One Glowing RED HOT rotor WTF?

[LIV2DRIFT]

i was driving the 240sx on friday, and stopped 3 blocks away from home to get gas. After refueling i left for home, and upon pulling my car into the garage, i got out and smoke was billowing from my rear left tire well. i got out and my rotor was glowing red! i quickly rolled the car out of the garage, took off the ebrake and let it smoke out there for a while. the other rotor was warm but no wheres near glowing red... and i mean it was RED! kind of like those photo's they do of the LeMans cars at night time, but only it was 1 in the afternoon! hahaha. it is possible that i had not put the ebrake down all the way, but i didn't notice the car driving funny, and both rotors would've been around the same temp if this was indeed the case. Im kind of worried that my car will spontaneously combust now.

Any suggestions? i took it around the block yesterday and it seemed fine...

BTW it is a brand new caliper installed a few months back.

[Neejay]

It's possible that you didn't let the e-brake down all the way.

The only other thing I can think of is your caliper is sticking, causing your rotor to be clamped even while driving...hence the red glow as if you were braking hard.

[pignose kat]

i recently had this problem with another car(not 240). none the less, brakes are brakes. sounds like you have a faulty caliper, if its pretty new, then hopefully its still under warranty and you can exchange it free. drive it a little longer than around the block, if the problem persists, id say exchange the caliper.

[vvtisupra]

common on s13 to have a stuck caliper.

[Phlip]

And it COULD have been the e-brake, since it only locks one of the rear wheels, let it cool off, make sure you let it all the way down, then drive again... If it continues, replace calipers and change fluid en route to a THOROUGH bleeding

[LIV2DRIFT]

does anyone have an idea on how a caliper becomes stuck? My engineering background makes me question this. When you take your foot off the brake the pressure has to be relieved, no? even if the pad doesn't mechanically retract, i would expect the pad to wear off a few thou pretty quick and im sure the amount of pressure on the pad and rotor would decrease rather quickly. if the pressure in the line is maintained after the pedal is released (impossible unless there is a line blockage somewhere) then the caliper would only compress a little further, the volume in the line can't be that great between the rear split point and that caliper...
but then again i can't imagine it being anything else... heat is caused by friction so i guess it is pretty straight forward. I will drive some more and see if its still a problem. If anyone has a super technical explination for this i would be glad to hear it.

P.S. what are the chances of something catching fire back there? that would suck like a rhino in your canoe.

[articdragon192]

The caliper gets seized. it's just normal wear and tear. Mine had the same problem. i'd have metal to metal wear on one side, and like half of the pad on the other. pretty gay if you ask me. Perfect way to fix it? Z32 calipers :D

[wootwoot]

You live in Canada to boot. Think corrosion

[aznpoopy]

+1 seized caliper

[LIV2DRIFT]

This is a brand freakin new caliper... i find it hard to believe that it is seized from 'the elements'

agreed on the z32 calipers. i wanted to swap over my rears to the z32 to match the front ones... but alas i am broke and finishing off my mechanical engineering degree... not to mention im prez on the uofc baja sae race team so i have negative spare time to work on that car! sad story of the day.

If i can get it to hold a few more months i can fix it proper...(z32).. and unless in the mean time my car is going to explode into a ball of fire, I will probably leave it under a watchful eye. besides glazed pads would allow easier burnouts...

[wootwoot]

Is it a rebuild unit?

[LIV2DRIFT]

yes. identical quality to the one you would find at your local NAPA store. it worked great for 2 months prior.

If this is indeed a smoking gun for a seized caliper, then i will pull off the caliper over the holidays and leave it parked till then. i don't want to do any more landscraping with my car.

[Phlip]

If the caliper is new, and you have properly bled the system, and I INSIST that you change the fluid if it has been hot enough to make the rotor glow red, then you may want to test your brake booster as well, after you've inspected that caliper.

Oh, and if it has been 2 months and you got it in a parts store, take it back and exchange it, most of them here allow 90 days for such things.

[wootwoot]

Rebuild units do have a decent failure rate. I'm not saying thats it though just something to check out. Just keep your eye on it?

[projectRDM]

Rebuilt rear calipers last even less time than OEs, which don't usually make the 100k mile mark.

[Eric240sx1990]

"If anyone has a super technical explination for this i would be glad to hear it."


Ya, if the calliper gets too hot over time, the fluid in there can get nasty. And after a while of not having been bled fully, you can get corrosion buildup. If you have been driftin ur car you gotta think, which side do you put more stress on? The fluid could have built up corrsion in that calliper.

Im having the same problem i think on my focus. The brakes started to smoke really bad coming back from a short trip w/ alot of windy roads. Now it makes a whining sound that gets heavier and louder as it gets faster.

[infinitexsound]

+2 frozen caliper....

[LIV2DRIFT]

haha alright alright i will accept the fact that the caliper is fucked. this is annoying since i just spent 100 bucks on that caliper that i didn't want to replace in the first place (it was leakin fluid on my pretty gram lights). maybe i can limp the car into spring and once i have some scratch i will do the z32 rear to match the fronts. I guess that is the car gods frowning on me for not upgrading the stock components when they wear out! thanks for the help.

[!Zar!]

Either way, you need to bleed and refill your coolant since you overheated it.

[ManoNegra]

I would also check the rotor to make sure if didn't warp if you change your mind and decide to keep s13 brakes.

[yokotas13]

does anyone have an idea on how a caliper becomes stuck? My engineering background makes me question this. When you take your foot off the brake the pressure has to be relieved, no? even if the pad doesn't mechanically retract, i would expect the pad to wear off a few thou pretty quick and im sure the amount of pressure on the pad and rotor would decrease rather quickly. if the pressure in the line is maintained after the pedal is released (impossible unless there is a line blockage somewhere) then the caliper would only compress a little further, the volume in the line can't be that great between the rear split point and that caliper...
but then again i can't imagine it being anything else... heat is caused by friction so i guess it is pretty straight forward. I will drive some more and see if its still a problem. If anyone has a super technical explination for this i would be glad to hear it.

P.S. what are the chances of something catching fire back there? that would suck like a rhino in your canoe.
um, its a 16 year old car. anything is possible.
grit, grime get in the piston, jamming it. etc etc

[LIV2DRIFT]

I would also check the rotor to make sure if didn't warp if you change your mind and decide to keep s13 brakes.

good call. From what i have learned rotors don't warp... a clamped pad on a hot disc will cause the steel to change form from alpha and beta steel to cementite, which is why you get the chunk-chunk-chunk noise (sounding awefully like what a warped rotor would sound like). i will get both rears turned and some new pads to go with it... any job worth doing worth doing right i guess. that pad is probably totally glazed now anyways. Partsource will warantee the caliper for 1 year, even without a receipt no questions asked, so i guess i have myself a christmas break project :-)