Overheating Brakes

[Christopherrr]

sorta...I've been noticing that my Driverside Front wheel has been getting much dirtier than the rest of the them for a month or so...

First thing that comes into mind is stuck piston...

I take it out for a quick 1 minute spin...come back and spritz water on the rotors, the driveside front is steaming up while the other side just fizzle away. I gentlely touch the caliper on both sides and the driverside was definately hotter than the passenger side...

I haven't gotten a chance to take the wheel off and inspect it...but I'm pretty sure it's a stuck piston...

Is my guess right???

[fastTa]

Put a jack under the front and spin both tires by hand checking for rolling resistance. Could be a warped rotor as well. You would be able to hear that by the rotor making an inconsistent prominent sound on the pads.

[Dave M]

A warped rotor would also be felt when applying the brakes, you'd get a fast pulsating feeling through the brake pedal. It might be very slight if only one rotor is doing it. My guess would be a stuck piston, probably time to disassemble and lube them. Does the car pull to that side when driving or appying the brakes?

[M3EATER - GG '00 WS6 T/A]

Sticky piston or sticky guide pins.

Pull the caliper and check that the guide pins are well lubed and move freely ... and use a large c-clamp to push the pistons in and see if they go in easy or kinda tight.

Push one piston in and then use a deep socket between the piston and the other side of the caliper (to keep it from pushing out while you push the other piston in) while you push the other piston in.

[Christopherrr]

it's not a warped rotor...not vibration whatsoever...but it does pull the left when I'm driving. When I apply the brakes, the steering wheel magically turns left. I know that pull to the left is partially an alignment problem...but I'll get working on the caliper Saturday..thanks guys.

[Christopherrr]

Put a jack under the front and spin both tires by hand checking for rolling resistance. Could be a warped rotor as well. You would be able to hear that by the rotor making an inconsistent prominent sound on the pads.

oh yeah..I can definately hear it on the driver side too...

[Mirroredshades]

I had the exact same issue with mine. After replacing damn near every component on the car, I discovered it was a bent axle. The annoying thing about it was that 3 weeks after I put in the new axle, the hanging rotor issue came back. I'm not sure whether Superior Axles SUCK or if I have an alignment problem with the entire axle.

Good luck.

[DeWynter]

I have also had this experience, I replaced everything I could but to no avail. Even the GM experts were stumped then and old guy from down the street told me to replace the brake hose on that side. Turns out there is a possibility that the inside layer on your brake hose can become broken with no outside damage visible then every time you step on the brakes the hose works as a check vaule sorta. It hold a small amount of pressure on the caliper at all times. Hense heating of the brakes. Just a thought.

[fastTa]

I have also had this experience, I replaced everything I could but to no avail. Even the GM experts were stumped then and old guy from down the street told me to replace the brake hose on that side. Turns out there is a possibility that the inside layer on your brake hose can become broken with no outside damage visible then every time you step on the brakes the hose works as a check vaule sorta. It hold a small amount of pressure on the caliper at all times. Hense heating of the brakes. Just a thought.

Actually I forgot about this. There was a guy with a 4th Gen TA that came to a local tune shop complaining about the same problem that Lim Teng is having.

One of the tech's suggested that he replace both front brake lines with braided stainless lines. He did this and his brake woes stopped. It quit pulling on him to one side and it stopped overheating.