Brake Problems

[jrod2423]

Ok so lately ive been noticing some wobbling in the sterring wheel and i thought it was something in the balance or alignment of tires but then today when i was trveling home i start smelling something burning so i stopped and checked my motor and couldnt find something so then i got down the road about 2 miles my steering wheel started to get a horrible shake in it so i stopped and checked out everything again and come to find out my front drivers brake caliper and wheel was really hot, alot hotter than the other three. so i was already half way home and had to limp it home by giving it breaks to cool down enough to drive again. it seems like when it got really hot it would shake the steering worse and worse.

So me and my dad came up with two ideas, either the caliper is going bad and starting to lock up or the brake lines aren't suppling enough fluid to the caliper due to the heat.

Finally heres the question, anybody go through this and if so what was the outcome?

 

[g96v6-250k]

pull the caliper off and put a c-clamp on it. if it doesnt go in easy it most likely making the pads drag hard on the rotor. replace caliper if necessary. you probably warped the rotor also.

 

[jrod2423]

yeah thats what i did today and the caliper went in easy and the pads just fell right of the holder so now im at a standstill of the problem because i put it back together and it didn't do it and i didn't see anything that would have kept the caliper from releasing

still takin suggestions!!

 

[g96v6-250k]

did you force the piston in on the caliper? you shouldnt have to push with much force. if it goes in easy there should'nt be a problem there but i would unhook the line and empty the fluid from the caliper into a clean container to see if its very dirty. also check the resevior for lots of junk. if you do unhook the line you then have to bleed the system of air when reconnected. other possibility is your bearing is getting very hot but i never saw that happen even if its loose/ruined. maybe pull the cap on bearing hub and fill with grease. if there is alot of air in the system the hot brake maybe the only one thats grabbing properly and its hot from having to work alone.

 

[jrod2423]

yeah the problem may be a little dirt in the lines but its gonna have to do for now until i get a little bit of money to just go ahead and replace them and drain the system, the resivor doesn't seem very dirty though so im not sure yet what caused it but the caliper retracted with little force so its not the caliper itself alone but when the money falls out of the sky i will have all this stuff replaced and done

 

[g96v6-250k]

replacement is not always the only solution, they make brake parts cleaner for a reason. you can pull the caliper off/apart and clean the internal. only problem with that is the parts cleaner may or may not damage the rubber so inexspensive rebuild kits is a good idea. if you had the rims as hot as you describe a good cleaning is in order as the oil is probably cooked into carbon grit. service the whole system if you have the time on your hands. replace all of the oil, if it is a abs system it might be a bad idea to get parts cleaner nears the abs pump. also the abs system may have a bleeder thats needs attention if you remove all the fluid. good luck

 

[jrod2423]

whats the reason to prolong the possible injury to the car when i could just repair it with a new part and not really have to worry about that part, plus it is a very important and very highly pressured part on a car and no reason to say ay it'll be all right it'll fix itself. no it won't on a 15 year old car its just time to replace it and get it over with plus it helps with mpg with less friction on the rotors from being old, so it may pay for itself eventually.