brakes grab and hold after about 10 minutes..

[2ndnissan]

I've got a 90 240sx hatch . When I bought it,the brakes lights stayed on but fixed that problem with a plastic plug in the brake pedal. I started hearing a scraping from the right rear and changed the pads and rebuilt the right caliper. Also replaced one rotor on the rear as it was grooved. Now , the fronts seize up after about ten minutes of just average driving. I have replaced both calipers on the front and the pads and bled them. The problem still persists....what's probably wrong????? If you let it sit for a few hours and cool down, it's good for another ten minute run. There is no scraping sound when you first start out. Rolls very easily. Only does it after a certain temp I guess.Help!! I'd actually like to drive it some!!! Oh yeah...it's NOT ABS....
Modified by 2ndnissan at 2:10 PM 11/16/2007

[driftingmy240sx]

sounds like the thing you fixed on the brake pedal is the problem. if the brake switches under on the pedal are out of adjustement the will actually cause the brakes to be constantly applied.

[boriquaS13]

Make sure you don't also have a problem with a brake hose. Try drivin the car until you feel them dragging again jack the car up and check to see if you have one wheel that are locked up remove the wheel and crack the bleeder if you have pressure i.e. brake fluid squirt out you probably have a bad brake hose Id recomend you replace them in pairs or all.

[2ndnissan]

It seems like the drivers front is the one that locks up the hardest..smoking once!..I let it cool down a bit and cracked the bleeder like you said..it was like a fire hose!! major pressure. I'm replacing the hoses (all four ). I'll check the pedal too for adjustment ...thanks for the help!

[2ndnissan]

just an update....brake problem is fixed!!! I had used a plastic upholstery plug to fix the "brake light stays on" problem....The problem was..the plug was too long and was keeping the brake partially pressed all the time so they heated up quick. I got a speed nut and clamped it onto the brake pedal putting a small screw through the stopligt switch attaching hole and screwing it into the nut.Now it's more like a solid plate behind the switch without the clearance problem...now I gotta fix that front end shimmy at 60...i feel a rebuild coming on......

[pete240]

Did you fix the problem. It seems like I'm having similar problems. The front right caliper and back left seem to be locking up randomly. It's mostly the front right and I too get the front end shimmy on the highway which from my assumptions its because the caliper is seizing and causing the wheel to shake. I'm thinking about swapping out the calipers but I want to make sure thats my problem and not something else. Did the hoses make the difference? How could the hose be the culprit? Could it be clogged and retaining fluid instead of letting it back into the reservoir?

[2ndnissan]

The hoses were fine..never had to change them. When I put the plastic plug in the brake pedal so the tail light switch would work...the plug was too long and brake pedal wasn't releasing completely..Calipers were always being applied a little and overheated too quick. Yours doesn't sound like the same problem as mine. Both the front were locking on mine. you probably have pistons sticking in the calipers. Clean them off good with brake cleaner and check the seals . Mine were punctured on the rear so I got a rebuild kit for five bucks and changed it out...oh yeah...the pistons on the rear don't just pull straight out. They are like a screw mechanism . Needle nose pliers spread between the indentions on the end will remove them. A front end shimmy COULD be a warped rotor if it just happens when you apply the brakes. Had the car sat for a long time? If it had there might be some coorrosion on the piston walls that you'd have to take off. Might be just scuffed enough to keep the piston from sliding easily.Some emery cloth would clean them up ...Just some suggestions...I ened up having to buy on caliper but the seals and cleaning got the others back into shape....

[2ndnissan]

oh yeah..my shimmy ended up being a tire out of round..needed four oz of weight to balance and it's a six year old tire..it's replaced now...