Adjusting rear brakes

[footprintsincon]

well, i though my rear brakes were out again because i could hear the scrapping again on the rear right. they are down, and do need replacing soon.

however, i noticed the following:

rear left: the wheel was free to spin. you could see a lot of light between the pads on both side of the rotor
rear right: the wheel were free to move, but they were rubbing. i could not see a gap between the pads and the rotor


so i tried to adjust the cable for the e-brake and it freed up the wheel just a little, but nothing like the left side. i dont think there is anymore adjustment that i can do. the spring on the ebrake mechanism on the rear right rotor cant be adjusted (i didnt see any way of adjusting it).

so what do i do? does this mean that there is more pressure in the rear right cylinder or what? is there any thing i can see a gap between the pads and the rotor on the rear right?

thanks once again for the help!!!

[BColeman]

How many miles do you have on the car?

Reason I ask is that the sliders on the caliper on that side may be sticking a little. All you'd have to do is take the caliper sliders out and regrease them.

However, if the pads are wearing, you might as well do it all at the same time. You should always grease the sliders whenever replacing pads or tearing down the caliper.

[Cypher]

you should also always take a wire wheel or brush to the points where movement will be taking place. That way its free of debris and less likely to stick on you.

[Pete03GLS]

something with my rear brakes is wrong, they work n all... but the rear drivers side, rubs... so im gonna have to take it off, and clean it up, grease it, and/or replace parts, i think its time for a rear brake job anyways, 43k miles.... and ive done a bit of snow drifting, so i think theyll need a lil tender love n care.

[DJ Hellfire]

Sounds like the left caliper is seized. If it were just seized or sticking sliders, the inside pad that contacts the piston would at least be touching the rotor while the outside pad would/could have a slight gap. Since you have a gap on both sides, you may have both sticking/seized sliders as well as a frozen piston. Or it could be something as simple as a bad caliper hose not sending fluid to the caliper when you press the pedal.

Do like Cyph said and wire brush the pad hardware on the caliper brackets, but also remove the caliper from the bracket and clean and grease the slider pins really good. The slider pins are what the 14mm bolts thread into. Make sure you can slide the caliper back and forth on the bracket easily by hand once reassembled.

Then grab a piston return tool and try to return the piston. If it goes in nice, just put on the new brakes and have someone hold the pedal to make sure the wheel locks while they are holding and unlocks when they release.

As for adjustment, there is no adjustment for distance between the pads and the rotor. You can only adjust the tension on the parking brake cable. On a properly working caliper, the distance between the pads and rotors is preset by a small square seal behind the piston which pulls the pads away from the rotor just enough to unlock the wheel when the brakes are not being applied, but still maintaining a slight contact.

something with my rear brakes is wrong, they work n all... but the rear drivers side, rubs... so im gonna have to take it off, and clean it up, grease it, and/or replace parts, i think its time for a rear brake job anyways, 43k miles.... and ive done a bit of snow drifting, so i think theyll need a lil tender love n care.

Rubs how? Make sure the backing plate isn't hitting against the rotor.

[footprintsincon]

i had the brake changed at 30k. i had the same problem and i told them that i suspected that the caliper is seized. the mechanic said no, so not covered under warrenty. he said, the need new pad and cleaning. this cleaning is part of owners responsibility of maintenace.

well, now at 60k, the same issue again. i hear the same caliper rubbing, and now i took the wheel off my self, looked around and posted the question. maybe i will take the caliper off when i get back from CA next week and look into greasing and cleaning. i think i will have many more questions at that time.

thanks,

[DJ Hellfire]

Did the problem go away when he did the pads at 30K? If so, you probably just need new pads again. I would replace the rotors as well. Just make sure those sliders are greased really nice.

[quickfingerz]

It may not diagnose your problem but I'd try to flush both brake lines then clean both brake assemblies & re-grease. If you get the same result, I'd suspect it's one of your calipers.