Need Help -- Brake Smoking

[99FirebirdV6]

So I just had my front brake rotors and pads replaced at Midas. They called me up and said now there is another problem. The driver side pad is smoking... he said something like.. because the piston is stuck and its not releasing the pad.. something like that.

They were closing so I just brought the car back. What do I do now? Or can anybody explain what the problem is so i have a better understanding and take it to the right mechanics or buy the right parts if i have to. As I parked the car I did see little smoke coming out of the brake pad. Also when i brake, sometime its normal sometime the brake pedal goes all the way down.

thanks.

['94 Camaro RS]

do you know if they took the brake line off the caliper? if they did they might have not added any brake fluid back thus causing your pedal to go all the way down(which isnt good). this is due to air in your brake lines.

[teal99camaro]

that happened on my 99, not the smoking, but the piston was stuck. It took them a longer time to replace the pads. I think it just takes some finesse to get it unsiezed.

['94 Camaro RS]

you could also just go to autozone and get rebuilt calipers. to be on the safe side

[Camaro Dom]

seized up front brakes? if i'm not mistaken that would cause ur car to pull CRAZY to the driver side... i mean think about it, one wheel is rolling along fine and the other is just about locked up... i think it would pull pretty wicked. think whenever you hit a puddle with only one side of the car, doesnt the wheel like snap to the side you hit the puddle? and yeah... brakes dont go to the floor.

[99FirebirdV6]

Thats what I was thinking... but while driving when i let go of the gas pedal or put it in N, there is no resistence or anything.. no sound either. But why would break pad smoke.. is it coz both rotor and pad are brand new? they are just breaking in.

well.. i'm gonna take the car to this mechanic i know in an hr.. see if he can figure out the problem.. otherwise i will have to take it to Just Brakes.

[cam98aro]

my friend installed new brake pads on his car, and he didnt break them in. Therefore, they glazed over, and started smoking after heavy break useage. It eventually went away.

[Marty85]

I work at a repair shop and do brake jobs all the time. I can tell you with confidence that its nothing to worry about. If they replaced the rotors then that explains it. Rotors come inside a plastic bag and are covered in machine oil during the cutting and shipping process. If they did not clean this oil off then it burns off during the first few braking attempts causing smoke. I actually find this quite fun because after I do a brake job and drive the vehicle ill get up about 70 and just stand on the brakes. Theyre a little unresponsive at first but then the oil starts to burn off and braking power returns. After rolling to a complete stop smoke will pour out of the front wheels like theyre on fire and I let it sit and minute and do a couple more light stops to get the pads seated in good before letting the owner have it. Trust me thats mroe than likely all it is.

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Originally posted by Marty85:
I work at a repair shop and do brake jobs all the time. I can tell you with confidence that its nothing to worry about. If they replaced the rotors then that explains it. Rotors come inside a plastic bag and are covered in machine oil during the cutting and shipping process. If they did not clean this oil off then it burns off during the first few braking attempts causing smoke. I actually find this quite fun because after I do a brake job and drive the vehicle ill get up about 70 and just stand on the brakes. Theyre a little unresponsive at first but then the oil starts to burn off and braking power returns. After rolling to a complete stop smoke will pour out of the front wheels like theyre on fire and I let it sit and minute and do a couple more light stops to get the pads seated in good before letting the owner have it. Trust me thats mroe than likely all it is.

where do you work?

if you took my car to 70MPH i would kick your ***

thats why if i must take my car any where and they won't let me ride along in the test drive... i flash the PCM with 200 rpms rev limit and 50 MPH speed limiters

you should see the look on there face

them - well car seems fine but won't go above 2000 rpm or 50mph

me - WTF was you tring to do to my car? was you trying to drive it hard?

them - ahh well ummm

[BobbyZ72]

HAHAHAH thats cool! we should all start doing that. Theres only one mechanicc i trust other then my self. And ive seen and heard lots of storys about them taking them on joy rides tearing them up. [img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img]

[Antiricer4u]

Yea I did my front rotors last brake job and thats exactly what happened. I knew they were covered in machine oil to prevent rust though so I knew what it was when it happened. Still cool though! lol

I'm surprised....taking it somewhere to get brakes done? The only place i go is to murrays to get the rotors turned. But thats about the extent of service my car receives other then service from me.

Is'nt that a big no no to do such heavy braking on new rotors? I've always done light braking letting them cool and heat casually for about a week of driving then take it to a nice parking lot and give it a couple good jabs to heat them up nicely and burn off any deposits.

[99FirebirdV6]

after spending 5hrs me and my mechanic friend finally fixed the problem. The problem was with the caliper bracket. The caliper slides left and right on 2 bolts on the bracket (or something like that).. and one of the bolt was stuck with the bracket. So we bought a new loaded caliper.. stuck it in.. and runs like brand new now.

Man.. those (so called) profesional mechanics almost made me change my master cylinder.

[shock_core]

sweet! Looks like my car is going to be smoking from all 4 wheels this weekend! I'll just tell everyone that AWD burnouts rock :D

/lol
//this is going to be halarious

[StrtRacer98]

Is that possible to flash the PCM to set limits on it in a case like that?

What do you need to do it and how?, ive never heard of that before
Thanks

[98Camaro3.8]

Originally posted by StrtRacer98:
Is that possible to flash the PCM to set limits on it in a case like that?

What do you need to do it and how?, ive never heard of that before
Thanks

You need a tuner...either HP Tuners or DHP Powrtuner.