alpineboarder

Arrgh, my car is pissing me off lately...

Here's the problem of the day: the front passenger side wheel is all coated in brake dust, while the driver side wheel is pristine. The passenger side wheel also gets very, very hot after coming back from driving, hot enough to burn, while the driver side wheel is merely warm to the touch. The car does not pull when braking, and the pedal is firm. Could one of the calipers be frozen?

radu_rd2

Sounds like it's frozen. If you want to check, just jack up the car and try to turn the wheel yourself and you'll feel if it's dragging. But by your description, it certainly sounds it's dragging.

Might not be a big deal, the guide pins might just need lubrication. Take it apart (just the two caliper bolts) and take out the guide pins, and lubricate them. If you're having trouble, the pins might be really frozen in there, in which case you might need new calipers.. Don't postpone this, the sooner you look into it, the more chance you've got to fix it easily!

sw-ontarioguy

I would deff. say your caliper is seiced. Do what radu_rd2 says, and see if the sliders are just 'stuck" or full out seized"

If you keep driving like this, your wheel will eventually stop turning, or your pad will wear away, and you'll be metal on metal, and need new pads, new rotor, and a new caliper. Your gas mileage will also drop by about 100 mile to the tank as well.

DTN

I'm having a similar problem on a rear brake. The sliders move in and out just fine. I can't figure out why the brake isn't showing as much wear as the other one.

sw-ontarioguy

are you SURE the slidiers are moving IN AND OUT enough? If either one isn't moveing enough, that would cause un even wear between sides.

some good advice for all tib owners (any1 with rear disk brakes) When you're sitting at a red light, or stop sign or whatever step on the brake as hard as you can for a couple seconds, and do that 2-3 times. Do it every week or as often as you think of it. Rear disks are nto needed in any daily driven car.

They cause more problems then they are worth. I've owned my 98 for 4 years now, and have had both back calipers seize TWICE, and a front on once.

radu_rd2

Huh? I would think that the one that's showing too much wear is the one with the problem (dragging) - especially on a rear brake, which should not get a lot of wear.

If one of the sides wasn't really braking, wouldn't you feel it going sideways when braking (well, when driving in reverse for the rears..) ?

DTN

Obviously that one is not moving in and out enough, but everything seems OK on them. I noticed the problem when I changed my rotors. The one rotor still has the origonal manufacturer's lateral machining marks on it, the rest have worn into standard semi-metalic pad ring wear patterns. The sliders seem fine and are lubricated. My last thing I can check is to remove the piston and relubricate it..... That I know of... any other suggestions?



not with our braking split. it's like 30% power in the rears.

my caliper isnt locking up, it's not engauging.

radu_rd2

Oh, I see. Sounds like you've got the opposite problem.. Maybe there's a problem with the brake line? Did you bleed the brakes? If yes, does the fluid come out the same as it does on the other side (similar flow) ?

sw-ontarioguy

I would guess brake lines as well. Maybe theres a chunk of dirt in the one, prevent full fluid flow?

DTN

I blead the brakes, they seemed OK, not degraded pressure or anything. I never thought to even inspect the brake lines. I'll check for kinks and stuff... Anything else?