300 degrees?

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normohl

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so my car has been a little sluggish lately, i just got some new tires and the guy said my lugs were real hot, so i figure its the brakes, maybe a froze caliper or something.

so i drive it home around 3-4 miles, take my infrared thermometer and the drivers side is 300 and the pass is 280 the rears are around 160 each. i don't know much about cars but for a 8 mile round trip my thought are that's pretty damn hot, and i could feel they warped a bit. any thoughts?
 
that's seems way to hot, mine are usually cool to the touch after driving around. Do you smell any burning, what color are the rotors. I had an 89 Jetta and one of the calipers seized on me I had smoke coming out of the front end, and it turned my rotor blue.
 
it still looks normal but it definitely is not touchable after driving a short distance, seeing as both of them were around 300 after a short while i am guessing both the fronts are sticking in some way?
 
Sounds like sticking calipers to me. Time for a Cobra upgrade. :D
 
ahh... i do have 18's but how much for the 2 front calipers and rotors (and whatever else i need?) for the cobra swap? i need this fixed soon, they reach 300 degrees within a mile or so.
 
normohl said:
ahh... i do have 18's but how much for the 2 front calipers and rotors (and whatever else i need?) for the cobra swap? i need this fixed soon, the7y reach 300 degrees within a mile or two.
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I got the Ford Racing Cobra kit from Summit Racing for $500, get the one with the master cylinder it's cheaper, it comes with 13" rotors, two brake calipers, brake pads, brake lines, master cylinder. then you just get two Cobra hubs for the front. Well worth it.....oh and you have to get different lugnuts for the front as they are not the same size
 
Or you could buy some $280 calipers from BuyFordRacing or a little less on ebay, get some Cobra rotors from Brake Motive for $90 shipped and then have a machine shop redrill the rotor to fit your hub for 20-50 depending on the shop. It all bolts right up. No mods at all.
 
while sh it! i just replaced and bled the calipers took it for a run and they are still around 300-350. what else could it be? my boss said it could be the brake line that goes to the caliper but i don't see how that would effect temperature? someone has to have had this problem before

so its 90 bucks down the drain on the calipers for nothing.

the calipers came with new bolts that go into the caliper shock thing, and they have a washer on them but the originals don't i just used the old bolts w/o the washer. could that washer be making a difference?

I would just talk to my boss (head mechanic) but hes on vacation till Monday.
 
while after another 3 mile drive with 5 complete stops the drivers side was 290 and the pass was 240 while the backs remained at 170. i don't understand whats going on?

does the drivers side brake harder than the passengers side?

the rims spin freely when off of the ground they are not hard to spin or anything so nothing is hanging up to explain the hot temps.
 
that is super hot!! Can you point your thermometer around at different spots and see what is the hottest? I know you said it spins freely, but could the bearings possibly be causing this?

I'm not really sure what this would prove, but maybe you could try jacking up the front and having someone spin the wheel while you press the brakes and see what happens....
 
LaserSVT said:
Or you could buy some $280 calipers from BuyFordRacing or a little less on ebay, get some Cobra rotors from Brake Motive for $90 shipped and then have a machine shop redrill the rotor to fit your hub for 20-50 depending on the shop. It all bolts right up. No mods at all.
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I'm glad I got those when they were $229...
 
That's cuz you got the Bullitt calipers that are now $249. I got the anniversary Cobra calipers that were $229 at the same time.
 
i do here a slight grinding noise coming from the front, but i figured it was just my rims grinding a little on the piece that holds the caliper on? so bearings would be the next step? would bad front wheel bearings cause them to heat up this bad?

i can point the thermometer on anything but i don't really know where else to point it to know if its a bad wheel bearing?
 
ya i don't really know anything about this situation. if the bearings were making the rotor 350 degrees than i am sure the wheel would not want to spin freely when the car is jacked up, right?
 
the temp of the back of the pads are 160 which i am guessing they are not to problem and it has to be something else that is heating them up?


any other ideas of what it could be?
 
normohl said:
i do here a slight grinding noise coming from the front, but i figured it was just my rims grinding a little on the piece that holds the caliper on? so bearings would be the next step? would bad front wheel bearings cause them to heat up this bad?

i can point the thermometer on anything but i don't really know where else to point it to know if its a bad wheel bearing?
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Point directly at the bearing and if you hear something grinding, it could be the bearing. Maybe it grinds with weight and not without. Lack of lubrication to wheel bearings can cause heat but you may have a bad one.
 
Jack it up, see if the wheel jiggles. Pull the bearing cap and inspect them.
Usually though with a bad wheel bearing you will hear them.
 
i can hear a slight grinding but i figured it was my cobra rims grinding on the bit that holds the caliper on. ill have to check on the bearings and get back to you.

The check traction control light came on when i first started it also, i am not sure if it has anything to do anything break of bearing related, but the temp was not how when this happened.
 
so i talked to the shop i work for, they say its probably brakes hoses, there could be a tear in them or something, and when you pump the brakes it can force the fluid to the caliper but when released the fluid cannot return back to the system freely. sound right?
 
normohl said:
so i talked to the shop i work for, they say its probably brakes hoses, there could be a tear in them or something, and when you pump the brakes it can force the fluid to the caliper but when released the fluid cannot return back to the system freely. sound right?
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Not in your case it doesn't sound right. Just going by your heat description and everything you have said so far sounds like a bearing. Hot lug nuts and a grinding noise too. Now someone ( a shop ) says it the brake hoses might be torn or something :confused:
 
NoLimit95 said:
Not in your case it doesn't sound right. Just going by your heat description and everything you have said so far sounds like a bearing. Hot lug nuts and a grinding noise too. Now someone ( a shop ) says it the brake hoses might be torn or something :confused:
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but i also don't see how the bearing could make the rotor that hot and not be overly noisy or even seized.
 
The rotor surrounds the bearing. The rotor turns, which means the bearing is turning and causing friction if it's going bad or has no or very little lubrication but you say you hear a grinding sound. You say it spins freely when the car is jacked up, meaning no weight is on that bearing. Do you hear the grinding when the car is jacked up and you spin the wheel?

If not, when the weight of the car is setting back down on that bearing, that's when you're probably going to hear the grinding sound. I'm not there to see or hear it, just using a common sense guess here. The only other thing that could be causing the heat to the rotor would be the brakes being stuck to the rotor while you're driving and in that case, it would have to be bad enough to make the car pull to one side. All you have to do is pop the cap to the bearing and see if you see grease inside there. If you don't and you hear grinding when weight is on the tire, the bearing is most likely bad and needs to be changed and greased good before putting the cap back on. I'm also assuming this is only on one rotor you're getting all the heat from?
 
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