turbored

So I take my car for a drive and i smell the clutch slip/brake smell. ruh-roh. I pull over, and my pass rear tire is HOT. So i pull the wheel off, and i get the caliper off, and the shim is destroyed. remove the caliper, grease the pins, adjust the hex nut so that the brakes are adjusted properly, and button everything up. I get into the car, and the ebrake is loose, so i adjust it so that it grabs at like 10 clicks. I go for a drive, it's all good. Then on another drive, same smell so I'm assuming same problem. What do you guys think is going on?

m2cupcar

iTrader: (5)

The pistons on my original rear calipers stick- especially when it hasn't been driven for a bit with and it's rained. They corroded from condensation and making it difficult to move even with lubrication. And they usually get stuck in a compressed state from the ebrake being on. I had the same thing happen last week. It eventually broke loose... but only after a nice stinky display. You can 'rebuild' them or by some new/reman'd units- that'll fix the problem.

Race

iTrader: (1)

I'm bringing this up from the dead. I have 1.8L brakes on my 90 and I still have this problem with the rears. The sliders get corroded (even with low mileage use) and with the hand brake they'll intermittently stick on. My passenger side pads in the rear were completely destroyed after this happened the first time on my way back from work. Beating on the caliper through the wheel helps loosen it up a bit but in the end the pad gets cooked.

So I ended up replacing pads and rotors all around and cleaning/grinding/polishing up the sliders instead of getting new ones. I got them super smooth and greased the **** out of them before reinstalling. It didnt take too long before they are sticking again.

Honestly I think it's just a poor design that lets water in past the boots some how, possibly just from condensation. Is there anyway to get around this besides buying baller wilwoods?

lordrigamus

iTrader: (14)

I have actually had the rubber line swell shut under the mounting brackets on my truck. There's enough pressure to push the fluid past the blockage but it would not let the caliper release. Happened on my uncle's van as well. If you try to bleed them and get nothing but a trickle, this may be the case. Not saying that's what it is , just food for thought.

Race

iTrader: (1)

For me i dont think it was but its a good thing to look out for for sure. My friend's miata is a 94 and his brakes were hard to bleed but mainly due to the bleeders being a bit rusted up and not letting fluid out of them. We fixed that though. Still, rear caliper sliders make me mad and eventually I'll probably go to wilwoods if i have the car long enough.

fooger03

iTrader: (2)

The slide pins will need to be lubed with high temp brake parts grease. (This is how I solved the same problem on my 99.) If that doesn't help, check to make sure your e-brake spring on the caliper is properly releasing (Happened on my '94, where the caliper corroded and the spring could no longer supply the necessary pressure to release the ebrake at the caliper, I replaced caliper with a napa unit, problem solved....except for the fact that the broken caliper was a napa unit I had replaced about 6 years earlier...grr...)

Race

iTrader: (1)

So how long did your stuff last after a rebuild?

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

Rear brake slider pins are a continuous maintenance item. Once you get everything good as new and working 100%, you should regrease those suckers about every 6 months -- more often if you live in a wet/snowy area. I think it's a poor design. Notice it wasn't used on the front -- where it counts. Seems like a more expensive design too -- doesn't make sense -- must have something to do with the parking brake.

Speaking of the parking brake, I make a habit of putting the car in gear and not using the parking brake. Even without the slider pin problem, not using the parking brake helps keep the discs even if your car sits for a long time.

creel

Mine stick too - But I can unstick them by hand so it's not that big a deal, yet....