00 Mustang 3.8 Brakes locked up after brake job

[Pjw350]

Well It had been about 75k miles on the front pads since they had been changed and my dad asked me to look at his brakes. The pads were worn past the pad on one and almost on the rest of the 3 pads. Fairly consistent. While pushing the pistons back out of the calipers, it was very difficult. Much force needed to be applied. I put new pads/rotors on, new slides and pins. Everything seemed to be good. I went for a test drive and the brakes overheated on my little 3 minute run. I then jacked the frontend up again and the wheel was very hard to move.

The brakes seemed to be stuck on. I then figured my calipers were shot from the brake pads being worn out too much. So I bought 2 new calipers and brake hoses- and installed them and bleed them. The fluid was very dirty that came out. I then took it for a test drive and the brakes were basically locked again.

Ive searched and came up with a few similar posts with suggestions but the previous posts- the owner never made an update on what the problem was.
http://mustangforums.com/forum/6-cyl...r-lock-up.html

Ive seen some posts saying its bad hoses, abs pumps, etc. Does anyone have a suggestion to me as I cant even drive the car to the local shop as Im afraid the brakes will start on fire.

 

[Skymarshal]

Your pistons probably aren't retracted enough. The self-adjusting rod inside the piston that compensates for pad wear can't adjust in- only out. If it isn't far enough in, there will be too much total pad material and the pads will drag. I would take the pads back off and make sure the piston is retracted all the way.

The calipers shouldn't wear out unless they don't move smoothly or leak fluid due to worn seals or corrosion. The new calipers probably didn't come with the pistons retracted all the way.

There's also a chance you have the wrong pads on the car, but I would try the above first.

 

[Pjw350]

I just came in and checked the abs sensor thats attached to the inside of the mudshield. It seemed fine. I also took the abs fuse out and tried to push the pistons on the calipers back in to see if that would work and once i hit the brake the brakes were locked up in the front again.

I put the old worn out pads back in also and the calipers locked those pads up too.

There is enough room on the calipers where when i install the pads and calipers that the rotor spins freely until you hit the brake.

 

[Skymarshal]

Well, that's wierd. This is happening on the front brakes only, right? If the rears are fine then the ABS and booster should be OK.

You said the fluid was very dirty. How many miles are on the car? You might try flushing the system and replacing the brake fluid. It's probably never been done, and if there's sludge or debris in the fluid that could be the cause of the front brakes locking. Changing the brake fluid is one maintenance item that people blow off all the time, and it can cause some problems if the fluid is dirty or has absorbed a lot of water.

 

[Pjw350]

Well, that's wierd. This is happening on the front brakes only, right? If the rears are fine then the ABS and booster should be OK.

You said the fluid was very dirty. How many miles are on the car? You might try flushing the system and replacing the brake fluid. It's probably never been done, and if there's sludge or debris in the fluid that could be the cause of the front brakes locking. Changing the brake fluid is one maintenance item that people blow off all the time, and it can cause some problems if the fluid is dirty or has absorbed a lot of water.

yes the rears are fine. The abs lights arent on. How could I go about flushing the brake system out. The guy at auto zone said to run air through the lines, but I cant see how I would ever be able to get them bleed like that. The fluid was a black color but I have fresh fluid coming from the calipers now when I was bleeding it. 109k miles Im sorry I thought I had posted that info.

 

[Pjw350]

I took it to a relative who is a mechanic and he said it was the calipers. The new autozone calipers werent releasing. I already turned my core in for these junk autozone ones and i bought a set of carquest calipers and used the autozone junk ones for cores.

Car is FIXED!!!! 4 bad calipers. I gotta thank everyone for their help!

 

[Skymarshal]

Glad to hear you fixed the problem, but that stinks that you had to buy new calipers again! I guess I would see if Autozone would consider refunding you (let them know that if they do you'll drop the matter and maybe they'll do it out of fear).

I've heard of remanufactured parts being bad right off the shelf. I think some less than reputable remanufacturers just test the part and clean it off, instead of disassembling it and replacing seals and wear parts.

 

[MustangLX-5.0]

I will never buy parts from Autozone.It seems there is one thing after another.Sensors...alternators...brakes.Their parts are no good.At least the re-man stuff aren't.I know I was there a few years ago price checking a reman alt.The clerk brought one out and I spun it.The thing sounded like it had a bad bearing making grinding noises.Never bought it.Advanced auto has much better parts quality.Never had much of a problem with their stuff and i've been buying it for 10 years.

Sorry you had to go through that mess.