VS Calais Break problem!

[DrZ]

Hey guys,
Just wondering if you could help me with my break problem.
The problem is that after excessive breaking, like for instance sitting at the red light foot on pedal, then moving 10-50m then back on the breaks, or picking up the kids, another stop go stop go situation, after these sort of breaking (incl. using the park break repeatedly), it feels like my breaks are STILL applying pressure to my wheels... and well, its more of an i know they are still applying, as it really does feel like your driving with your foot on the breaks a lil...

oh and after a while of driving the pressure realeses... just the same as if you park and turn it off for a while it will be back to normal....

I was just wondering if you guys knew of any common problems, like if this is sorta common with the old calais or not.. no idea... any help would be appreciated as a live up a big hill, and its annoying if you gotta drive up it under breaks..

Cheers Brendan

[accentstencil]

It could be a sticking piston in one of the calipers. I suggest jacking the car up and rotating the wheels one at a time. Apply the brakes and release them and see if the wheels move freely. The rear wheels will be harder to turn than the front because of the diff, but you will notice if one is harder to turn than the other.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Or it could be a sticking slide on one of the calipers.

[greenacc]

as above it would be either the calliper slide pins are sticky or the piston is sticking.
Easiest thing to do first is pull the slides apart, check for excessive wear, clean out the old grease and lube then up with some proper grease for calliper slide pins.
If that doesn't fix it you need to rebuild the callipers including the piston seals.

[sircruisealotVS]

one other option to think about is how tight is your handbrake adjusted? could be that it's not fully releasing when you disengage it and it's making contact with the rotor still.
this is not likely unless you've had the rear rotors off lately, but it's something else to check.

[HARVZ-6]

or compensating port on master cylinder blocked

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

Most places are doing brake inspections for less than $50 these days it might be worth dropping it into one of them and telling them the problem you are having and leave them with the hassle? otherwise as the fellas above have posted is the other alternative lol:P

[DrZ]

Yeah I will have to give the brake inspection a go, anyone know of any brake specialists in Perth? oh an i just put a new set of pads on all four of them a month back because i thought that it might be that they needed new pads... but, they didnt really, an it fixed the prob for like... a week-ish then it started again but since then my break predal has been more touchy.. as in i dont need to press it to hard sometimes for it to work well... where as when it was working fine it would depress a good bit before it kicks in...

oh an the other thing i checked out before was that when my brakes were tight my lights werent on, only when i actually depressed the pedal a lil they came on...

still either way, anyone know of any brake specialists worth a mention in perth or would any mech. do the job?

[greenacc]

all mech's do brakes mate, and VS brakes are pretty simple.
If u can do your own pads you can easily grease the slides yourself too. In fact you would have almost had them appart when you had the pads out. Did you notice if they were greasy, or all dried up like it sounds from your description ? the grease would cost you about $2.50

[spirto]

kinda sounds like master cylinder isn't releasing once you let the brakes go.
quick way to check is to pump your brakes stop/ go/ stop etc then when you feel it has locked up. Jack up the car rotate the wheels, if both front are locked up...it will be master... if only one is, then it's just that cylinder.

but alot of brake places should do free brake check, they will then either be nasty and try to tell you everything is needing replacement or be honest and tell you what the cause is.

hope this helps.

[DrZ]

Thanks for the info on that one greenacc and spirto.. I'll have to check the cylinders like suggested and i didnt notice the slides being dry when i did the pads but that could very will be the course... thanks guys, i'll give you the feed back when i get it done...