Rear Brakes Rubbing

I have a '95 that has what I now consider to be a chronic problem with the left rear brake rubbing. When I first got the car I had the rear brakes lubed and reassembled but the rubbing came back after a couple of months. I was then sold a set of rear calipers as it was believed that the calipers were sticky, but the rubbing came back in a couple of months. I then had new wheel bearings, rotors, shocks, and brake pads installed in the rear... and a couple of months later the rubbing is once again back! The only thing left that I can think of replacing are the slider pins... but I would love to hear other peoples experience and suggestions. As always, many thanks to the many helpful people in this group.

Reply to
Christopher Muto
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That is the first thing I would have looked at and cleaned up !!!!!

Bruce Bing '03 LS

Reply to
BRUCE HASKIN

Is replacement better than cleaning up the old ones that have 110k on them? Is this a maintenance item? Three mechanics (one being Mazda themselves) never mentioned this inexpensive part as a possible solution.... Thanks.

Reply to
Christopher Muto

"Christopher Muto" wrote in news:6pgzg.2670$zV6.2213@trnddc03:

Replacement probably would be better, there might be a spot that's not smooth which you might or might not find if you clean up the old ones.

Reply to
XS11E

Have you definitely isolated this to the brakes? I would get the rear end up and see if the pads are binding when you spin the wheels. Did the last pads wear unevenly to a large extent?

They should have lubed the slider pins when they changed your calipers, not that they necessarily did, and they should have noticed if one was damaged or worn.

One thing worth noting. The larger slider pin on the rear brakes is part of the brake mounting bracket itself, so it is not replaceable without replacing the entire bracket. If the bracket is loose at all, has been slightly bent, has a bent slider pin, or other problem, this is a potential source of your noise.

It is possible that this pin is very slightly misaligned, (to where a mechanic would not notice it without really looking), and quits making noise when it has grease, and then starts the noise again after it forces the grease back out. Probably a long shot, but maybe worth checking out, especially if you have grease on the right side pins and not on the left side ones.

Good luck!

Pat

Reply to
pws

Self-Correction:

After looking at the rear brake bracket again, the larger slider pin that is attached to the rear brake bracket is replaceable with an allen head wrench.

Pat

Reply to
pws

But the pin is not sold separately.

Reply to
Chas Hurst

"Christopher Muto" wrote

Sure sounds like slider pins. My '97 will occasionally do this after it has been sitting undriven for a few weeks. A simple relube of the pins solves the problem for me. I would expect it to happen once every few months if your '95 is not a daily driver. I wonder if it would be best to leave the parking brake off for extended idle times, leaving the calipers fully retracted.

One other result of Miata Idleness I've noticed is the squeaking clutch pedal pivot, especially during high humidity.

Reply to
Ken Lyons

Last pad change, my right pad was WAY more worn than my left. I didn't notice rubbing while in use (sound/etc) but it's been suggested that I may have a parking brake cable freezing up. That may be another thing to look at if your slider pin looks OK.

-Scott

"Christopher Muto" wrote in news:7udzg.5676$j9.3894@trnddc02:

Reply to
Scott Hughes

That is truly evil on Mazda's part. :-)

Those brackets are expensive if the large slider pin is indeed the problem. It would not shock me if the brackets are only sold in pairs as well.

Pat

Reply to
pws

I went through this with my '90. Left rear side as well. When the brake would bind, I could free it by releasing the parking brake and reaching behind the wheel, follow the release cable to the lever at the brake assembly and give the lever a push to the rear. It would release with a click sound and the brake would be free (until I pulled the parking brake again). Of course, you should not do this on anything other than a flat surface.

After fooling around with this and that, I finally bought a new caliper assembly. It was easy to install and fixed the problem.

Ken

Scott Hughes wrote:

Reply to
KWS

thanks for your reply. i already got new callipers. perhaps i could stand new brackets or new emergency brake cables... but i have replaced so much that i am getting tired of all the expenses for what is touted as such a trouble free car... ugh.

Reply to
Christopher Muto

Isn't your car a 1995? The e-brake cables should be ok. It wouldn't hurt to lubricate them with something that doesn't get them gummed up. As far as the brackets, those should never need to be replaced unless they have been damaged by an accident or bad wrenching. The brackets are very solid and heavy iron pieces that go on with very strong bolts.

I put the larger brackets and rotors, and the newer but same-size calipers with the larger pads from my totaled 1996 onto my 1991 model. Unless I upgrade to a big brake kit, I never plan to mess with the brackets again.

Are you certain that the noise is coming from the brakes? Does it only make the sound when braking? Does the noise stop immediately when you let off the brake? Is there any difference to the noise depending on if you are turning or going in a straight line? This might help to isolate it, but it sounds like a problem with the rear e-brake adjustment screw, which is why I am wondering if the mechanic shop was honest about replacing the calipers. Were they brand new or rebuilt? OEM or something like Bendix aftermarket calipers?

That sucks that you are having problems with the car. I am approaching

90,000 total miles in two miatas and neither one has been to a shop while I owned it except for tire mounting, alignments, and body work.

I am far from a pro mechanic, but the few necessary repairs have been easy with the exception of the top replacement and neither car ever left me stranded.

They are very reliable cars in general, the best I have ever dealt with, but luck is going to play a factor as well.

So, good luck!

Pat

Reply to
pws

Actually, as a point of interest (I had a big brake problem myself at the beginning of the summer,) neither of those things are true. The pins *are* sold seperately, at about $6 from your dealer (and make sure you specify which!) Not such a bad price considering that a rebuilt caliper with bracket runs up into the hundreds...yeah. Oh, and they sell brackets only, brackets with calipers, and calipers only...but not in silly pairs! Actually, Mazda is the only vendor I could find that shipped me the correct part! I waited around for a month and a half with my *only* car up on stands to get the right part.

What I'm saying here is that Mazda does have the parts, and they're certain they're correct, as well.

Reply to
r0lliSl1fe

Actually, the Miata parts book and an online dealer show one pin as part of the bracket and the other separately. The broken pin in question is the one sold only with the bracket.

HTH

Reply to
Chas Hurst

Chas is usually very accurate with his information. Are you certain that you are talking about the large slider pin with the allen wrench fitting that remains fixed in place on the bracket or the smaller pin with a bolt head that comes out when you loosen the brake caliper?

Pat

Reply to
pws

You know, it's quite possible I'm wrong. I never did order the pins themselves (as the ones I couldn't get out I ordered the caliper for, and the others I just sanded, cleaned, and lubed.) However, my chats with the Mazda parts guys and the fine folks at the miata.net Forums suggested those pins were also available seperately. They had bent theirs, managed to get the bracket seperated, and bought a new upper pin (allen wrench fitting captured in the bracket.) Maybe talk to Rosenthal Miata? Next time I need said pins (hopefully never!) I'll certainly be looking into it. There's always junkyards, too...

Though we all at least agree the lower bolt-head pins are available, right? :-P

-r0ll

pws wrote:

Reply to
r0lliSl1fe

I b'lieve we all agree the lower bolt is available. Trussville has an online parts counter and they show only the pin with bracket, as does my parts book.

Reply to
Chas Hurst

That is a very rare virtue that is getting to be less and less common. I defintely *know* less as I get older, but it seems like most people's minds close like a steel trap by the age of 30 or so, sometimes much younger.

It seems like anything that would bend the larger pin would damage the thread area on the bracket too, that pin is thick and strong, but I may be wrong. :-)

Definitely, I have bought them and they were amazingly inexpensive, well under the $500.00 or so that I expected from Mazda.

Pat

Reply to
pws

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somebody

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