Is my caliper sticking?

Symptoms:

1. When breaking, sometimes the wheel shakes, sometimes more than not, it is intermittent.

2. Intermittent vibration at highway speeds.

3. Breaks get spongy after a few days. If I press the pedal all the way to the floor they firm back up and brake better.

4. I did a thermal test right after driving with an infrared thermometer. Passenger side, and Rear drivers side registered in the 140 degree range, Driver front was 175 degrees.

So, does all this equal sticking caliper? I plan to actually check this weekend, but I'd like to prepare myself. lol

To ensure they are not sticking. Pull the caliper and try to press the pistons in. If they move then they are fine.

Check the obvious, pads, rotors, hardware.

The spongy feeling would almost make me think there's a leak somewhere. Maybe an internal leak into a piston boot. Could also be a collapsed line. Check the master to see where the fluid level is.

It's not so much spongy.... how do i put this... After a few days of driving I have to press the pedal down further to stop sooner, almost like the first bit of the pedal isn't doing anything, but if i plunge the brake pedal to the floor the pedal is more sensitive, much like the feeling of having brand new brakes.

Could be a sticking caliper or possibly maybe the pins on which the caliper sits are stuck i had that happen and had similar problems as you but my rotors were lightly warped too

Does it pull to one side when braking at high speeds?

Could be a sticking caliper or possibly maybe the pins on which the caliper sits are stuck i had that happen and had similar problems as you but my rotors were lightly warped too

Does it pull to one side when braking at high speeds?

I'll have to check, I was going to pull the wheel this past weekend but never got around to it due to weather.

A lot of people seem to have had the vibration issue in the past. Me included. The general consensus is that the brake dust seems to build up on the rotors themselves. I have had mine turned 3 times now and still get the issue from time to time. The mechanic said that there wasn't any warping just the buildup. They didn't take off hardly any metal, so they are still well within spec but I'm tired of this so I am just going to get some slotted dba4000 rotors and hawk hps pads and call it a day. The temporary fix seems to be to just do a couple really hard stops from 80 mph or so. Scrapes off any buildup. At this point I am more worried that all the shaking will kill the front wheel bearings.

As to the spongyness, when was the last time you changed your brake fluid?

A lot of people seem to have had the vibration issue in the past. Me included. The general consensus is that the brake dust seems to build up on the rotors themselves. I have had mine turned 3 times now and still get the issue from time to time. The mechanic said that there wasn't any warping just the buildup. They didn't take off hardly any metal, so they are still well within spec but I'm tired of this so I am just going to get some slotted dba4000 rotors and hawk hps pads and call it a day. The temporary fix seems to be to just do a couple really hard stops from 80 mph or so. Scrapes off any buildup. At this point I am more worried that all the shaking will kill the front wheel bearings.

 

As to the spongyness, when was the last time you changed your brake fluid?

It's not a buildup, a buildup would not cause one rotor to be 35 degrees hotter than the rest.

35 degrees is nothing. a true sticky caliper will heat up much more than that.

this was under normal driving though with barely any braking in the last 2 miles of my ride. I'm beginning to suspect the slides as it is intermittent. Plus there has to be something causing such an increase. Why would 3 of 4 be the same temp and one be 35 hotter, there has to be an issue. Also As I understand it a sticking caliper does not go "un-stuck" very often.

this was under normal driving though with barely any braking in the last 2 miles of my ride. I'm beginning to suspect the slides as it is intermittent. Plus there has to be something causing such an increase. Why would 3 of 4 be the same temp and one be 35 hotter, there has to be an issue. Also As I understand it a sticking caliper does not go "un-stuck" very often.

The best way to test is to get up to 40-50 mph and do a hard stop. Then drive for a few miles and then just touch each disk with your finger(careful !)

If one is still too hot to touch, then you have a caliper problem.

The best way to test is to get up to 40-50 mph and do a hard stop. Then drive for a few miles and then just touch each disk with your finger(careful !)

 

If one is still too hot to touch, then you have a caliper problem.

I dunno about touching it! lol My co-worked has one of those infrared thermometers with the laser beam, that seems much safer

I dunno about touching it! lol My co-worked has one of those infrared thermometers with the laser beam, that seems much safer

Those suckers are notoriously inaccurate:)

Ok, well over the weekend I took the front brakes apart and found that my calipers are working just fine.

Just for kicks I swapped the brake pads from outside to inside, no change.

I checked the suspension components and all is well there.

I'm going to try the bed-in process one more time. If that doesn't work I'm going to have the rotors turned.

I just can't fathom that this is related to "warped" rotors.

One thing is for sure.... I never had this issue when I had those stupid cheap drilled and slotted rotors, lol. As soon as I upgraded to regular full face rotors, a good brand this is what I get.

I seem to be having the same issues as you.

A few weeks ago I swapped wheels with a guy on here and noticed vibration on the highway and while braking hard at higher speeds. It also pulled slightly to the right.

So far I've done:

1.) Got an alignment done. This seemed to fix some of the right hand pull.

2.) Adjusted the tire pressure. Previous owner set them at 50 PSI, went to the recommended 32 PSI.

3.) Got a wheel balance. This made a big improvement on the highway vibration. Its nearly gone away.

4.) Got the suspension checked out by my mechanic. He said everything checked out. Originally I suspected issues with the LCA bushings.

5.) Checked the rims. No bends.

That leaves me with steering vibration when braking around 60 MPH down to 40 MPH. Recently I noticed a build up of brake dust on the front wheels. It seems like there is less meat on them.

I think I'm going to get new front pads and check the calipers later this week.

I'm interested to see what you find.

I had warped rotors which gave me wheel shakes while breaking. Then we changed the rotors and pads but my brakes we spongy and car pulled to the right. I pulled the caliper apart and learned that my slide pins were stuck. I unstuck them and cleaned them with a wire brush. Finally, I lubed the pins up and bolted everything on. Works perfect now.

There is no such thing as warped rotors on modern brake systems.

35 degrees is nothing. a true sticky caliper will heat up much more than that.

Yup. I had an 86 RX-7 with a sticking rear caliper and the aluminum wheel burned you if you touched it. I brought it to the dealer and the idiots didn't know how to check for a sticking piston. I took time off work, had the idiots take the wheel off and hit the brakes. If the piston didn't return to it's resting positionafter brake application, it was sticking. It was. I then took the car home without charging the fools for a basic education and changed the caliper myself. It ain't rocket science and I'm no mechanic.

There is no such thing as warped rotors on modern brake systems.

I've read that and the opinion seems to be that pad deposits on the rotors can cause a pulsing brake peddle. Solution is several hard stops from 60-70 mph (HARD STOPS, not gentle braking which is the source of the pad depostion on the rotors).

I've read that and the opinion seems to be that pad deposits on the rotors can cause a pulsing brake peddle. Solution is several hard stops from 60-70 mph (HARD STOPS, not gentle braking which is the source of the pad depostion on the rotors).

Well I definitely had to hard break from 70-60mph and almost nailed my buddies STI because someone in front of him slammed on their brakes. It didn't help at all. Now I have new stuff and everything works great.