I just did my rear brakes today with a little help from my dad. I used the haynes manual for some of the steps. I replaced both rear rotors and all four rear pads. After everything was in place i noticed that the wheels would not turn. I had to twist it real hard for it to even move. When i put the car in drive without pressing the gas it won't move like it did in the past.
After i drove around a little it got a little more free but it would still slow down the car a lot. I didn't wanna burn out the brakes driving too much. Is it supposed to be this way? Do you think i should just drive this way for the next few days? Do you think somethings wrong with the caplipers? parking brake? Thnx in advance.

 

take it on the freeway and gun her up to about 80 mph and slow to 60, repeat a few times. then do 60 to 10. i might be wrong, but i think i read this a while back somewhere. actaully for the 60 mph one, find a parking lot and just do 60 to 10 mph slowdowns (cuz its not happening on the freeway) a few times. do not stop the car completely until a few of these have have been done. any one else feel free to enlighten it a bit..

 

I'd first make sure it was properly isntall and that the pads arent touching when ebrake is disengaged, otherwise driving around with it especially at 80mph would just burn out your new pads very quickly.

 

How easy was it to screw the rear caliper pistons back in? If they had a hard time going in, the caliper(s) could possibly be seized or on its way to be. Otherwise, if you dont see any abnormal wear or any extra heat coming from the brakes, don't worry about it. Just keep a close eye on them.

 

i couldve sworn i read thats how you break in new pads..but i guess not.

 

If they are installed correctly, all you really need to do is hit the brakes hard once coming off the freeway. That will burn off most of the crap on the rotors and pads. Other than that, its not really needed.

 

that is the correct way of breaking in new pads and rotors.

I was jsut saying make sure the pads are in correctly before the break in process.

 

when you put the new pads in, were the pins that the caliper slides on moving freely? If not then the pad will be pushed against the rotor without applying the brakes, even if you turned the piston back enough to get the pads over the rotor, the pressure will be uneven.

 

I remember reading on how to break in the rotors too. I think the link was to a BMW site though... It shouldn't matter since they should be all broken in the same way.

As for the tightness, are you sure the lines were not opened? If so, did you bleed the brakes?

 

Here is the the link: Bedding your brake pads

 

The problem with the original poster was brake dragging. You have to fix that first before bedding the pad. You should double check everything, esp. 1/ Make sure the little stub on the pad fit in the slot on the piston face, 2/ The caliper pins are cleaned/greased, but not too much grease or it will hydro-lock. 3/ Emergency brake cable is installed correctly. Does it drag if the cable is not attached?

 

Also, if the new pads are too thick, that could cause problem, too.

 

I really don't agree with what that school of brake replacement. That's just me. Anyone who claims you have a risk of unevenly bedding the brake pads if you allow the car to come to a complete stop either doesn't live in the real world, or has their own racetrack in the backyard. Or you change your brakes at Giants stadium and got permission to close it off and do these crazy stops on a Sun. afternoon.

If it were that critical, then changing pads and not rotors would be really bad. Guess what? I've never changed my rotors and I have zero pulsation, and oh, the car does stop when I press the brake pedal.

The advice of 60-10 repeated stops and then being very careful not to come to a complete stop or your rotors are in jeopardy just isn't very good real-world advice. Are you gonna do something like that on a NJ Turnpike? Or in your own neighborhood?

 

You are correct. The process sounds good so people think its the way to do it. As you drive, your pads will naturally conform to the rotor. The process to "bed" brake pads is unsafe and unnecessary unless you are planning to race that day and need maximum braking. If the claim is that they prevent rotor warping, then any benefit from bedding your brake pad is gone when you simply drive in the rain.

Driving in rain and through puddles is what warps rotors. Because of the very rapid temperature change.

It sounds like the original poster has bad calipers which ruined the pads in the first place. If not then he did not get the piston back in the bore or did not align the pins on the back of the pads to the caliper piston.

Bedding the brakes will not solve this problem. In fact, it will make it worse.

 

um when you have new brakes and pads installed you dont start driving 60 mph and layin on the brakes to whatever speed, your supposed to drive normally as in let everything "seat" itself and gradually break them in, not go on the highway 80 mph and brake to 60, wtf.

 

to each their own, I think the bedding procedure in the link makes mores sense to me. But I could be wrong.

 

put proper pads in?

 

Sorry for the late response guys. I'm using another car for now until i figure out the situation. As sson as i get enough free time i'm gonna take care of it. I think i may have tightened the caliper mounting bolts too tightly. Would that cause a problem? Also one of my calipers may be bad.
IT wasn't hard to put the caliper piston. I needed some special tool to twist it back in. Unhooking and rehooking the E-brake cable was a pain in the asssssss.


thanks for all your suggestions so far.

 

You mean when the pins are in the slots? You mean Are they supposed to spin freely? BTW anyone know how thick new pads/rotors are supposed to be?

 

Yes i bled the brakes. The haynes says tighten the mounting bolts about 16-23 ft-lbs i think. Would overtightening the caliper mounting bolts be a result of my problem?

 

I am pretty sure they are the right pads. They fit right in.

 

What is this bedding procedure supposed to accomplish?

 

Think of it from a common sense point of view--they tell you to get up to 60, slam on the brakes down to 10, back up to 60 for a total of 6 times, being very careful not to ever let the car come to a complete stop. Then repeat this a 2nd time in many cases. Can you think of a practical way to accomplish that, short of having your own racetrack? So let's assume that 99.99999% of the general population didn't change their brakes on a racetrack, do you even think for a minute they have a problem with their braking because they didn't follow this crazy and hazardous procedure?

 

Stop whoring my thread guys.

 

The only thing I can see it doing is:

1. Taking the machined coating off the rotor that results in more efficient braking. Technically you're supposed to score the rotor with sandpaper or emory at each pad change.

2. Seating the pads using heat and pressure to ensure that a larger percentage of the pad is in contact with the rotor. When you put new pads on new rotors, or even old rotors, 100% of the pad does not come in contact with the rotor. As you drive, the pad wears and conforms to the rotor.

3. It sounds technical and cool. People can say "I bed my brakes today" and they'll be cool.

I'd rather bed a girl. But thats just me.

***** on!

 

Ok, how about some posts that are on topic and not about bedding pads.

With the rear tirs in the air the rear wheels will have some resistance to them when trying to turn them. If they won't turn at all I would be concerned but just some resistance is normal.

The caliper mounting bracket won't matter

Were the rotors really hot or glowing red after you drove around like that?

I would guess it is one of two things. The calipers are seized but I doubt that is it, they are more likely to seize and not push the pads against the rotor thus not causing your particular problem

My guess is that it is an e-brake problem. Look at www.motorvate.ca in the brake section about the e-brake cable pinching problem that the earlier 4th gens have. It is all there on his site so I won't bother going into it. I endeed up having to replace one of my cables after doing my rear brakes. Try disconnecting your e-brake cable from the caliper to see if it releases the tension on the calipers, if it does and the brakes act normal you need to replace one or both cables.

 

Seriously guys, stop whoring up this thread with a topic that has nothing to do with the original post. Go start a new thread or call each other if you really need to discuss this.

 

Assuming you only undid bolts needed for the brakes, I can't see how overtightening would be a cause here. Yes, the e-brake cable is a pain in the ****. I figured out, eventually, a good way to do it, but I can't quite recall how I did it.

Anyway, your rotors and new pads should be fine and not too thick. Surely the problem here is either your slider pins are not sliding properly (see above from the guy who mentioned hydro-lock), or your caliper pistons are locking. Slider pins are easy, but if the caliper (is this problem on both sides of the car?) are locked, then you'll need new ones.

Now that you've used the new brakes, you know that the pistons have been pushed in as hard as they would be with normal braking. Now, when you take the tire off you should be able to turn the wheel with your hands. It's not super easy to turn, but it shouldn't take more than a moderate effort with both hands on the wheel studs that point out. WIth that you can hopefully figure out at least which wheel is the cause of this issue.

Rear brakes last so long that I think calipers are often screwed by the time it's time to do the brakes. I did my rears a month back or so and it was _very_ hard to put the calipers in. They managed to go in enough, and work fine now, but I considered myself lucky not to have to replace them.

EDIT: I30tMikeD's recommendation on the e-brake is great. Unhook it and see how things go

Personally about bedding I'd just forget you put new pads on, any time you change them, and let time seat them properly. Even if you could do it I agree you'd need a race track or a section of highway set aside for you to bed them.

 

thanks to the guys staying on topic. Well yesterday i loosened the bolts a bit. The passenger side is okay but after driving around for about 4-5 minutes the driver side got really hot and smelled a bit. threw some snow on it and it really steamed up, did the same to the others, they were fine.
When i had the caliper off while installing, i noticed that the rubber sleeve that covers the piston had a small tear and was leaking a bit, i think i'm gonna replace the caliper. Where do you recommend i get it? I'll try removing the e-brake cable too.
thanks for the help guys.

 

I got a pair of Calipers with brackets and pads (loaded) from Autozone for 129.99 (both sides).

They work fine. Only the paint lasted about a day so I had to repaint them red using the Dupli color kit from walmart.

Now my Infiniti has a little bit of rice on it but the brakes work fine.

Why cant they make dark red caliper paint. Or black. Sometimes I wonder.

Only thing I can tell you is to do both sides. If one goes, the other one is walking the plank too.

 

Why should i replace both calipers if the other is working fine?

 

Both calipers are made the same and undergo the same stresses. If one fails, it is likely that the other will fail soon as well.

You don't need to replace both. It's your car. Do what you want.

I think its worth changing both instead of having to do one and then the other.

 

You can use any type of high temp spray paint and cover it with clear coat for the calipers. No need to be a ricer

 

The damage is already done.