caliper gouging my rear rotor

[matt4pl]

waht coudld cause a caliper or brake pad to gauge into a rotor? its only gouging the top 1" or so of the rotor and its only on the rear passenger side. i repaled the pads about 3 months ago, so they should be fine. could it be that the parts just need to be cleaned anbd reinstalled and torqued or is it something else. i just installed a vlsd, but i doubt that could have thrown something off.

thanks,matt

[SmithSR]

pics if you can. This sounds an odd problem you have, but a picture will save 1000 words of typing.

[matt4pl]

will try to get some tomorrow, im thinking that maybe the caliper is on wierd or i got some dirt or something stuck under it, or something it jsut outta whack, aka misaligned.... its whiny like a brake sensor almost when driving, but grindy sounding when im stoping

[EnzoRWD]

i had that problem, it was caused by a siezed caliper. the outside part couldnt slide back out, and that heat allowed the rotor to get gouged rather severely.check to make sure the caliper is releasing properly-Enzo

[Grant@tirerack]

Also check to see if you might have a small rock or other piece of debris in between the pad/caliper somewhere. I've seen that happen with stuff smaller than a pea tearing up a rotor.

[matt4pl]

there's no way to fix a seized caliper, right?

[MainEvent212]

i had a weird pin thingy taht i had never seen before on my same rotor tonight. it started squeeling alot, and eventually did it non stop...so i ripped it off lolit's more of a clip then a pin...it was only on the passenger side too ?? anyhow, i dont think it did any harm by breaking it off...it sotpped the squeeling...i'm gonna replace my pads and rotors soon anyhow

[Cyberkreig]

my passenger rear rotor also makes a faint grinding sound when gliding to a stop. (S13 w/brembo D/S)

[p00t]

Had a similar problem, either your caliper is sticking or the sliding clip is rusting and the pad is binding in place. The pad will stay pushed against the rotor and will heat up, become glazed, and the hard glazed material will scrape against the rotor. Glazed pads have very hard spots on them and the spots are usually discolored. Basically parts of the pad are super heated and it turns into stuff as hard as a rock!

1. disconnect the caliper from the car (you can leave the brake line connected, but not the e-brake). use a pair of needle nose pliers to move the caliper (you have to "unscrew" it, it does not pull directly out, also do not move it too far out other wise it will pop out, maybe 1/2" out is the limit). Move the caliper out and take the boot off, put some new fresh brake fluid on the exposed sides of the caliper, use your finger or a cotton puff. screw the piston in and out a few times to help free up any gunk build up. When done reattach the boot around the piston and clean up any excess fluid on the caliper (dont want it to drip on the rotor!).

2. The pads stay in track by two metal clips. Hardly anyone actually lubes these and they begin to rust which causes the pads to stick or bind in place. If your clips are badly worn/rusted get new ones. If they seem ok, (use your disgression here), use steel wool and brake cleaner to clean them good. Before reinstalling them use brake lubricant or similar silicon based lube on the side the pads will contact. (you may also need to sand the metal sides of the pad lightly if they have crud on them) The side should just be covered, it should not be dripping. If anything drips on the rotor the brake will not work correctly till it burns the stuff off.

3. If the pads are badly glazed you will have to replace them, if there is plenty of pad material left (which i doubt) you can try using course sanding paper to grind the top layer off. I just replaced mine so dont get too crazy with the sand paper, probably isnt a good thing to do in the first place.

[StrangeLove]

I just had to replace my rear rotors due to my pads getting too thin, and causing the caliper pistons getting stuck as far out as they would go. Which caused all the brake fluid to come out of the lines, and my pads to grind my rotors down to nothing... I was driving when all this happened no brakes are no fun...

Hope that helped