Roasting my brake disc

[Mark Robinson]

I did a complete brake job on my daughters Suzuki Aerio this past weekend, new pads and shoes, new drums and rotors. As I installed the last rotor and pads, it didn’t seem to fit properly. Thinking it just needed to be fully installed (plus being pretty tired at this point), I put the tire on and tightened all the lug nuts. Since it was still on jack stands, I started the car to check for binding (it’s all wheel drive). All but the right front wheel spun. I took it off the stands and took it for a test drive and there seemed to be no obvious binding – no pulling, no sound, again, nothing obvious. I decided to drive it to work (About 50 miles round trip). When I got home there was discoloration on the rotor and it was very hot. I won’t drive it again until I can get the wheel off and check everything again, but I’m looking for suggestions as to what I might have done wrong or what I can do to make it right.

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[Richard Kirshy]

I assume the wheel that is over heating is the same one you stated did seem to fit properly.
Possibilities:
Seized caliper
Binding brake pads
Caliper hardware installed improperly
Rust jacking ( did you clean the caliper brackets of rust prior to reassembly?)
Sticking caliper slide pin(s)
Faulty brake hose
I would suggest redoing that wheels brake assembly and find out exactly why it didn’t fit together as it should.

[Mark Robinson]

Yes. Since my wife will be driving this car and she does not go out much, I will be removing everything, checking all the components and then reassembling everything. I was able to fully compress (I thought) the caliper piston, and there didn’t seem to be any binding. I’ll check everything and, if necessary, get a new caliper ad install that. I just thought this was odd because disc brakes are usually fairly easy to do. The other side went fine. I had to ask in case there was something involved that I was unaware of. I figured it was wise to ask those that do this more often than I normally do.

[Richard Kirshy]

Best of luck ..please keep us informed.

[Jeffrey Voight]

Richard covered everything to check. If there is nothing obvious found on your next inspection, it might be a good idea to just replace the brake hoses. They can at times be intermittent.

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