2003 Accord 4dr 4cyl - Right rear disc brake dragging this morning. New pads and rotor resurfaced about 60 days ago. Just checked the parking brake "cam" and it seems OK. It's free and now lubed up with some WD40. Lifted of the ground, and the wheel is tight. Would screwing the piston back in take care of this or is there more to it??

Thanks!
LVP

 

Check whether the new pads are wedged tight in the caliper bracket. I usually have to file off a bit from the steel backing plates (not much more than the thickness of the paint).

Did you check whether the caliper slide pins move nicely?

 

So the pads, themselves, may be wedged in their "slots". I know there's plenty of lithium grease in there, the slides, and the pins are always free, in and out. I'll have to check if they're too tight in the mounts. What difference does the back of the pads make?

LVP

 

Make sure you aligned the piston + slot w/ the tab on the brake pad. If it's not aligned, the pad may **** at an angle and jam.

good luck

 

Did you replace the pads or was it done at a shop? If you did it yourself, then this explanation is for you...

With the caliper swung out of the way, you installed the pads into the caliper bracket. Those steel backing plates - I'm not talking about the thin shims, I'm talking about the 5mm thick steel bonded onto the friction material. Those backing plates should fit nicely into the caliper bracket, but not wedged tightly. The pads need to release from the rotor, when you release the brake pedal. I almost always have to file off the paint from the edges in a couple places where they fit against the caliper bracket; and often I have to file a little more into the steel so they don't bind. Does that clear it up?

And TexasHonda's comment about the slot in the piston face is important too. There should be a tab in the middle of the backing plate (on the inboard pad), that fits into the slot. You can't spin the piston to any position, that slot has to be positioned so the tab fits into it.

I assume you had to spin the piston in some, to make room for the thicker new pads, right? That's the handbrake auto-adjust mechanism. If you tried to press the pistons in (with a C-clamp) you might have damaged that stuff so it keeps tightening itself too much.

There's several different ideas here. You need to take the caliper off & see what's actually going on in your case.

 

Best laid plans - I think I may throw myself off the roof of my car!

I bought a new caliper from AutoZone. Removed the old one, that I consider seized up, and installed the rebuilt. All was well until we started to bleed the line. I prefilled the caliper and we pumped up, and bled, and pumped, and bled, until the weren't no more air in the line. Now, the pedal is rock hard sitting there, then becomes mush when you start the engine. The parking brake has very little effect and comes all the way up when pulled. I'm scratchin' my head wondering where is my brake pressure going?

My neighbor suggested some "bleed back" on the master cylinder gasket? Come on, what are the odds today, at the other end of the car? What did I do to deserve this? Jim, Finch, Texas (?), help me guys!!

LVP

 

I always bleed w/ engine running. This makes bleeding much easier. It can sometimes take a lot of bleeding to purge all the air. Also be sure you keep the reservoir filled during bleeding. If level gets too low air will be pulled in at the master cylinder. Are you holding the pedal until bleeder is closed? If you release brake pedal before closing bleeder air gets pulled in at caliper. This is bleeding basics, but there's a reason for your problem.

good luck

 

They also make self-bleeders, which is basically a hose with a one-way valve on the end. Fluid gets pushed out one end, but air cannot travel the reverse direction.

 

I searched through older threads and found a couple instances of the same problem. I assume these people's cars aren't still in their garage, but no one wrote about what cured the problem!

I took the new caliper back to the store and got another one. Installed the second one, bled the lines, and all is well with the brake system. Worked like a charm.

LVP

 

Hope it stays good! We appreciate knowing how it turned out. Too many times the original poster never comes back to say what worked, what didn't, or what they tried.

Faulty caliper out of the box is a bit unusual, but not impossible. It's tempting for us to ASSUME the new caliper has to be good.

I've had the best results with a pressure bleeder.