Quick question regarding rear brakes. I just got out of my car (1998 I30T) after a 10 mile drive, the first of the morning. As I got out of the car I noticed a smell from the left rear brake. Putting my hand on the wheel I could feel the heat from the brake rotor, hot with that typical brake smell. I did go around to the other three wheels and they were cool. Now the question. As I am new to the Nissan/Infiniti family, having only owned this car for the last year, do the brake calipers have any tendency to lock up/drag or would this be more of a parking brake problem. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Regards.

Oh, this is Maine and the temperature outside this morning was around 18 degrees.

 

Given the low outdoor temperature and the fact that it was a rear brake that was dragging, this problem is likely to be the hand brake. It could be the actuating cable mechanism or the hand brake mechanism which is built into the rear brake caliper.

Your description of symptoms was detailed but did not mention one important fact. Did you use the parking brake? Some automatic transmission drivers rely on PARK and ignore the hand brake. If you never use the hand brake, then the problem might not be the hand brake.

 

Daniel thanks for the reply and to answer your question, yes I use the hand/parking brake religiously and also have a 5spd. The reason for the question is I had a '86 Saab that was notorious for the parking brake mechanism to get sluggish, just before it froze up. Poor design, plus it was tied into the front calipers, which complicated matters. I got so I could strip the caliper off the car, rebuild it, and replace it in about 30 minutes. So before I dug into it this weekend I was hoping I could get some first hand information and as I have been reading this bb for the last year or so, I definitely appreciate any of your helpful hints, you are the master.

Again thanks and regards.