Frisky Arab

So for a good while now I've had a problem with my FC that is becoming worse and worse over time. I picked up my FC a while back (February) and it had drilled and slotted rotors on all 4 corners. However, they were old and warped, thus caused a quite bad vibration while driving at freeway speeds. Seeing as how the previous owner threw in a full set of brand new brakes for the car (rotors and pads) I decided to change them all out. He had also installed SS brake lines on the front, and gave me some for the rear to install myself. After installing all the rotors and pads I went out for a test drive and although everything was good and tight the first couple times I hit the pedal, there was in incident where the car felt like it was dragging very badly and I could not maintain freeway speed. I was upset to find that one of my front calipers was sticking and had fluid leaking from it. I took it to Brake Check to get caliper maintenance done since I did not have air tools or any other required tools at the time to do the maintenance myself. They did the front caliper maintenance, bled the system, and even tossed on the rear SS lines for me. For a couple months after that everything was fine. Then one day I started to feel that same dragging feeling in the car again as if the brakes were sticking and slowing the car down. This time however it was far less severe, and after dropping down to 4th gear I was able to maintain speed on the freeway. The weird part is, that now the dragging feeling will only stay for 30-45 seconds and then it goes away. This is why (like an idiot) I never did anything about it. I would just downshift and ride out the dragging feeling for a minute or so and let it take its course. This would only happen every week or so, so I wasn't too worried about it. Now however, it is July (in Texas) and it is significantly hotter out then when I got the brakes serviced. I am noticing lately that the problem is becoming more and more frequent (almost daily), and is lasting longer and longer (sometimes upwards of 2 miles of straight driving). The part that is really scaring me though is that a few days ago I had it start dragging while getting on an entrance ramp to the highway. Wanting to maintain speed to merge I dropped it into third gear and hammered it to get up to speed. By time the dragging feeling had worn off and I was on the highway I noticed my coolant temp gauge was at the halfway mark (in an S4 car). I was so worried that I got home and immediately started checking all my cooling system components. Everything seems to be fine, fan clutch is still very tight, radiator is uniformly hot, coolant cycles just fine, fluid is at a good level as well as is fairly new, and the car sits at operating temperature while idling for almost an hour on end.

I've driven it to work a couple times since checking the cooling system, and have driven it rather more "spirited" than I usually would and the gauge never leaves 1/4th the way up now, however I still occasionally feel the same dragging feeling that requires me to drive it a little harder until it wears off.

Very sorry for such a long and complex issue, but I know my calipers are not seized, I don't see an uneven or excessive wear on any 1 particular rotor to signify a dragging pad, and I can't find anyone else with a problem quite similar to mine. Due to a very unfortunate event while trying to fix my old Honda, this car is now my daily method of transportation (for about a month or two at least) and I really don't want it overheating on me. Any help would be very greatly appreciated.

KompressorLOgic

iTrader: (6)

sounds like a sticking caliper, I had a similar issue( tho not as severe)
I wouldn't recommend driving the car very far like this the dragging brake builds up heat, and can make the rotors glow red hot , the brake can even catch on fire. or it could drag so severe the wheel locks up

, if your able to replicate the incident do it on a safe side road, or if it just happens random drive through it then pull over, when it starts dragging keep driving it for 30 seconds or so then pull over, get out and put your hand on each rim, the dragging brake's wheel will be significantly warmer then all the rest( it could even be multiple wheels), it may be burning hot!

if all the wheels are dragging then it may be something to do with your master cylander or debris in the lines

Frisky Arab

I've often thought of checking it, however I rarely ever drive the car anywhere unless I'm headed out to work. It has all the emissions equipment removed, and it is such a pain to start it up and let it get warm just to drive down the street to the store or something like that. When I'm headed to work I do most of my driving on the feeder road of a highway that has no shoulder lane for me to pull over in. Just my luck too that it never happens close to home or work. Always right in the middle of my commute.

I drove it to and from work today (46 miles total) without the dragging feeling occurring at all. I have to drive it to work again tomorrow morning and will have the afternoon to check on the issue. I'm going to guess that if calipers are sticking then it is most likely the rear one/s. When I had the issue of the front caliper sticking back at the end of the winter, the force was so strong I literally could not maintain any speed over about 35mph. Now however when the dragging feeling occurs I can still maintain a steady 65mph, it just requires me to drop into 4th gear so that I have a bit more power to keep it up to speed. I did not get the caliper maintenance done to the rear calipers at the time either, because the passenger rear caliper looked like it had already been replaced (no stupid orange paint from the previous owner like the other 3 calipers), and the driver side rear caliper still looked and felt in good shape when I changed the pads and rotors.

Molotovman

iTrader: (49)

If you plan on keeping the car, you might as well just replace all the calipers. It sounds like the brake fluid was never changed at a regular interval and caliper pistons probably got rusty. Now that your pads are worn in, the pistons on one or more calipers have hit the rust spots and are sticking.

Frisky Arab

Well that sucks. I just got home and didn't encounter the issue today either. I might just go back and get the rear caliper maintenance with another bleed and flush since it is only $40 in total and go from there. If it comes down to needing all 4 new calipers, then I'll probably just end up converting to T2 brakes after I buy a new daily driver.

Frisky Arab

07/23/2014 UPDATE*

So after a few days of driving without issue, my dragging brakes decided to make an unwelcome appearance on my way in to work today. This time they started and did not stop until I parked the car in the garage at work. To Kompressor L0gic, I owe you an apology. I was in a high state of doubt that my disks were at any risk of catching on fire, but getting out of the car in the garage and seeing a sizable amount of smoke pouring from my red hot rear rotors was my wake up call.

New developments to note are that today when the dragging started my brake pedal got extremely firm without me even touching it. One minute it was normal, the next minute even a stomp from Hercules couldn't get the pedal to move. Then at the end of the day when I had to drive home I had no brakes. I would get about a full 6 inches of pedal movement before there would be even a little resistance in the brake pedal, and even with it all the way to the floor braking force was not sufficient. After a 23 mile drive home full of downshifting, engine braking, and lots of people staring at the loud Mazda with green rims wondering why he is revving his engine so much, I think its time to fix/replace these rear calipers. Wish I knew how to embed video of the smoke coming off my brakes.

TonyD89

iTrader: (10)

I'm sorta wondering if there could be a wheel bearing issue here. Probably just what has been said before about the calipers but worth a check while you're in there.

Frisky Arab

I've checked all my wheel bearings recently. I checked them once when changing my rotors and pads back in the winter, and more recently when I installed my coilovers. All I did was the normal grab the wheel and move it to check how much play there is. I didn't actually take everything apart and inspect them. They seem pretty tight though. On top of all that though I don't see how a bad wheel bearing would cause brake failure.

TonyD89

iTrader: (10)

It's probably the caliper but I've personally had a bad wheel bearing cause weird loading against the brake disk causing noise and heat.

Frisky Arab

Weird. I'll certainly look into that when I check it all out tomorrow. Seeing as how both of my rears (which received no caliper maintenance) are sticking, and both fronts (which received maintenance) are not, I'm fairly certain it is just the calipers. However I've definitely had worse luck with my cars in the past, and would not be surprised if both rear wheel bearings went out on me together. If that is the case, I will take it as a sign to get some DTSS eliminator bushings pressed in there at the same time.

Molotovman

iTrader: (49)

Does your car have any undercarriage rust? And just to clarify it is only the rear brakes?

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

When I replaced a set of brakes I got the WHOLE rear brake assemblies with the brackets,clips,caliper,etc.It came Loaded and ready to go.(sort of thing.)
You can get just the caliper,but I opted for everything new.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

I think your calipers are fine (outside of any damage caused by the excessive dragging) and the problem is (and always has been) misadjustment of the pedal>booster pushrod or (if the MC has been removed/replaced lately) booster>MC pushrod.

Next time you drive and the brakes are up to normal temp, stop and press on the pedal with your hand...make sure there's still a bit of freeplay in the pedal before it activates the booster.
If there isn't, it's essentially the same as driving with your foot constantly on the brakes, i.e., not great, Bob.

Addendum:
I wonder what "front caliper maintenance' is?
Just FYI, rebuilding the calipers requires no power/specialized tools and is quite simple.