Today, all of that remained true but after driving approx 8 miles from a cold start there was an obvious odor of hot brakes. Rear wheel hubs where HOT to the touch and letting the car roll down the drive in neutral produced a nice brake dragging sound. This was a nice, easy drive with the family in car. I tried pumping the parking brake numerous times and it still made the dragging noise. After a few hours at our destination, we drove home via approximately the same route (also non-spirited). Ambient temps had decreased from sunny and mid 80's to dusky and mid 70's.

NO brake odor on the return trip, wheels cool to touch and no dragging noise in neutral on driveway. My primary suspicion is insufficient clearances for the brake pad ears (which is a known issue) despite my aggressive cleaning of the caliper bracket with a wire wheel during the job. But if this was the case, why/how did the problem seemingly develop and then go away on its own? Other thoughts? I plan to pull them apart on my next day off, but I really felt like a did a very comprehensive brake job on this car. Possible symptom of hose damage? I did have to move the calipers around A LOT when screwing the pistons back in...
 
Its your caliper PISTON that causes the problem. If you didn't clean the piston, then this will happen quite frequently on a new brake job. The piston is pushed all the way out when the pads are thin, and exposed to dirt, grime, salt, ect. Then you push all the dirt into the calipers when compressing the piston back in, and there is your problem.
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Its your caliper PISTON that causes the problem. If you didn't clean the piston, then this will happen quite frequently on a new brake job. The piston is pushed all the way out when the pads are thin, and exposed to dirt, grime, salt, ect. Then you push all the dirt into the calipers when compressing the piston back in, and there is your problem.


That would make sense of the piston wasn't protected by the boot... which it is.
 
Originally Posted By: buck91
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Its your caliper PISTON that causes the problem. If you didn't clean the piston, then this will happen quite frequently on a new brake job. The piston is pushed all the way out when the pads are thin, and exposed to dirt, grime, salt, ect. Then you push all the dirt into the calipers when compressing the piston back in, and there is your problem.


That would make sense of the piston wasn't protected by the boot... which it is.
The boot does keep a good amount of dirt out. Most of the water too. But not all. Rust around the top of the bore where the pad sits is the cause. Its an easy job to pop out the puck to scrub the rust and dirt away. Pop the puck in slathered in Syl Glyde. It used to be called "maintenance"
grin2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: buck91
The piston boots? I don't think so I was pretty careful. Sliders definitely lubed.
did you have to twist the caliper with a tool or push it in like a regular piston?
 
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