Took the max to the shop yesterday to get my brakes checked out after she was making a funny noise. Tunred out my pads were down to the wear indicator, so I had to get new pads all around and new rotors in the rear. She came home stopping with no squeak However, when I was in the shop they said I may have a sticky caliper, and thats what would have caused the pads to wear down so much. How can I feel if I have a sticky caliper? The brake pedal feels MUCH stiffer than it used to (due to newer pads I'm guessing) but if also feels...I don't know how to describe but not as clean feeling as it used to. Is my caliper sticking? Is there anything I can do about it if it is? Thanks for the help.

 

Jack up one corner at a time. Apply the brakes, then relese them. Spin the wheel. If it spins freely your caliper is fine.

Repeat at all 4 corners.

 

the shop said it'd be the back right caliper. How freely spinning is freely spinning (ie very little effort)? is the brake pedal supposed to feel as "thick" as mine does?

 

Not sure about your brake pedal feel, but the wheel should spin very freely. You may hear a very slight drag of the brake pads, thats normal. If the caliper is sticking, you'll feel it. The wheel wount make a full revolution before it stops. If that happens, replace your caliper. It's a wise idea to replace them in sets to maintain even brake performance. If one side is tight, I'd replace them both. But then agina, I'm neurotic about my car.

Tom

 

the wheel spun very freely once i figured out you have to turn the parking brake off so that makes me happy. i guess the pedal is just because the pads aren't broken in yet?

 

I had a sticky right rear caliper as well. My mechanic said it was common with Nissans when he reparied it. To verify that it was that one before I took it in, I noticed that my car did not roll freely. That told me that some caliper was sticking. Then, after driving for a while I would stop the car and touch each wheel. The right rear was very warm, especially compared to the others. Verification complete

DW

 

My experience

 

well i know my wheel spun pretty freely so i'm not too worried. i guess the only reason i am is that a) the pedal feels thicker and b) it takes a little more effort for the car to completely stop than it did before. who knows. but in any case, i'm pretty sure my calipers are ok.

 

Maybe you should consider bleeding the system then.

DW