Gentlemen.... and women,
Here's a question I haven't seen here before.
A faild attempt to make a long story short
My 1996 SL1 was making noise while braking and a slight rumbling sound.
My mechanic, a personal friend, told me that my left front brake wasn't releasing and recommended we replace both front brake units (rotors, cylinders, pads, etc).
He also told me the press in front wheel bearings they put in last year were failing. So they replaced both front units with new units that no longer use press-in bearings.
The car works fine for a few days, but then the brake pedal would become EXTREMELY stiff, with NO travel before the brakes came on. In fact, the brakes weren't releasing at all. I could be in neutral on a hill with the brakes off and the car wouldn't roll. The brakes were definelty locked on. The next time I drove, everything was fine, but a few days later the symptoms returned, so I took it back in.
He told me the master cylinder was bad and replaced it at cost.
A week later, and the same thing happens, only worse. So back to the shop it goes.
What the heck could cause that?
All four brake systems wouldn't go bad simultainiously, right?
Would the power brake pump cause this? That's my prime suspect.
How could a master cylinder cause these symptoms? Did he just replace it because it was the first thing that came to mind? I would think a bad master cylinder would cause LOSS of brake pressure, not excessive pressure.
I've never had rotor warping and the car's been pretty good.
The Saturn dealer in Chicago did try to screw me over way back when the car was new and the brakes squeaked a bit. The Schaumburg dealer service manager told me they get a ton of business from Chicago because of Chicago's attempts to rip people off.
Any insight you might provide would be greatly appreciated. I've searched the web and usenet and can't find another example of this problem.
Thanks,
Timm