93 Regal, Driverside rear wheel hot

[Morrell]

I am needing help to diagnose this problem.

2 years ago the same problem happened, and it was the brake caliper not function properly, making the pads rub on the rotor. Pads were completely worn down. At that time I replace the caliper and the pads, and bled the line. I did not change the rotor. There has been no problems until last week.

Same issue has returned, were the wheel becomes hot and smells of burnt pads. At first, it was an intense smell, but now not as much. Jacked up the car, and there was no play in the hub assembly. Checked the caliper and it is functioning properly as when the brakes applied, wheel would stop spinning, and pads would retract for free movement of the wheel. I bled the line, and some air in the system, so I continued until there was no air in the line. Rotor does not appear warped. When the wheel was rotating, there is slight contact with the pad/pads, but ever so slight. No sign of abnormal wear on the pads. Drove the car to work today, and the wheel was warm (not as bad as before), and there was minimal smell of the pads burning.

No other symptoms such as grinding, vibration, tracking, etc. I am in Alberta Canada, and weather may have played a role in this happening. It was -30 celcius, then +16, then -30. There was a lot of salt and grime on the roads.

I have been reading about the rubber brake lines expanding, making the caliper stick, but this did not happen when I tested the caliper. There was free rotation of the tire so I ruled out the emergency brake.

Any advice would be appreaciated.

Thank you

Morrell

[inafogg]

not much more you can do/check & its ok now
could have been e-brake or caliper stuck from weather
do you use e-brake??you should
keep an eye on it for awhile
good luck

[autoforum]

Any chance you drove with the parking brake applied even slightly? I usually keep my parking brake down one click when I park on the level outside my house; it's enough to keep the car from rolling without stretching out the cable. (Any number of clicks could be the case for various vehicles; I just don't like to cram down on the e-brake every time I park to keep the cable from stretching too much.) So once I let a friend take the car and she never disengaged the parking brake, and when she came back one of the rear wheels was smoking and, you know, that nice smell. I had to replace a lot of things after that. . Anyway, if it doesn't happen again and everything else looks fine, you shouldn't have a problem. One more thing: you can't tell if a rotor is warped by just looking at it; I turn mine every time I replace the pads.

[Ruley73]

Have you ever lubed the rear caliper pins or replaced them? They were very prone to corrosion causing the rear calipers to stick on the older W-bodies. This would apply to 1988-1996 Buick Regal & Pontiac Grand Prix, 1988-1994 Chevy Lumina, and 1988-1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

[Morrell]

Absolutely positive it is not the E brake. I will lube the pins and see what happens, as it can't hurt.

Now when driving, the wheel becomes warm at times, and at other times it is just slightly warm. Totally different symptoms, as compared to the original repair, as it was always hot all the time. Hopefully it is the weather, and maybe the caliper pins.

I will let you know what happens.

Morrell

[autoforum]

Great tip on lubing the pins. I'm going to do the same next time I have that stuff out.
Morrell, there is a heck of a lot of friction going on with a wheel. Regular braking and just rolling causes a lot of heat. You should expect your wheels to be warm and sometimes even too hot to touch after a lot of use and or braking. If that rear wheel is always just a little hotter than the other rear wheel, there may not be a substantial problem. Maybe it's that slight drag from a warped rotor that's causing the extra heat.
When you take it apart to lube those pins, inspect everything and have the rotors turned or replaced. After that it's probably something you can live with, but always inspect it whenever you have the wheels off.

[Morrell]

Good news. Well it was -22 Celsius today and I took a look at the brakes. First I took off the caliper and inspected it. Looks like the piston was dirty from road salt, so I cleaned and lubed the piston. Second thing I noticed was that the inside brake caliper had some glazing to it, and the rotor was worn more on the inside. Third thing I noticed was that there was some play (about 1/4 inch) on the E brake. I pried it down. Greased the caliper pins, inspected and cleaned the rotor, and reassembled it all and it works.

Two thoughts; that the piston was not retracting due to the road salt, or the cold temp, heat, then cold (-30, to +10, to -30) had somehow affected the E brake. Took it for a spin, and the tire was at normal temps. Knock on wood that this works. In the spring, I will lube the E brake, and replace the rubber brake lines.

Oh yeah, one other thing I learned is that when it is -22 out, keep the brake grease in the house until you need it, as it froze up really fast!!

Thanks for all the comments and advice.

Morrell