2003 Nissan Altima 2.5L Problem with Front Passenger Brake locking up.

[rywatsonan]

Soooo this altima has been an evil girl lately. It's my girlfriends car and I just replaced the front passenger side Caliper, Rotor and Brake Pads yesterday night. I plan on doing the other Brake pads and rotor tomorrow but we are still having the same issue. I am not sure if its coming from the same side because she drove it today when the issue happened again. I play on replacing the hose that comes off the caliper and connects to the brake line because I heard from my mechanic uncle that it sounds like it's collapsed. Please help.

The front passenger was definately locking up but I did think for a while that it was the front driverside. Any ideas what couyld be causing the car to be doing this?

[AZhitman]

Did you lubricate the sliding pins when you replaced the caliper?

Did you bleed the brakes after all that?

Doubtful the brake line collapsed.

I'm curious to know how you know it "locked up" and what the symptoms were.

Looking forward to helping you fix the evil girl!

[Buzzman]

Having a 2006 Altima myself, and having to replace calipers and stuff, I can sympathize.
No point in trying to figure it all out until you have done both sides. Never do just one side.
In my case, being in a salt belt, my caliper pins rusted. When they rust, they expand, and this caused them to seize.
The caliper could not slide, thus the pads could not back off from the rotor, and my wheel/rim got really hot.
That's how I first noticed it: super hot to the touch wheel.
Getting the seized one off the rotor was a real challenge. I couldn't get the pins out.
I removed the caliper assembly instead, and then found I couldn't collapse (push in) the piston. It was seized as well.
I had to replace everything, including the caliper mounting bracket.
I did the other side, and it was almost as bad.
One winter later, the rears were seized. Same process.

Now, in regard to the collapsed brake line: It does happen. I had that problem with an older Ford Escort I had.
The collapsed brake line would not allow the fluid to "reverse", resulting in the pads always pressured against the rotor.
Took a while to figure that one out.
I have not heard of that problem on Altimas.

[AZhitman]

Interesting, about the collapsed line - I'd not heard of that. Thanks Buzz.

Great advice on doing everything in pairs. And if you live in the rust belt, EVERYTHING gets grease or anti-seize on reassembly.