air_max

So i went to change my rotors today, and my God i either bought a lemon or i just have really bad....

Anyway, changing the front rotors, the pin that holds the caliper broke, so i had to go buy a new one.
As i was on my way getting the new one, the mechanic called and told me that my rear driver caliper was seized. I found that weird, since i had been driving with it for God knows how long, and i never felt as though it was stuck.

Told him to just leave it as it is and i'll go somewhere else to have it looked at.

Tried to rollback the car, and it was stuck. it was as though the ebrake was on. I drove it up and down the block, and i could definately feel the drag!
And my front brakes feel really weird. feels really mushy.

I just dont know what to do again. I'm seriously considering just parting with this thing.

Any ideas as to what to do next? Is my caliper really seized? Can it seize just like that without any aggravation?

Oh, and another thing, i could smell the burning pads when driving. I'm scared its going to catch fire. :-s

HELP!!!!



Can someone tell me how to check if my ebrake cable is jammed?

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

Do you ever use your ebrake?

Rear seized up calipers is fairly common on A32's, more so the parking brake line suffers damage where idiots rack the car on the trailing arms.

If the brakes feel mushy now, it probably just needs to be bled. Chances are, you have the original brake fluid in her from the date of manufacture (of course, so do I), since most people don't seem to have that changed out as a regular maintenance item.

air_max

A friend of mine suggested bleeding it too. How long of a process is it, and is it a tedious process?

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

Unless you have a pressure bleeder, it can take a little bit of time. Probably best to do it after you change out the rear calipers (if you find you have to) so you only have to do it once.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

the pin on the front caliper broke? I take it this is the mechanic that broke it?
And what did you replace the whole caliper or just the pin?
but as for the rear,
it is usually the mechanism for the ebrake that seizes. if you crawl under the car you'll see where the cable attatches, with the ebrake released you should be able to see if the lever the cable attatches to has returned to the 'relaxed position', (its easy to see its right on the innermost(towards the center of the car) part of the caliper.
It SHOULD release fairly easy, but is hard to engage, see if you can move it.

PS. dont drive it till its fixed if its to this point now, you'll need rotors as well as calipers if you do that (trust me mine locked up) .

nafddur

A mechanic explained to me once that cars (like our Maximas) that use the rear calipers for emergency braking, are prone to those calipers freezing up.

I've replaced my rears twice, though I AM approaching 190K miles on a 13+ year old car (95 SE).

The good news is that the rear calipers are simple to change - only take about 1/2 hour each and are only about $100 each. And bleeding the brakes is also a snap even without special tools. All you need is a helper to pump the brakes while you open and close the bleeder screw (with a small hose attached to it to direct the fluid).

air_max

Anyone know if theres a write up on brake bleeding? (with details pics)? Let me know please.

Thanks.

redls1

iTrader: (2)

http://autorepair.about.com/library/a/1g/bl494g.htm

Google is your friend.

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

I've dealt with seized rear calipers as well on my 3 fourth gens. it's pretty common. price you pay i guess. my autozone remanufactured calipers that I use to replace them cost like $75 after core charge.

matrix11229

I think this mechanic fu#ked up your car while you went to buy the pin. Never leave your car unattended in the shop.