unitedwestang

Title says it all. I'm sorry.

So shortly after acquiring my '04 GT I noticed the pads were in need of replacing. Got me a set of ceramic pads and like many had difficulty getting everything back together because it seemed like the pads were too thick (that's besides the point...maybe).

I used the opportunity to go ahead and take my calipers off and paint them--as I've started doing with all my vehicles. Something about the unpainted cast caliper looks so plain to me (it really is the little things). Anyways, I digress..

After finally putting everything back together and bleeding the system I started driving it as usual. Usual being the occasional cruise around town or on the back roads on the weekends. I noticed after a good drive, especially around downtown with a lot of stopping and going, my front brakes were starting to drag. Not to the point that they would lock up, but enough to where the car wouldn't roll back on a slight incline.

After seeing a lot of posts on here recently I determined I may have bled the brakes wrong. I bled the calipers in the proper order, but bled the master cylinder AFTER the calipers. Thinking "oh, stupid mistake" I went to fix it this weekend. Armed with one of the BIG bottles of brake fluid I set out to correct it, bleeding the MC first, followed by the calipers in the proper order. I did get a little air out. The drag was reduced, but still not gone. It now took longer for the dragging symptoms to show, but they were still present nonetheless.

I've noticed the dragging only occurs when the brakes get hot. Meaning if the brakes are cold, I start the car up, and push the brakes all the way down, no dragging is present yet. Only after repeated accelerating and stopping do they drag. I only replaced the pads--not the calipers. To be honest, I couldn't tell you if they drug(?) prior to the pad swap or not (I hadn't driven the car much at that point). I was very careful not to get paint where it shouldn't be (I taped the **** out of the calipers).

To me air in the lines made sense to cause my issue, but obviously there's more to the problem. I've thought about the hose collapsing (about 74,xxx miles on the car) because that happened on my mom's Grand Prix. If that was the case, would it only show when the brakes were hot or should it show as soon as the brakes are applied? What are the chances of both going at the same time?

Sorry for the long winded story. Just trying to convey everything. Now I look to you all for any advice, direction, pointers, etc.

jwog666

air in the lines will not cause a brake drag, it is however caused by binding/sticking caliper pistons, sicking slide pins, and internally damaged brake hoses. since you had a hard time putting the calipers back on the car after you replaced the pads this is most surely the case. start by getting the brakes to drag, then remove the tire and crack the bleeder loose, if then drag goes away suspect the hose, if it doesnt go away suspect the caliper. if the drag is still there, pull the calipers off and make sure the slide pins are free and not binding. i would recommend replacing calipers in pairs to prevent brake pulls if u find that they are the cause

unitedwestang

I had thought due to air expanding more than brake fluid when it gets hot it can cause drag.

I had fully depressed the pistons prior to reinstalling everything. I think as others have found, some pads for these cars are just really thick for some reason.

I have already preformed the test you described. After cracking the bleeder, some fluid did come out and the drag, for the most part, released. Another reason I suspected the hoses. I just thought it weird for both to be bad at the same time.

jwog666

when u release the pedal the system vents to the master, so there is no pressure of any kind.

i have only run into that with el cheapo pads

looks like time for hoses.

unitedwestang

10-4, makes sense.

Suppose hoses are the next step then. Thanks for confirming. I'm not one to throw parts at a problem.

dhavi4226

I had a similar problem with my 2000 Dakota from new . After going through numerous warped rotors and new pads I finally replaced the brake hose. Have not had the problem since.

unitedwestang

I'll give the hoses a shot. The reason I'm just a bit skeptical on the hoses is that my experience with my mom's car was that when that hose was bad the caliper REALLY drug.

Maybe I just noticed the problem before my mom ever noticed hers, ha.

Evan02

I had this problem after I changed my pads last summer. I made a stupid mistake though, I assumed that the inside and outside pads on each rotor were the same.

They're not.

They have little pins that match up to grooves in the caliper and they're different on each side. Putting them on the wrong side caused my brakes to drag. Worth checking if you're not sure.

unitedwestang

Ya, I had known about the pads being different so I made sure they were installed correctly.

unitedwestang

Well if this doesn't just beat all...

Finally got around to changing the front brake hoses AND...... the front brake drag is still present...

I will report back after more tests, but in the mean time, feel free to shoot ideas about what to do next.

Assuming the hose had no effect on the drag, I thought this might be worth mentioning:
I'll drive the car around, front brakes start dragging, thus heating up. At home, I park on a slight incline with the e-brake pulled and left in first gear. Next time I get in the car, after the brakes cool, the brakes have released and I roll backwards. After a decent drive where the brakes heat up, I do not roll down this slight incline due to the drag.

Prior to replacing the hoses, after the drag was present, and I loosened the bleeder valve, the brakes would release.