Folks, Today while switching out the winter tires, I noticed it took significant effort to rotate the rear wheels, both of them. There is a binding noise I heard when I rotated each of the wheels as though the brake pads are rubbing against the rotors. Would it be OK to take it into Sears for a brake pad/caliper check and possible cleaning/lubing of these? Or are these components so unlike those on other vehicles that I should have the dealer check them out? This was the first time I did the switching of the tires, so I don't know if the wheels have been bound for a long time. Also, in the middle of winter, suddenly the MPG rose for a few days (the vehicle seemed to move easier as well) and then went down. I am now suspecting the binding brakes on the rear might be the issue. Thanks.
Given your climate, I would not be surprised. Due to the infrequency of use and the lack of heat cycling, the rear brakes have probably accumulated lots of rust and debris over the last few years - which has begun to "lock" the rear pads in place. A good cleaning of the caliper brackets and wire brushing both sides of the clips would be prudent.
What's that? If you meant the foot brake that's to be used for parking, I had that off when testing the wheel rotation. I read somewhere the foot brake used the rear brakes so I made sure it was off.
Take the car in to have the rear brakes inspected if you aren't able to do it. The rear wheel should spin freely with the e brake disengaged.
Took the car in to the dealer this morning for a $49.99 brake evaluation. Dealer said everything was good and didn't feel anything binding to the rotors. Front pads are at 7mm and rears at 8mm at ~49K miles. Is this wear normal for the miles? I am going to lift up the rear this weekend and see if the binding issue is still there.
Ok, raised the rear left side over the weekend and one thing I noticed was that if I had just released the parking brake, the wheel needed some force/effort to turn, whereas if I had not been using the parking brake, the wheel seemed to turn easily. I had not used the parking brake overnight before taking the car to the dealer for the brake eval, which might be one reason why they didn't see the issue. Seems like there wasn't any lube applied as part of the brake eval (while putting things back together) that could have fixed the parking brake issue. Does this sound like a caliper that's beginning to seize or since it does seem to relax if the parking brake isn't used, just a simple lube issue? I am planning to take the car to Sears this time where they said for $20 they will lube all the four sides. Also, I haven't been using the parking brake the last few days and that seems to have freed up the car's movement somewhat. At work though I have to park the car at a slight incline and when I park the car, the car slides just a little bit since I am not using the parking brake anymore. I hope this doesn't damage the PSD/transmission long term.
With rear drum brakes the rear wheels should (ideally) spin freely. Or there might be slight drag at one point in the revolution. With rear disc brakes there's a little more drag, but still pretty good. The pads are in constant light contact with the caliper. Maybe your parking brake cable (or one of the linkages) is slightly hanging up? Releasing but reluctantly? You could experiment with the back raised, apply and release the parking brake, see how free it turns, repeat, see if there's any change. Could you try another dealership? I know, getting expensive...
One thing I have been trying to understand is what causes the pads to release the rotors when we disengage the parking/foot brake? Is there a spring on the caliper that will release the pads? Is there an additional spring on the foot brake itself that forces it to move towards the top when disengaged? Thanks.
With disc brakes there's never a complete gap between pad and disc, they're alway touching. When the brakes are "released" there's just no hydraulic (or mechanical, with the parking brake) pressure, just light contact.
