Help with Calipers and Brakes we’re all stumped

[Markus]

2003 Ford Mustang GT. Last year, Front passenger side caliper was “sticking” Getting the car ready for this year. Bought brand new front calipers, rotors, break pads. Installed, thanks to Eric The Car Guy Videos. take it for a test drive. Front Passenger side rotor is getting so hot that its smoking, after 15 mins of cooling you still cant touch the rotor for more than half a second it burns your hand. Drivers side is fine no where close to being that hot and no burning smell whatsoever. Passenger side Brake hose then replaced. Everything rechecked, lubed, all slide pins, shims, contact points etc. Test drive last night, still smoking… might i add, the car really doesn’t pull to any side at all, also last test drive i tried little to no breaking at all, 10 min drive, with downshifting to slow the vehicle to a near crawl before applying breaks, still smoking, hot, smells. At this point im stumped as well as a few close friends way more car advanced than me. additional, the caliper slides easily when taken off, checking the pistons, using that screw tool, even with the bleeder closed caliper seems functionally fine…. help thanks

Topic

[Richard Kirshy]

Just guessing here…
Checked:
Master cylinder operation
Hard lines for kinks or obstruction(s)
The proportioning valve.
ABS operation.

[zero]

When the brakes were bled, was the fluid coming out evenly on both sides? If a rubber hose is collapsed, it would apply break pressure but not allow fluid to flow back, or not flow back enough to relieve the pressure significantly.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-brake-problems?start=8#BrakeHoseProblems

[Markus]

Everything looks visually normal with components, everything went well during the bleeding process. I’m starting to poke around online about ABS function, but im not sure what could go wrong, let alone how i could have screwed anything up. buddy is telling me if master cylinder is bad it should affect both front wheels not just one.

[Rob Jorgensen]

Does the rotor spin easily with the wheel off?

[Cameron]

The problem was there before you changed all the brake components and assuming all the new parts fitting has been done correctly then it appears that nothing you have changed was attributable to the cause.

If you remove the wheel, the caliper should be very difficult or near impossible to rotate by hand given what you have described.
Connect a line up to the bleeder valve and run it into a bottle of brake fluid and open the bleeder. If fluid runs out , as I expect it will because of the pressure relief, the caliper should release and you should be able to spin the rotor by hand. Given that you have new calipers and a new flexible brake line you still have the same issue as you had before the parts replacement. To me this would now point to a blockage of some kind in the steel brake lines running to the passenger side as Nightflyr mentioned to you in his post above a couple of days ago. . Brake pressure is high enough to push the fluid through the line but the blockage is such that the fluid will not all flow back easily to the master cylinder when brake pressure is released.

Consequently I would look at the entire pax side steel brake line carefully where visible, and fittings attached to it, to see if there is any evidence of kinking, crimping or compression of the line that would obstruct fluid flow. For example, some one working on the car may have knocked part of the steel brake line at some stage and compressed it or kinked it. For a proper inspection get the car up on a lift.

[Markus]

ok guys thanks for all your help thus far! Cam0888 is hitting more towards my thought process and where my snooping has led me…. jacked the car up today, hasnt been (test driven) for over a day, both wheels spun freely…. went into the car and pumped the brakes twice to apply pressure… aftwerwards driver side spun freely …passenger problem side, completely locked up, cant turn it whatsoever…brand new caliper all that etc…. i then followed the harld line to what i believe is the ABS hydraulic unit, not a far distance in a mustang, up inside the front bumber on the passenger side. Line felt and looked fine. my new thoughts…noob…. if issue could be anything related to that unit or anything or braking unit for that matter prop valve mastr cylinder, would the car have to be turned on and under electrical current for those devices to impact my issue? or since im just using the brake pedal force with the car off would that narrow down my problem? also checked a 12-6 tire shake for possible wheelbearing and hub assembly issue, and no play or movement occured meaning a wheel bearing issue could also be ruled out correct? extra tidbits of info i mention i was having this issue last year on old parts, i drove on it 2-3 weeks (unsafe, i know) before putting my car away… #1 problem side metal on metal pad, ground rotor. the outside pad (old parts) furthest to the vehicle friction surface facing in is the most worn ( theres nothing there.) its also the rotor grinding pad, rotor wear and metal on pad wear patterns match….. #2 when braking last year before putting away, if a hard brake 50mph>0 35mph>0 occured (not panic brake) my EBRAKE light on my dash would flash, not every time just coming down slightly quick from higher speeds ive read this signal is sent from the proportioning valve…. also i could be a long shot here i have no clue how the thing works, “theres something inside that is centered, and under a brake issue, brake failure issue, idiot not changing his brakes for too long, something gets switched and affects the problem side and needs to be reset… i didnt look into what i read on that very much

[Richard Kirshy]

Not sure how your ABS functions …
But might try to see if there is a connector on or near it, disconnect it and try your spinning wheel test again.
If no connector is easily located might try disconnecting the battery and repeat your test

[edcalli]

The rubber hose to caliper can cause this happened on my Dodge Ram and my jeep grand cherokee

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[EricTheCarGuy]

When the problem wheel is locked up, crack the bleeder valve open. If a lot of pressure comes out and the wheel moves freely. It’s a hydraulic problem. Possibly with the ABS as you suspect. If it doesn’t, and the wheel is still locked up, then it’s likely a mechanical problem. i.e. caliper sildes or pads sticking.

Another thing to try when it’s locked up is to loosen the master cylinder from the booster. If the problem goes away then, you might have an issue either with the master cylinder, or the pushrod inside the booster being out of adjustment.

I’ve also seen issues where the return spring broke on the brake pedal and caused brakes to hang up.

More info on brake stuff here.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-brake-problems

Please keep us updated on what you find. Good luck.

[Markus]

thank you all for your feedback so far! Thank you Eric! I cracked the bleeder liquid did not shoot out, it leaked out like a gravity bleed. Wheel still did not turn either way totally locked up. I still find it hard to believe the newly sent caliper is defective, not ruling it out however. When the caliper is taken off the wheel, using a caliper compressing tool from auto zone, the caliper pistons slide in and out with ease with the bleeder both open and closed. once it goes back on the rotors the problem starts up immediately. I disconnected the ABS UNIT no help, i will begin looking into the pushrod. This problem is just boggling my mind. Could one simply follow the hardlines loosening the connectors unit by unit, until pressure is relieved?

[Markus]

bump

[Author]

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