Anyone know why this happens? My car had the 2 front calipers lock on me while on the highway the other day. I heard a thunk, and that was it. No other noise, vibration... I drove for another 10 minutes (nothing seemed wrong from the inside). When I pulled off, I smelled something burning. Rotors were red, literally and brake fluid was leaking from the left front caliper. Damn thing got so hot the rubber seals melted.

My brakes were changed 2 years ago. They began squealing 2 weeks ago, and I had made an appointment to get them changed this coming Friday. Brake fluid was flushed last year and hoses were checked. Anything else I could have done to prevent this? My car has been absolutely trouble free for the last 10 years. Was I neglecting something?

 

if your brakes started squealing 2 weeks ago, that was your warning. these cars are very heavy and when the pads get thin they can easily breakup in the caliper and grind into the rotor. sounds like it either broke up or snapped into and kicked sideways in the caliper.

hopefully the rotors can just be turned, but it sounds like they might have gotten grinded pretty good.

 

Well, not to be argumentative, but I've always procrastinated on changing pads, and the only consequence I've ever suffered is metal-to-metal contact, necessitating a resurfacing of the rotor.

I've never heard of a pad breaking, and I'm sure T0ked would have heard something if it was grinding. Plus, he states both rotors were red.

So the problem would be further up the braking system if both rotors were affected at the same time. 15 years ago, my BMW 3.0CS had some failure of its vacuum assist canister, causing the brakes to be lightly applied at all times, even with my foot off the brake pedal. It was hard to notice, unless you tried coasting to a stop and felt the extra drag the lightly-applied brakes were causing.

I fixed the problem by slightly shimming the opening where the brake master cylinder attaches, which pushed it forward to the point where the vacuum unit was no longer slightly pressing on it.

Of course, my 72 CS was a much simpler car- I doubt if the fix is that easy on our SC (although they do share the same letters!).

 

The squealing was the normal sound I would hear when the pads were wearing down. No grinding sounds. I have driven for upto a month from the first time I've heard squealing with no problems before. I doubt 2 weeks is that too long a time.

Perry, how did you know your brakes were applied the whole time? I realized it was my brakes when I smelled the burning, but i never smelled it on my car before.

Guess I'll have to send it to get a full looking over.

 

No answers here, just more questions - -

When I was looking for an SC, I drove a '95 and had the dealer do their 100-point certified used car check on it - they found the front brakes seized - I didn't test drive it far enough to overheat the brakes, but they sure were stuck - you couldn't budge the front wheels with the car on the rack.

I didn't pursue it because that and other reasons (like a carfax that showed 9 owners in 5 states in 7 years) caused me to reject the car and keep looking for a better one (found it!). What would cause *both* front calipers to seize at the same time? I can see it happening to one if it got internally rusty from old water-contaminated brake fluid, which doesn't seem to be the case here.

 

Anyone has any new insights into the case when both calipers get stuck?
My car set in a bodyshop for two months.. now both of my front calipers seem to be seized..
Can it be a time related problem i.e. rust formation.. or brake fluid contamination? Could rebleeding breaks with new fluid help to resolve this problem? And is there any way to test fluid whether it really is brake fluid.. Thanks in advance.