dh_6783

I drove my car to work today after it sat for two days in 20-30 degree weather. Once I arrived for work I smelled somthing hot. I traced it to the rear driver side brake system. Could the caliper be sticking or something else? Anyone else had this problem? Thanks

01tl4tl

Yes- several people had the same problem. Our Moderator Fsttyms1 had his Right rear sieze partially on and drove many miles home unaware. When he pulls the wheel off- the pad material is totally baked and the paint on the back of it was bubbled~ and he has EBC heavy duty rotors and pads, probably what saved his life. He imagined smoke must have been coming off it but no one waved frantically to alert him. mileage:250K+
On my 01, the rears started only pushing on half the width of the rotor. mileage 80k
This weekend we replaced fronts that had failed on friends 02 TL mileage 145k

Part of it can be lack of fluid change, or just use over time or who knows, but one day they call it quits- and that day has arrived for gen2 cars
The o-ring for the caliper piston is nearly microscopic for what its required to do- hold back the pressure and cause the brakes to work. Members should rebuild their fully working calipers with brake job- its cheap and easy to do

You will have to special order rebuilt calipers from parts store - dealer 120-160 each, parts places-60-100 each

01tl4tl

Always replace calipers in pairs- both fronts, both rears
Failure to do so will result in shakes and failure of other caliper- assuming you replaced the correct one in the first place...not that I ever did that....

Edward'TLS

Calipers can seize up especially when salt and dirts work their way into and corode the movable pistons. It is better that the calipers seized close than seized open, because seized closed you can tell from the smell and/or smoke. But seized open is hard to detect and will result in you driving with less than four functional brakes. One seized open calipers = 75% braking efficiency. Two seized open calipers = 50% braking efficiency.

dh_6783

It smelled pretty hot when I exited the car which is a 2000 TL 142k. Do you think it would be safe to drive it 35 miles? Do you think it would be safe bet to drive it without it locking up. What would be the ramifications of it locking up?

korrupted

I've had brake pistons lock up on me when driving.
It's similar to slamming on the brakes, very unnerving feeling.
I didn't realize what had happened until a month later when I took it to a mechanic (there was a constant squealing sound).

Edward'TLS

Do you know if it is the rear caliper(s) that is/are seizing, or if it is the parking drum brake(s) that is/are seizing. Do you have the parking brake still engaged while driving ?!

The brake pad is already toasted. If the disc rotor is not warped already, driving it another 35 miles will certainly do the job. Also the brake fluid will boil over and affecting the brakes on the other three sides. Not a good idea to drive that far.

dh_6783

I believe its just the rear driver side. That was the only one that smelled hot and I haven't had the parking brake on at all. I guess I'll just get it towed.

dh_6783

Thanks alot

fsttyms1

First off on level ground put the car in neutral and push it. Does it roll?

dh_6783

It did when I got out of it at 10am this morning for work. I haven't tried yet

slavver01

iTrader: (3)

when i just bought my tl, it was this past april, had 147k on it, i drove it home, and it sat for 2 days while i did paperwork and stuff. i went to pull out, and there was a screech when i was driving and a smell. took me bout half a mile to figure out something was wrong and it wouldnt go away haha. the driver rear brake froze to the rotor. anyway, the seals were extremely dried out, just ened up getting new calipers. it scratched the rotor lightly on the surface. whech i havent changed still, but my brakes seem to work fine.

fsttyms1

One other thing to do is jack up that rear wheel and see if it spins freely. If so its not your brake. IS it possible you ran thru a puddle or something that splashed up on that muffler and that was what you smelled?

digitalextremes

sometimes if you hit the brake hard with new pads/roters, it's normal to smell something burning...just the way it works. if you do smell something without a hard brake incident then there is probably something wrong with the calipers.