Ok I went to the dealership and they told me that I need to get new brake pads (all four) I also need new calipers in the rear becuase there is a high chance that they are frozen. Not really sure what that means but yeah.

How much will all this cost part wise?
What should I upgrade while I am at it?

I was thinking about getting Bremco rotors (just like the stock ones)
I think I will have to find/get some rear calipers off another maxima.

I should have a list of all the problems that dealer found tomorrow or something.

I was driving today. I parked the car in a parking lot. Went into a store, and came out within a half and hour to 45 mins. I came out and got into my car and moved the shifter from P -> D. I pulled out. I heard a thump as I was doing that, it sounded like something was struggling. I am leaning towards the rear calipers weren't movingand they were almost stuck i guess you can call it.

What do I do.

 

I think that's what frozen means.

 

Thinking their frozen and actually taking them off the car to check their condition are two different ball games.

Start by taking the rear calipers off and try to compress them with a good brake compression tool. Cycle them a few times to be sure they are functioning. After compressing them, depress the brake pedal ONCE to the floor. Then compress the piston again. Do that for each rear caliper to make sure their in good condition.

If your rotors are not causing vibrations while braking just replace the pads.
I recommend a set of Wagner Thermal Quiet Stop Ceramic pads. They bite well, resist fade and don't dust much at all. Make sure you bed your new pads into the rotors correctly.

 

Ok....so just go with pads, I really don't have the tools to do test the rear calipers. Should I just get those done at a brake shop or something?
Ummm what about the e-brake line...becuase if I am correct they also said that it was siezed... How can i fix that

 

if your e-brake line if seized, chances are thats what is making your rear calipers stick.. you cant really fix it, you need to buy a new one.

the only tools you need to test the rear calipers is a basic ratchet set, and a $9 compression tool from any auto parts store

 

Replace the e-brake cable that is seized. Don't do any caliper replacements until you've taken care of the cables. Check both cables. The brackets on the underside of the car are prone to getting bent when putting car on a lift... the bend puts additional stress on the cable, tearing the sheathing... once water/debris/dirt gets in there... the cable is shot... see www.motorvate.ca for an example of what I am talking about.

Not to undermine your ability, but it's clear that you aren't comfortable with doing the work yourself. I would advise you to find a shop you trust to do the repairs, or enlist a local ORG member to help you out. Brakes are one of those things you don't want to screw up on.

If you want to do it yourself, get a Haynes manual, read the writeup on www.motorvate.ca and see if you feel comfortable taking the work on.

 

Well you are correct. I mean I don't mind working on my car, its just I personally am not comforatble with working with the brakes. I don't want to screw up on something like that. Also to add to that, my dad isn't all that mechanically inclinde so that creates another problem.


I looked on motorvate.ca and it really didn't have a write up on the parking brakes. They just showed problem and solution. So any ideas....

 

Not sure what else you are looking for. You need to replace the cables that are seized, and any calipers that are binding.

Jack up the car at the each of the rear wheels, with the parking brake DISENGAGED, see if you can turn the hub by your hand... if not, then you have either a binding caliper and perhaps a bad cable to that caliper also. Do the same on the other rear wheel.

Once you have figured out if the wheel is binding or not, disconnect the parking brake cable and see if that frees up the wheels, if that doesn't, then you have binding calipers. If disconnecting the cable does free the wheel, then you just have bad cables.