Greetings to every SC400 owner!

Maybe someone can help me with this issue. I think my rear brakes are always engaged, even if I'm not pressing the pedal.

My rear brake disc rotors are very hot (can't touch them for more than 1 second) after cruising some miles. The front ones are much colder.

What I did so far:
- changed the brake fluid fully
- changed the rear pads
- cleaned the caliper piston (incl. replacing the rubber dust shield)

There is a little "skip" (don't know the correct word sorry) on the pedal when I press it with full force (even when the car is not moving).

The brakes are working, but my fuel consumption increased by 20% (maybe there's other reason too) and I think my pads will not last long.

Maybe someone had the same issue, or some gurus can help me out.
Thanks in advance!

Attila

 

I'm a meager SC300 owner but I may haved some insight. touch your rotors slide your finger along the front and the back if you feel ridges this is a sign that your caliper pin may be sticking. did your pads have uneven wear when you took them off? was the outside pad fresher than the inside?

 

Yep on the rear-right side the pads were uneven. One was more thinner than the other. However on the rear-left side the difference is not that much.

I'll check the rotors in the morning to see if there are ridges, its now too dark to see anything (and its snowing out there).

If the car is shaking when pressing the pedal at a relatively high speed, (above 35-40 mph) does it mean that the caliper pin is stucked, or there are problems with the master cylinder? I've heard that there can be issues if the master cylinder is leaking.

 

it's most likely that your rotors are warped if you're getting vibration while braking. and it sounds like a cheaper fix than the master cyllinder. definetly sounds like your caliper pins are sticking. did you pull it out when changing the pads? if so did you grease it up? if so does it still seam to stick? if so you may need to replace it caliper but I'm not sure about the replacement thing, there may be a cheaper solution.

 

I had a piston stick on one of my rears. Luckily the rears are cheap to replace...

 

I had the same problem on the front end of my car. Calipers were bad up front i just replaced them with rebuilt ones.

 

Agreed, you are describing warped rotors. They will have to be resurfaced (~$15 ea) or replaced.

 

I'm having my right rear replaced as we speak because of the same reason as yours. It kept binding and would eat the pad up every 4-5 months.

 

Sounds like the piston is stuck which is keeping pressure against the pad making it drag on the rotor. My advice to solve this is to buy the $25 kit and rebuild your calipers yourself. Or just go buy remanufactured brake caliper(s). Most likely the reason why your caliper has failed it due to a small piece of rubber that got stuck in the caliper from a brake hose thats starting to fall apart (the inside). So be sure to replace the brake hose or you will have the same thing occur even with a new re-built caliper. I would just rebuild your calipers. Its very easy to do and doesn't really require much experience. Also, make sure your caliper pins are not sticking and move back and forth freely.