Rear brake still hot after repairs

[Denny]

Another one here...
Replaced the brake lines on both sides in the rear. After some driving, I came back home to discover that the driver's side wheel is still hot to the touch while the pass is nice and cool. So does this mean I have a bad caliper after all? Yes, the slider pins and bracket were replaced(and lubed). And there are slightly new(as in new two years ago, saw about 2,000 miles since then) pads and rotors. And as of today a new rubber brake hose to replace the one that had apparently collapsed. After all this, my dad said the caliper is probably bad and that the fluid is boiling up in there and probably burning the hose from the inside causing it to collapse. Sounds logical eh? So my question now, is there any real way to diagnos a bad caliper? Is this heat thing a sure sign? Just want to know before I drop some more money into the car...seems to be a weekly thing..sigh

 

[SHOtimer]

I had a similar experience when I did my rear brakes. When finished I had new rotors, pads, brakets, hoses, calipers, and no problems. But, make sure that your parking brake cable isn't hanging up anywhere or causing a problem. Also, if you didn't properly and completely bleed the system when you replaced the hose then you will experience the problem you are having now. The brakes don't react well to air in the lines. But, if that isn't the problem then you are probably looking at a new caliper.

Doug

 

[Denny]

Thanks Doug! The parking brake isn't working at all. It's connected to the brake, but it's not holding the car. As for proper bleeding, how do I know all the air is out? Once fluid starts coming out again? But can't air be trapped say halfway between the brake reservoir and the brake...how would I know that is out?

 

[SHOtimer]

Well, that is what sux about bleeding brakes. You have to just bleed them and bleed them and bleed them some more - because the air can be anywhere. I bled the crap out of mine and still had the problems so I took it to the dealer where they power bleed them and said they found a ton of air. So, maybe you should take it to a shop or get ahold of a power bleeder and see if that makes a difference. But, my problem was on both rears at the same time indicating air in the two places that I had screwed with and that I still had air. Since you are only experiencing one side it may very well be air or you may need to replace the caliper. But when you replace it get one with a lifetime warranty then you never have to worry about it again. These rear calipers have a tendancy to be problematic after awhile especially after sitting for a long time, which I think IIRC your SHO has. So, I would replace the caliper then bleed it and go from there.

Doug

 

[HopefulSHO]

It is possible it will be your caliper (I replaced both rear hoses only to find the calpier was my problem as well). I picked mine up at O'Rileys for $34; lifetime warranty.

 

[pjtoledo]

Thanks Doug! The parking brake isn't working at all. It's connected to the brake, but it's not holding the car. As for proper bleeding, how do I know all the air is out? Once fluid starts coming out again? But can't air be trapped say halfway between the brake reservoir and the brake...how would I know that is out?

That's a pretty important clue Denny. It may not be holding the car, but is it fully releasing the caliper? The cables can get stiff, or seize. That will hold the pads in contact with the disk. Is the cable hooked up at all? When the parking brake is released,,can you then pry the caliper arm to a "more released" position? That is, does the spring pull the cable back all the way? How's the wheel bearings? A little play in them allows the rotor to be non-parallel with the pads. And of course I have to ask,,is one side too hot, or is the other side too cold? Kind of hard to tell from here. There should be some heat, depends on the last minutes of driving.

Perry

 

[GR8SHO]

That's a pretty important clue Denny. It may not be holding the car, but is it fully releasing the caliper? The cables can get stiff, or seize. That will hold the pads in contact with the disk. Is the cable hooked up at all? When the parking brake is released,,can you then pry the caliper arm to a "more released" position? That is, does the spring pull the cable back all the way? How's the wheel bearings? A little play in them allows the rotor to be non-parallel with the pads. And of course I have to ask,,is one side too hot, or is the other side too cold? Kind of hard to tell from here. There should be some heat, depends on the last minutes of driving.

Perry

I had a miserable experience with my e-brake. The left rear cable had gotten a kink somehow like as if it had caught something underneath. :headbang: So whenever I would engage the brake and then release it, the cable would hang under the car (under the B pillar) because there was too much resistance in the sleeve. So despite the fact that I had installed new rotors and pads, the left rear pads were toast in no time. During a rather extensive overhaul of the car, one of the things I had taken care of was to have the entire rear braking system replaced, including both cables to the brakes.

While you're at it, and assuming you have functional ABS, I recommend removing the valves in the proportioning block with plugs to allow full use of your rear brakes. Josh or Kirk sell the plugs.

 

[Denny]

I replaced the caliper yesterday and rebled. So far so good. The parking brake is working now. At least it is holding the car. However, by looking at the cable underneath the side of the car, it just seems so loose.

With the heat problem I had earlier, the driver's side was HOTT to the touch, while the pass side was warm. However, after making the trip "home" back up to East Lansing, everything seems alright..hmmm maybe I'll go driving again just to double check

 

[rangerj]

A couple of notes:

You can tell if there is air in the brake lines by the feel of the pedal. If the petal is spongy, then there is air in the lines somewhere. When the pedal is firm or hard, with no sponginess, then the brakes are properly bled.

If your emergency or parking brake cables are hanging loose, and will not hold the car, then they need adjusted. rangerj

 

[GR8SHO]

On cars this old, I would actually suspect bad cables. The cable in the sleeve will rust and bind. Sorry.

Anyway, I thought it was a well known fact that one of the first things people do in Michigan is to cut their e-brake cable since they will rust out in 6 months anway. :O

 

[Camarok]

It is possible it will be your caliper (I replaced both rear hoses only to find the calpier was my problem as well). I picked mine up at O'Rileys for $34; lifetime warranty.

rear caliper!???!?!!? Really?!?!?!! they are like 2-3 times that ammount at advance autoparts!

 

[Denny]

Well I'll have to do a search on adjusting the parking cable then. Anyone know if it's possible to do an e-brake handle swap over to the center console somehow? I really prefer that setup(like the other car)

Cut our cables?!?! Oh just rub in the fact you're in nice sunny Florida

 

[GR8SHO]

Well I'll have to do a search on adjusting the parking cable then. Anyone know if it's possible to do an e-brake handle swap over to the center console somehow? I really prefer that setup(like the other car)

Cut our cables?!?! Oh just rub in the fact you're in nice sunny Florida

Being here is no accident.

Seriously, before you make any adjustments, try to determine if the cable moves freely. You should be able to force the cable to release by applying some leverage on the e-brake mechanism. By doing so you should be able to free up all the slack and relax the caliper. This will prove that the setup is correct. If the cable is not releasing, which is what I suspect the case to be, then those cables need to be replaced. It is common.

 

[Denny]

Uh oh, return of the burning brake!

Well it turns out the parking brake cable is indeed screwing things over. I used my parking brake when I parked on an incline today while visiting an account. Later on, I smelled the burning brake and checked the wheel, it was HOT. Got the car up in the air at home, yup, the parking brake was not releasing all the way; it had like an inch to go on the spring on the caliper before being released. I disconnected the cables. So now until the cable replacement. After all this time what must have happened was that the parking brake was sticking(two years ago I wore down the pads on the driver side to NOTHING and we thought it was the slider pins, nope) heating up the fluid in the caliper which in turn accelerated the collapse of the line then leaving the caliper dry to go bad as well. Good deduction or no?