Purp240

Hello,

Having an issue that I cant seem to figure out at all....

Was having rear brake issues since they were very old..one calipers was pretty much seized....i decided to just put brand new calipers rotors and pads on the rear....

I installed everything without trouble and i saved a little money by rebuilding the brackets myself since its pretty simple...
So I drove the car home from my garage where i worked on it which was about 4 miles of 35-45 mph speed limits (so no high speeds) and when i got home the rear wheels were blazing hot...so i figured the parking brake was dragging...

i tried adjusting the parking brake from inside the cabin with no results...i noticed that cable is stretched so I ordered a new one and im currently waiting for it...so now for the problem....I figured since the parking brake was dragging I would disconnect the cable from the rear calipers so i could at least drive it back to garage without burning out the rear brakes....the problem is that once i disconnected the parking brake cables THE REAR BRAKES STILL DRAG....i bled both sides of the rear brakes for a while until the new fluid came out from both sides so there def isnt any air in the system....


so basically what should i check next?? im lost now...what would cause the rear brakes to be dragging just enough to get them real hot after a short drive???
I can actually roll the car by pushing it, but its harder then usual and the car will stop on its own sort of abruptly. It doesnt slowly come to a stop if you know what i mean..

so please help!!!

thanks in advance

Anthony

[240sx]

Abs model?

Sent from my SM-G930P

Purp240

Sorry Non abs model here

[240sx]

So it's both sides getting hot? Like glowing red?
Did you line up the brake pad dowls to the slots in the piston?
Only other cause I can think of is the guide pins.

Sent from my SM-G930P

zer0c123

This might be a silly question, but did you compress the rear caliper piston before bolting on the caliper to the slide pins? This might seem obvious, because you "can't" bolt everything back without compressing caliper.

However depending how far the piston was out, you can potentially bolt it on without compressing the piston all the way. This leads to a very tight line up. I have seen a case where the piston was left in an as-left position (without adjustment) and it still had just enough clearance slide the caliper over the pads and bolt onto the slide pins, but it led to the exact scenario you a describing .... hot wheels.

Here a tip to save yourself time from constantly jacking up the car and unbolting stuff to diagnose the problem. While you have the wheels off, press the brake pedal then try to turn the the wheel hub. It should be easy to turn by hand. If not, then you know something is not right.

anti tyler

Check those guide pins you "rebuilt" yourself.

Your pedal doesn't feel any different now than before?

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jr_ss

Where did you disconnect the parking brake cable? Is your parking brake cable siezed in the sleeve? If so it'll have tension on the parking brake lever regardless if you disconnected it at the parking brake handle or not. On a side note, don't the pistons have to be screwed back into the caliper vs being pushed back in because of the integrated parking brake?

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williamjbrown93

Still have issue?

Purp240

Well the calipers were brand new so they didnt need to be compressed at all, but I did check just to make sure....

the pads were lined up correctly in the caliper..

I did replace the old stock rear rubber brake lines with steel braided lines
and this actually solved 95% of my issue...i guess i had collapsed brake lines....

So now i do notice that the right rear wheel still has a little bit of dragging going on there....the left rear is perfectly fine...I drove the car 10 miles the other day and the right rear wheel was a little hot and I could tell the caliper was dragging a little bit on that side still...


also im about to go and replace both rear parking brake cables just to rule that out also....but i cant see how that would cause the dragging caliper since the calipers were still dragging even with both perking brake cables disconnected....

any more ideas??

anti tyler

Again, did you check the guide pins you replaced...

If one created suction inside the slide with the grease then it won't retract.

I stated earlier to at least check them.

You didn't mention replaced calipers and brackets as well.

Otherwise your master cylinder might not be retracting inside all the way. I can't remember which ports on the master his pressure first. if it's the rears then your master might be stuck. it's the only other piece that provides any pressure

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Purp240

^^^^^ this is useful info because I kinda ruled out the master cyl because i thought it would happen to all 4 calipers if it was that.
The guide pins are all new and i was able to clean and reuse the old brackets...I was able to clean them well and get all the old gunk out of them...but i did have the theory that the grease was causing some kind of suction and not letting the caliper retract but I took them off and tested them, everything slides freely and easily. I did think i used too much grease at first.
I had a friends shop and his mechanics look over the job to see if I maybe was missing something and they took everything apart and reinstalled them. I had them replace the rear brake lines with ss braided lines while they were at it and this relieved alot of the issue, so i def had some delaminated insides of the original old rubber lines causing that one way check valve syndrome...

The last thing is i wasnt aware of the pins that need to be lined up with the pads, but the pads only go in one way and the calipers were fresh out of the box when i installed them so everything fit right together easily when i first did the job...

lastly is Im leaning towards my rear parking brake cables....def an issue there i think still

anthony

Purp240

Update again..

So i noticed something kinda weird which is causing me to believe there is an issue with my rear parking brake cables....
I drove the car this morning to my workshop which is about 5 miles away. When i got there i noticed that the passenger side rear caliper was the one sticking because it was hot and stinky and the rim was pretty hot, i was able to touch the drivers side rotor with my hands without getting burned...so i figured i got it narrowed down to the passenger side caliper thats the problem....
I was able to loosen the nut on the handle inside the car to see if that was too tight which is sorta was. Loosening this nut actually helped a little bit, so i thought.

So i got under the rear of the car and checked the parking brake cables..and i find that even tho the brakes seem to drag, they dont seem to be pulling too hard on the lever on the caliper. So i removed the drivers side cable to see if anything changes on the passenger side and i dont seem to have any changes....so then i just get pissed off and I drive to get something to eat and this is where it got me confused. i get to the place for lunch thats 4 miles away and all 40mph driving, and get outa the car and i notice that now its the drivers side thats dragging and not the passenger side like it was earlier in the day....now im scratching my head just dead in the water waiting on fed ex to deliver the new rear brake cables so i can change them and rule out that issue..

justinbyrant

if your changing them anyways just remove them and see if it fixes the problem, can you turn the wheels by hand with the car in the air?

Purp240

Ok so i narrowed it down to the cables. Disconnected them completely and the brakes don't drag. So I ordered new rear cables. Went to install the one side and realized I could not separate the old cable from the bracket that secures it to the caliper itself.
Now my new problem. I figured I would save myself some aggravation and order these brackets and the new locking plates to put it all back together. WRONG!!! I can't find these brackets anywhere on any diagram or anything. I checked the Parts diagram for the rear calipers themselves and they are not on there anywhere. Then I checked the diagram for the parking brake system and still can't find the brackets, but i can only find the locking plate on the diagram. So if someone knows what I'm talking about or what those things are called or a part number or a way to separate them from the old ones (they r like fused together from age I think. Or spot welded from factory). Anything would help. I'm so close to finally fixing and finishing this job and now this.

Thanks
Anthony