Hey everyone.
I have a problem with the left front caliper, the pads get stuck to the rotor everytime I push the brakes (the tire doesn't spin like if the brake was on). It sometimes would release when I push the brake hard, but it sometimes got frozen.> It just started today since it was snowing/ windy so bad. I jacked the car up and try to spin the tires with my hands but it was stuck, then I pushed the brakes a few times then it would release and spin freely but everytime I come back and push them again it would get stuck again. (it is only one tire) I don't know what could be wrong since I dont know much about cars. Any help would be great.

Thank you

 

are you sure its getting frozen to the rotor? flush out the brake fluid with some new stuff, maybe its just getting too thick in the cold and doesn't leave the caliper as fast causeing the pads to stay engaged.

 

Yes the pads are getting frozen to the rotor. It only happens when I'm driving on the snow and the ABS comes active, somehow the pads get frozen. It only happens on one tire. I've been driving the car with no problem now that the roads are clear....What do you think could be causing this? ABS sensor? The caliper?

Thanks for the help.

 

Hit it with a hammer to get it unstuck. You could also take the heating element out of a NOS bottle heater and attach it to your caliper somehow. Go out, turn the car on to heat it up, flip the switch, caliper becomes unfrozen.

 

I am pretty sure you just need a new caliper and possibly full brake flush. Wouldnt hurt to start w/ a flush and see what happens but calipers are very common on these cars.

 

Where is a good place to get calipers?

 

a used caliper will do fine. what's happening is you have too much water absorbed into the brake fluid and it's freezing in your lines which will prevent the hydraulic effect from regular brake fluid. you can try to just do a flush and see if the problem goes away. if not, you'll need a caliper too. brake fluid can be found on blauparts.com or ecstuning.com and sometimes ebay has them. make sure to not get the blue brake fluid as causes the clutch pedal to squeak due to the blue dye they use.

 

Hey thanks.
You know I was just testing right now. I drove the car on ice and when I braked on the ice, the caliper would get stuck to the rotor (only after feeling the pulsations of the ABS) Then after pushing the brakes a few times it would release, but when driving on the pavement it would do fine.
I jacked up the car again and the tires spin normal. Do you think it could be a problem with the ABS?
Thanks I'll try to change the caliper when I get some $.



Thanks

 

no, if it was an abs problem, you would instantly get a code usually. plus abs won't make your calipers stick. abs problems are usually kicking in at the wrong time or abs lights

 

Oh thank you.
ok. Ill do the flush first, but if it doesn't work Ill change the caliper.
Thanks again.