brake pads rubbing against disc when brakes are not applied

hi, i have a less than 3 yr old 2003 nissan altima. it has about 20k miles in it and already the brake pads have worn out so much so that the brake metal touched the disk rotor. had to replace disk rotors for the rear wheels. spent about $500.

with the new brake pads i noticed that the brake pads were still touching the disk rotor even when the brake is not applied. i can hear slight sound of brake pad rubbing against the disk rotor while driving at 3 mph. the mechanic said its normal. is this true!! won't this cause the brake pads to wear out faster, also abrade the disk rotor.

the mechanic also said that the caliper is not clamping the disk rotor equally on either side of rotor and suggested me to change the caliper. it costs $200 each and i decided not to get it changed at this time. i want to go to a dealer and find out if it can be covered by the warranty. the car is less than 3 yrs old. the warranty booklet doesn't say anything about caliper, but does mention brake pads and disk rotors are not covered. infact i think its because of the bad caliper that i had to replace disk rotors. any idea if a bad caliper can be replaced under warranty.

-thanks very much msm

Reply to
smahesh
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Its sounds completely ok to me. Even if you do wear down to metal on metal, you're still fine if the rotors are newish and you don't keep on driving that way for long. A few gouges won't matter.

And most brakes touch slightly. You can usually feel some resistance if you turn the hub by hand. If its really grinding, then there's a problem.

Dean

Reply to
Dean

yup, and nope. If you jack the car up and spin a wheel by hand, you should feel only a very slight drag. Anything more than that then yes you should worry.

More likely than the calipers being bad would be that the caliper SLIDES are corroded. In fact I'd bet money that that's your problem; which only requires a couple hours of labor and some syl-glide to correct, not new calipers.

good luck,

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

| > the brake pads were still | > touching the disk rotor even when the brake is not applied. This is why I hope manufacturers will be forced to quote their vehicles ' minimum tow force required, then manufacturers will likely fit springs to push the pads away from disc ( to reduce brake bind ).

I've reduced 1 of my '90 accord 's rear disc brakes' bind, by removing the pads, clean ( using water & brush ) & oil their slots, so idle pads can slide away from the disc.

Reply to
TE Cheah

i think you are right, the calipers are a bit corroded. it could be the slides. since you said 'couple of hours' i guess its not something i can do myself with no experience in car repairs except changing tires.

Reply to
smahesh

Depends if you have a spare car and a nice comfy garage!

Reply to
Dean

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