Front Caliper sticking
 

Hey Guys,

Lately i've been feeling my car struggling when driving from time to time. I noticed when coasting in Neutral the car would slow down quicker then it should. Even when I take off and let the car just cruise in first, the car actually comes to a complete stop on its own even below what idle is. It's most noticeable when changing from 1st to 2nd, its almost as if i'm braking. I've narrowed it down to calipers as it tends to come and go after hard braking. I've re-bleed the brake but hasn't changed anything. I am going to remove the calipers and take a deeper look but is there anything I should look for?

Thanks,

If you suspect the calipers are sticking:
Remove the pistons and inspect them.
The dust boots will be a quick and easy item to inspect for tears or damage.

Moisture and contaminants will cause corrosion on the pistons and could lead to sticking issues.

Could be your master brake cylinder too.
It happen to me, calipers checked alright, flushed and front left caliper continued to get stuck intermittently.

I still haven't had time to check the calipers... hopefully tomorrow but I took the car out today for a 20 minutes drive and found it dragging a bit... but at the same time, I noticed my pedal felt different during this time... could it be brake booster related?

Further to this, I noticed my brakes were very hot and had a burnt smelt to it.... i'm going to pull the calipers tomorrow.

Yep. Have a look and see if you have the brake "hardware" clips and springs that pull the pads apart. But I think your issue is a failing caliper or something hydraulic.

Just remember do not unbolt the two halves of the caliper. Check the FSM and only unbolt the correct things.

Likely the pistons just need to be replaced because of rust and gunk build up

This is why it's important to flush your brake fluid even on daily driver cars

So i jacked up the car... the passenger side wheel turned just fine... the driver side on the other hand turned but stopped very quickly. Took the caliper off, and found that obe if the pistons was not moving at all. Pushed it back in and pressed the brake... still nothing so going to get them rebuilt.

Thanks guys for your help

that is how we test the calipers in the race car, well that and looking for leaks/damage

the FD calipers are really simple to rebuild, kit is cheap. barring that a reman caliper is probably cheap. the race car took two rebuilt calipers to get one that was right, FML

So I took my calipers to get rebuilt... they were not in the best shape. Got them back, installed them... bleed the brakes... took it out, brakes felt much better than before but its still having grag issues.

At first, it was fine, cruising with no drag... then later it comes back. I'm thinking either my brake booster/master cylinder or potentially the rotor moving under hard braking? I noticed under hard braking I almost felt something at my feet move just before the car stopped completely. A little while ago, I had noises from my right brake and found it to be the rotor not put on 100%

I've got Project Mu rotors, these don't have the standard rotor screws.

Any thoughts or tests I could complete to start eliminating possibilities?

When you had the caliper off, did you check the slide pins on the caliper bracket? They should move pretty freely. Another sign this could be your culpret would be if you're getting uneven pad wear (if only one is sticking).

*edit* never mind. I was thinking of my subaru calipers I just rebuilt

Post a pic of your rotor

I don't even use the oem rotor screws. The wheel will hold the rotor in place.

I am going to say it again, it has to be your master brake cylinder.
This happen to me.

Are you refering the front or rear calipers? The 2 pins that slide through the brake pads for the front?

Sorry. I was thinking of the wrong breaks (I have subaru calipers on my mind...I just rebuilt mine last weekend). My mistake.

Hahaha, I was going to say am I missing something here? :)

Keep ignoring the master brake cylinder.

Hahaha i'm not ignoring it :) I'll do some tests that are recommended then do whats necessary!