New brakes in lumina...again..and again...

[BluBowTie]

Had the car to a dealer for brakes. Put new rear rotors, calipers pads etc. After 15k miles, did it again. After another 28k, did it again. WTF? They replaced everything, and I don't ride the brakes. Its garage kept. I don't feel like paying for this again. Any suggestions?

[cadgear]

the early 90 W bodies had lots of problems with calipers sticking on all brakes, causing them to eat up pads and possibly ruining the calipers. Dunno about your situation but recalls and such is something to look in to.

[jeffcoslacker]

Sometimes you guys make me think I got the only good Lumina they made. Mine has the original rears still at 115,000 miles, I put front on at 34,000 and 75,000, and they have always worked perfectly. Is yours a 4 wheel disc option? They did have a LOT of issues with frozen calipers. If that's what you have, this can be helped by using the parking brake AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. That's the only time they adjust in the rear. With an automatic tranny, noone ever uses it, and the rears get stuck in one position, then turn into rusted junk in a few months. Once the rear sieze up, the front is doing 100% of the braking duty, and they don't last long after.

[cadgear]

I had the 4 disc option on my 91 cutlass, and I never ever parked without using the parking brake...my thinking was, why is it called a parking brake if you never use it? :P But I have no idea what previous owners did to the car habitually so I dunno what mine was due to.

[jeffcoslacker]

Those rears have to rotate the piston as it applies, and that is how the parking brake effect is achieved. And because of the relatively light application of the rears, and the miniscule amount of rotation required to apply them, the movement was just not enough to make them stay free. With a driver that is not very aggressive with the brakes, the amount of fluid pressure required to rotate the rear pistons was usually not achieved, and most people can't feel when the rears don't work, as the front do an adequate job for most conditions. I thought I saw a revised proportioning valve that allows the rear to apply with more force to offset the problem, you might ask the dealer.

[cadgear]

oo, reminds me of when I *did* feel them quit working.

I had driven my friend home after work, and I slowed to turn into his street and a horrible grinding/dragging noise suddenly started up. I knew it was brakes but not what; going home with downshifting and light braking. Upon inspection, the brake linings had worn to the rivets...and subsequently cut light grooves in the rotors.

What I don't get, and you may be able to answer my question, is the piston's method of retracting..was it rotation or simply pushing it in? Neither worked for me (unlike my 99 lumina which goes in with finger pressure) so we had to get the car towed to a shop to have it fixed.

[richtazz]

check the slides on the calipers, that is what freezes on W-body rear calipers. They make a bronze slide kit that eliminates this problem. What happens is the factory steel slides freeze up due to metallic particles from the brake pads getting inside and adhering themselves in the gap between the bolt and the slide. As they get wet, they rust and expand, causing the calipers to not retract when the pedal is released. have your garage replace the factory slides with the bronze ones, and you shouldn't have any more rear brake issues.

[jeffcoslacker]

They actually had to rotate out in a screw motion to apply the pads on those problem type calipers. There is a cross-shaped recess in the face of the piston, and you use a little tool that seats in them and allows you to screw them back into the fully retracted position for new pad installation. If you tried to push them back, it would be like trying to force a bolt into a threaded hole. It won't go. They were usually terribly hard to rotate, even with the correct tool, so you knew there was no way that a light braking application's worth of hydraulic pressure could rotate them and apply the brakes. And if it did, the pistons were too tight to rotate back to rest position and retract properly, letting the pads drag constantly. They were just a bad system all around. In most 4 whl disc systems now, there is a seperate set of brake shoes, in addition to the discs and pads, that work against the inside of the rotor's hub, using it as a drum, to achieve parking brake operation. Much more complex, but much more reliable/durable too.

[BluBowTie]

Well, it is a 4 disc set up. And regardless of problems, the dealer did the install everytime. Replacing the rotors calipers and everything. The last time I had a problem, one of the rear caliper bolts broke, locking the rear wheel. Add a 50 for towing, and here we go again. If its dealer parts and labor, I would think they would stand behind this a little more.

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by BluBowTie

Well, it is a 4 disc set up. And regardless of problems, the dealer did the install everytime. Replacing the rotors calipers and everything. The last time I had a problem, one of the rear caliper bolts broke, locking the rear wheel. Add a 50 for towing, and here we go again. If its dealer parts and labor, I would think they would stand behind this a little more.

Had a friend in Denver who had an Olds with the 4 whl disc like you have, got them done at the dealer where he bought the car, two months later the left rear overheated on the highway so bad, there was a catastrophic failure of the rotor. It grenaded into several pieces, taking the tire, strut, caliper, wheel and hub out it the process. They warranteed the brake work, but not the incedental damage. Man, was he pissed. I don't think he ever got anywhere with that.

[BluBowTie]

Well, I got an answer from the dealer today, but it didn't come with cash. You are supposed to bring your vehicle into the dealer once a year to have the pins removed, lubed, and replaced. On your dime.

[richtazz]

Once a year???? What kind of crack does your dealer give it's techs. Here is the trick for troublefree W-body brakes. Use your parking brake once a day. The parking brake is what adjusts the piston mechanism in the rear calipers, and keeps the slides from freezing up. I'd go back to that dealer and slap that idiot for his suggestion.

[jeffcoslacker]

Good one!!