toofanmasti

2002 TL-S
I drove in rain and parked in an open airport parking lot for 5 days. When I returned after 5 days, I turned on the car and let it warm up for a minute. Put shifter in Reverse. Car did not move. Usually it moves even when gas pedal is not pressed. So I stepped on gas pedal to make it go back. It made a 'clung' noise and started reversing. I ignored the noise. The ride was a little bumpy initially, may be due to the tires getting out of round since car was sitting idle for 5 days. After few minutes of driving, drive was normal. Drove back home, got off the car and smelled rubber burning. Looked at the rear passenger tire, little bit of smoke was coming out from brake. The tire, rotor were hot. I am not sure where to start looking and what to suspect. What could have led/caused this problem.

Any help to resolve this issue would be appreciated. Should I be concerned about the safety? Is it safe to drive?

Thank you in advance.

Bearcat94

E-Brake engaged?

AMGala

iTrader: (4)

Stuck caliper?

Aman

^ combination of both?

Had the e-brake engaged for the five days but the caliper didn't want to release....

toofanmasti

E-brake was not engaged. How to look for stuck caliper?

01tl4tl

No its not safe to drive at all- inspect immedialty- no kidding- as a mechanic

pull the caliper off and look for one pad worn out and the other semi ok, or one side of the cars pads good and the others roasted!
burn marks on the rotor and glazed-cracked pads or burnt paint on pad back are common on a `caliper stuck on` failure

If not sure its working- take a piece of 2x4 and place in the caliper so it cant pop the piston out- have friend slowwly push the pedal a few inches and see if the piston moves
If not- bad caliper= replace in pairs
Brake fluid needs to be changed every year starting at year 3- if not done- fluid goes bad and things can get rusty inside the caliper and cause this lockup
Happened to our mega mod- smoke pouring off the rear brake when he got home one day

The park brake- its not an emergency brake by any stretch of the imagination- is a small set of drum brakes- the drum for them is that wide part on the rear brake rotor- the shoes sit inside the rear brake rotors hub center section!
Should not matter-- only 5 days parked on tire roundness or park brakes- unless parked on 40 degre incline!

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

it means the calipers are working properly.

but seriously follow 01tl4tl directions.

fsttyms1

E Brake has noting to do with the caliper on the TL. The TL has a Drum style parking brake in the hub of the rotor.


Sounds like a caliper is frozen. Jack up the rear of the car and try spinning the tire. Does it spin freely? or is it hard to turn.

01tl4tl

ahhh= kris knows the easy way to check from experience!
If he had cheap pads and rotors at the time- the results could have been disaterous

luckily he was on good parts when the rear caliper decided to quit- despite numerous flushings of the brake fluid over the years..then one day...

toofanmasti

Thank you very much guys for your valuable input.

I did a quick check as you had suggested.
1) Brake fluid level is OK.
2) Put car in Neutral, jacked the car up and spun both the rear wheels. They both spin but I am not sure how freely should they spin. Currently they spin but I can feel friction. They don't even go 1 complete revolution.
3) When I press the brake pedal, the red BRAKE light indicator in dash board panel does not light up. But when I press the e-brake that red light lits up. What does that indicate?

I would like to go ahead and buy the brake pads. I hear from this forum that ceramic are good. What would you guys recommend for brand and material?

How would I know that the calipers are bad as well? It would be nice of you if you can suggest the brand and material for the calipers too.

Lastly, where should I buy them from. Any reliable, cost effective place to get them from?

Thank you all again.

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

why did u put the car in neutral. would the car roll on you when u lift the back?
the "BRAKE" light is telling u that ur emergency brake is engaged aka hand brake.

i still have my rear calipers from my 02tls, about 70k on them and worked good when i took them off. let me know if u want them

toofanmasti

Rajca: You are right, there was no need to put the car in neutral (i just realized that). Also, the BRAKE light (red LED) in the dash is for the e-brake and not for pedal brake.

01tl4tl

you need to do what I said before- remove the wheel and caliper- inspect the rotors and caliper operation--you did the quick check- something is really wrong- smoke is not normal!!!!!

Dont rush out to buy brake pads till you see whats actually wrong
Ceramics are for noise control
THere are better options and it depends on your driving style and brand of rotor
The rears dont need as much braking as the fronts- only 30% of the stopping comes from them
Autozone and kragen have decent price on rebuilt calipers- rears are 100$ each and special order item- not in stock
The rear wheels should turn several times when given a 1/2 turn pull with your arm
BLOCK both sides of the front wheel- leave in park and release park brake
Dont want the car rolling over you

You can also do a partial brake fluid flush- open the suspect rear caliper and check the fluid that comes out

toofanmasti

Ok, as suggested by 01tl4tl, I removed the wheel, caliper and the pads from the wheel that was smoking. Unfortunately, I did not take pics. But, here are the observations.
1) Both pad surfaces looked burnt and glazed.
2) Rotor surface seemed ok on this wheel, but on the other rear wheel it has some circular lines which seems higher.
2) Pushed the brake pedal and observed caliper piston movement. Piston moves out when brake is applied. I am not sure if it is supposed to return to original position after brakes are released. In my case it was not going back. Had to take the brake oil line out and push the piston manually back in. Is this normal? Lost some brake fluid. Brake indicator on dash in lit up.

What should be the next step?

Thank you again.

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

frozen caliper. it should return back to normal position.

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

get new pads, new caliper and resurface rotors if possible

01tl4tl

the rear rotors are cheap- 20-25 bucks each for basic ones ~kragen type store
If its been super hot- which it has, and the other rotor has grooves because its been doing twice the work.. and now its rotor and pads are toast
I would replace everything- brakes are important~

PM rajca about a deal for his old rear calipers- get new rotors and new pads
Thats what its going to take to fix it
How did the fluid look?

totaledTL

I would definitely just replace the calipers and rotors. You already have some of the work done. If one has stuck for whatever reason- remember the other one in all probability has an equal amount of run time on it. It could soon fail too. There's a good chance the brake fluid has gotten overheated on that side too, so do fluid replacement. It's not very hard to do & doesn't take long.

01tl4tl

when you open/remove the brake line to install a new caliper- that forces a full brake system fluid flush in order to remove air~
That will take care of the old fluid issues

Brake fluid flush needs to be done every year for our cars- acura says starting at year 3 of cars life...so we all qualify

Replace calipers in pairs as said- they get equal wear and the other will go bad soon, especially if there was rust particles in the fluid (wiki- hygroscopic)

NEW brake pads to match the new rotors are a must- yours are heat baked!!

01tl4tl

When a caliper goes bad- its often not pressing as hard either, so the other side has to make up for that by working harder

In the OPs case he says the other rotor has high circles- to us that would be grooved rotor and need full inspection of that side too

toofanmasti

Alright folks...thank you all for your valuable inputs. I really appreciate them all. I am adding a few pics from my work. I took apart the brakes and inspected the calipers, pads, and rotors. Took some measurements too. Earlier, I had made a mistake of taking apart the rear right caliper. I did see some minor rusting on the chrome outer diameter of the piston, but when talking to a guy who rebuilds cars, it seemed to be normal unless piston was in an utterly bad condition. Unfortunately when I did this job, I was not able to put the boot back in its place and may be tore it when using a screwdriver. Will have to buy a new boot and replace when I replace the pads in a few months. The guy I was speaking to said that the situation may have happened due to the weather being damp/rainy and the car was sitting idle for a few days. I have been city driving with these brakes and trying to feel the temperature and it seems to be normal. The car does not shimmy or judder when applying brakes. I am little careful as well !! But please review the pics and let me know what you think about the condition of the brakes and or situation. Your comments are highly appreciated.

http://img14.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=95741989.jpg

01tl4tl

duuuuuuude~

You NEED new pads immediatly and rotors too- those pads are at the end of the wear bars- a little more and it will be hard for the piston to go far enough, then things get crooked and a rotor is damaged + you have way less braking.
The rear rotors are cheap- replace them and be done with it

Be generous with the caliper grease, and paint everything to protect it~

When you extend the pistons, was the rust on the main outer part, or just the very end?
rust on inner side of piston is normal
any rust on the main piston is cause for overhaul or replacement
Its pretty easy to rebuild these calipers if done before they go totally bad and corrode the piston

An open torn boot invites in bad things---

New boot comes with a caliper rebuild kit but can be obtained seperate

How was the brake fluid? black? Did it come clean pretty easily?

01tl4tl

rear brake probs dont make a shimmy or shudder like the fronts will

totaledTL

Why didn't you just reassemble it with rebuilt calipers, new pads, new or turned rotors, and fresh fluid? Then you're finished.

toofanmasti

Thanks a lot guys. Really appreciate your valuable inputs.

@totaled TL.....I was wanting to get the calipers rebuilt, but I could not get the kit on time. Then I thought, I will take things apart and see what all things I would need to get the job done right.

Now I know that I need the kit for calipers, pads, rotors, impact driver to get the 2 screws holding the rotors out, etc.... Also, I have to get the tires changed.

@ 01tl4tl....thanks a lot for the help here.

Will get the job done and update you all. Thank you.

It's Clutch

iTrader: (6)

see what you get for living in super cold conditions.. Jk.

Hope you fix it soon!

elproducto

I love this forum. My gf car was parked for a few days. Same symptoms passenger rear tire clunking and noticed smoke. I am going to get a new caliper, and relace rotors and pads. Thanks

smartypants

Hi toofanmasti :

You're got some great replies from the always helpful AZ members.

My view on TL brakes is that they work or they don't. If you had a struck caliper and it's working now, leave it alone. There is no safety issue as the caliper will either stick and heat up or continue to work fine. Watch out for that burning brake smell when you come to a stop or get out of the car.

I had the same issue and eventually had to change a rear caliper when I noticed that acrid smell and eventually wisps of smoke coming from the wheel. Changed the caliper and all went back to normal. Given that you had your car "stored" for a length of time, the caliper may have been struck and will now work fine....or at least for some time.

Personal Rant - In my opinion, Acura cheaped out on the brakes to probably save $10 per car. I've had a constant stream of pads and rotors changed over the years. I now do the brakes myself and have significantly less problems.

smartypants