Brakes Locking Up

[kazuo]

Help me oh great one! A friend of mine told me to give you a holler and ask what you think. Varying opinions are causing my head to swell to even larger sizes and possibly explode.

Short end of the stick? My brakes are locking up. Why, I have no idea.

( The following is basically a copy-paste of what I posted on another forum: )

Quote »I drove maybe like... 10-15 blocks from my friend's house, then all of a sudden I started losing speed, I couldnt move and the brake pedal was completely stiff; it would only move about half an inch and I was SMASHING it.

I turned the corner, pulled over on a sloped street and the car didnt roll. So I am guessing the brakes are locking up.

After letting the car sit for about 20-30 mins, the car would then move again, but after a few blocks of driving, it locks up again.

I bled the car once before I drove it, and again after this occured.

After I bled it, I let the car sit for two hours. I was able to drive back to my friend's house (same distance from where the car locked up) and it locked again. Friend's street is sloped; I was on the slope with ebrake down, car in neutral and no one in the car holding the brake; wouldn't move at all. Four guys pushing the car from behind... doesn't move.

So obviously I am assuming the brakes are locking up. No leaks in the line, no leaks in the master.

Judging from the other thread (and from what others told me) it would appear that the Brake Booster or the Master Cylinder is the culprit.

I "tested" the booster by turning the car on, at which point I could slightly push the brake pedal down. After turning the car off and pushing it 3 or 4 times, the pedal would lose pressure.

I don't know how to test the Master.

Is it possible that the vaccuum line on the Booster is casuing the problem?

Anyone have any ideas? I want to get this fixed ASAP cus quite frankly.. I am tired of [censored] with this car.

Thanks [/quote]Also, just to add... the last time it locked up, when I got back to my friend's house, after letting the car sit for about 5-10 mins, the rears were cold while the fronts were still warm.

The slope was not very big. But it was enough that a car would begin to roll if there were no brakes being applied.

I would appreciate your input. This problem is driving me bonkers.

Thanks!

[NISTECH]

check your sliding pins on your front calipers they may be binding. remove the calipers as if your were going to replace the pads. once you have the 2 14mm bolts removed slide the caliper off and check the pins the 14mm bolts where screwed into. You should be able to slide those in and out quite easily. If any one of them can not be moved by simply pulling and pushing on them with your hand it may be draging causeing the brake to stay applied.

To test the brake booster simply unplug and cap off the vaccum hose. Note though the braking force you need to apply to the pedal to stop the car will be drastically higher then normal. so do it where you have ample stopping distance. master cyl wont keep pressure applied if it did your pedal would be low.

[NISTECH]

also check your brake lines going from the master to each of the front calipers if one of them is kinked it will allow you to apply pressure but may not allow it to return to the master so quickly.pay close attention to the rubber hoses at the calipers.