New Brakes/Calipers issue

J

jinx8402

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So about a month ago I took my LS to my regular mechanic. Turned out the driver side rear caliper was shot, along with pads/rotors. He replaced the rotors, brake pads, calipers and brake hoses on both sides in the rear. Just recently I noticed that the driver side rear is creating an excessive amount of brake dust, and during the last snow storm the entire rotor was completely rusted over. The passenger side was fine. I called him and he's going to take a look at it all. Said he will take it for a drive and check the temps of each of the rotors.

Just looking to see if any of you guys would have some insight.
 
Wonder if he forgot to grease the pins and you are getting uneven brake pad wear? All it takes is a pin to stick and you could see exactly what you are seeing.
 
marcredd is right on. These cars are front biased brakes. You rarely see any break dust on the rear wheels. Caliper is dragging the pads on the disc rotor. Simple fix. Check your break fluid level also. Good luck.
 
msgtusmc said:
marcredd is right on. These cars are front biased brakes. You rarely see any break dust on the rear wheels. Caliper is dragging the pads on the disc rotor. Simple fix. Check your break fluid level also. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Not altogether true. The reason the rear rotors are vented is due to the amount of rear braking tuned into the system; it's part of the anti-dive technology. I go through rear pads at the same rate as the fronts; and I'm very much a late "braker". This isn't your FWD car, after all.
 
I'll play contrarian.

It's close to 66/34. Vented rotors are sometimes spec'd for noise abatement, but in this case you're right it was for the potential of thermal rejection.

The wear out balance has more to do with the volume of friction material balanced to the brake bias, the rear pads having a smaller volume of material to wear away while doing 34% of the work. Operating temperature also influences brake wear life, which will greatly vary depending on the travel conditions and drivers style.

http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showpost.php?p=867415&postcount=33

As far as the OP, even newly installed aftermarket reman'd parts can have issues, as can the pins if they were not lubed or the slide boots not fully seated in their groove.
 
TooManyToys said:
I'll play contrarian.

It's close to 66/34. Vented rotors are sometimes spec'd for nose abatement, ...
Click to expand...

How does this work? Do you stick your nose in the vents? It seems like it would be painful.
 
Happens on brake dyno when the cover is removed. Some people just love to smell ammonia and formaldehyde.

HVtMe.jpg



One skinny little letter ......

Yes, I don't proofread.
 
Some kinds of pads are much more likely to make dust. Depending on exactly what was done during the repair, one could see the result the OP lists. In addition, the material and surface treatment will have a decided effect on the incidence of rust forming.

KS
 
But the calipers, pads and rotors on both sides were replace at the same time with the same brand/type. Which is why I was curious on why one side would do this and not the other.
 
One possibility is that the drivers side was on the windblown side of the snow storm so it got wetter, rusted, and now the iron oxide was worn off more of the outer pad friction material creating the dust.

Another is that the slide pins are hung up so the outer side of the disc is not being used (rust) while the inner pad is dragging on the rotor crating more dust.

You didn't state if the rusty rotor was only after the storm or continues to be so.

Pads can also hang up in the brackets, more so with aftermarket pads, creating almost the same effect as frozen slide pins.

You didn't state the original brake problem, only that is was shot. That can mean many, many things. And if the brake hose had an internal delamination, that could be a cause for recurrence of driver side brake issues, although would not account for a rusty rotor unless the driven snow side of the car was the only issue for the rust.

The only way to sort all this out is with a hands-on inspection. Tough to see through the computer.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, really appreciate it. Like I said, he's going to take a look at it this week...just like to get input from the community.


TooManyToys said:
One possibility is that the drivers side was on the windblown side of the snow storm so it got wetter, rusted, and now the iron oxide was worn off more of the outer pad friction material creating the dust.
Click to expand...

The front brakes did not have any rust after the storm. Granted, they were not replaced at the time of the rears, and I'm not positive he used the same brand I did when I last changed my brakes.

TooManyToys said:
Another is that the slide pins are hung up so the outer side of the disc is not being used (rust) while the inner pad is dragging on the rotor crating more dust.
Click to expand...

This is what I'm leaning towards myself, and will mention this to him when I drop it off.

TooManyToys said:
You didn't state the original brake problem, only that is was shot. That can mean many, many things. And if the brake hose had an internal delamination, that could be a cause for recurrence of driver side brake issues, although would not account for a rusty rotor unless the driven snow side of the car was the only issue for the rust.
Click to expand...

The original issue was that I started getting a metal grating sound from the rear drivers side brakes. I took it to my mechanic because being in the winter I was not going to be able to do the brakes myself. I trust him enough that when he said the caliper needed to be replaced I didn't ask the exact issue. He also replaced the rear (both driver & passenger) brake hoses as well and completely bled the system.

I really appreciate all the input guys, I'm definitely leaning towards it being an issue with the caliper slide pins, and will have him look at that in particular.
 
Sounds like he did a good job of replacing all the possible wheel end issues. And if the front rotor didn't rust but was exposed to the same environmental issues, then your right the problem probably already existed before the storm.

The metal grating sound was most likely steelback to rotor with all the friction on a pad(s) gone.
 
TooManyToys. Your Mustang original or clone? GT350? I have replaced the wife's front brake pads, but the rears are original.

2000 LS V6, wiife's toy 83k miles
 
easy solution to this one!!!

learn to fix yourself and then replace everything at a cheaper cost than what your mechanic charges. just sayin lol.

at least your brake problem isnt as bad as mine. i dont drive a ls but on my mountaineer i go through front rotors about every 6-8 months, lotta money down the hole doin that. lol.
 
How many miles in the 6-8 months and what is the issue? That brake system was used from '95 to '03 and wasn't that problematic. If this was a Grand Cherokee I could see it.
 
AVEY10 said:
easy solution to this one!!!

learn to fix yourself and then replace everything at a cheaper cost than what your mechanic charges. just sayin lol.
Click to expand...

I've done my brakes before. The reason I didn't do it this time is because it was in the middle of winter, and I was not going to do them in 20-30 degree weather when I don't have a garage. It was worth the extra $100 for him to put them on. He and his dad has been our family mechanic for over 20 years. He has taken very good care of us, hell even doing stuff for the price of parts at times if it was a dead simple job. I have no reason not to trust him when he works on any of our cars.

That said, he took a look at it, and the temps were the same on both sides. He said what I thought was brake dust was actually metal shavings, which he believes came from the old caliper/brake pads when they were bad. And now that I think about it, where I parked my car, the front half is "shielded" by the side of my house, where as the back half (and thus back tire) would have been more exposed to the storm. So that might also explain the why only that rotor was rusty compared to the other 3.
 
Just wash the wheels and let her run to confirm he is correct. Sometimes we drive ourselves crazy thinking we have an issue.
 
You have all the best toys :(

TooManyToys said:
Happens on brake dyno when the cover is removed. Some people just love to smell ammonia and formaldehyde.

HVtMe.jpg



One skinny little letter ......

Yes, I don't proofread.
Click to expand...
 
Used to. These is a pass car sized dyno. What was really neat were the commercial vehcile sized dynos and the two railroad brake dynos. But I preferred being in the vehicle test side.
 
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