('04 Cavalier, but I think I've seen this in other Cavs over the years.)
This car has single-piston disk brakes in the front. The piston pushes on the inside pad. But, the outside pad had much more wear. For the outside pad to operate, AIUI, the piston pushes the inside pad against the rotor, and the reaction pushes the piston & caliper inward, resulting in the outer pad pushing against the other side of the rotor.
So, how can the outer pad wear, without corresponding wear on the inside pad?
sticky sliders, would be my first guess.
nate
... So, the outside pad doesn't release after braking?
yep. The caliper body doesn't move back.
George wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Inner pad is stuck.
Think about it. The outer pad only receives pressure once the caliper has slid inboard in response to the inner pad's having contacted the rotor. That's what "floating" means.
The caliper piston presses directly on the inner pad. If the inner pad cannot press against the rotor, all the inner pad does is serve as a fulcrum to transfer force to the outer pad.
This is not uncommon at all. You will have to do a bit of work.
Clean and lubricate the sliders.. For good measure either replace or overhaul the calipers..
And then service the pads.
a brake hone?
Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B wrote in news:oq8lp.1732$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe04.iad:
No.
"hls" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
The inner pad is his problem, not the caliper.
All the GM;s I have worked on have had free floating inner pads. It would pretty hard to freeze them up, IMO.
Mine, too!
LMAO That's funny. Are you a mechanic?!
No, it's held in place by the fingers on the caliper. The caliper is mounted on sliding pins. If the pins are stuck, when you hit the brakes, the caliper squeezes. It uses the rotation of the disc to move it back out, but if the pins are sutck, they won't.
Calipers CAN go bad, but I have some with over 200,000 miles on them because they were maintained. You can remove them, wizz them out a little with a Dremel and an abrasion 'drum', grease them and have them go for a while longer.
no, if the inner was stuck, then the inner would be wearing, not causing the outer to wear.
outers usually wear because of slider problems. and sliders are a common issue if the slider boots were damaged on the last pad change - as is frequently the case.
It wouldn't be my first guess?
Those cost money. I suppose if you don't have anything that's good, but I already had the Dremel and the sanding drums...
I also used emory cloth and a metal pin before I got the Dremel.
Oh, I read your other pad about the inner pad being stuck, but this would mean the puck is stuck. (I saw one the other day where the puck ahd popped out, the pad was gone, and the puck and the rotor were worn ragged...)
In the two cases it happened to me, the puck was working just fine. The races for the sliders were so rusty that the caliper couldn't slide and the outer pad was being held against the rotor. On the Supra it was stuck so hard I had smoke billowing out of the fender!
Think about what you have said, and I will not flame you so badly. ;>)
My first guess would be the pad is not retracting when the calipre releases. In some designs, this is because the calipre does not move freely in the calipre holder. In some designs, the pads are held in place in a fixed position calipre holder separate of the calipre irself. In this case, the calipre may freely move in the holder as it should but, the pads may still bind in the holder. The holder may be corroded restricting pads movement or the pad may be a bit oversize to begin. When the pads heat, they may bind if too tight. I recently replaced a set of pads on the front of a Dodge Ram like this. The new pads were so tight, I could not get them in after thoroughly cleaning the holder slots and applying anti-seize calipre lube. A quick check of pad length found the pads to be a few thousandths longer than the originals as were the others in parts stock. A quick brush with the bench grinder to remove a few thousandths from the pad tips and they went right in and moved properly. They are better to be a bit too loose than too tight. Being too loose and the worst problem is brake pad rattle.
Your binding pad may be the result of being installed any way the pad would go in - including use of a bigger hammer than normal. Some installers don't know about checking the fit and function of new parts. To them, brakes just seem too simple to f**K it up for a technician who has done this job a thousand times. I wish I had all the time back that I've spent over the years in re-works just because something wasn't right about it or I missed a sign along the way.
Lugnut
Be safe and thorough with your brakes... Reman calipers are cheap. Replace them both. HTH, Ben
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