brakes heating up-need help ASAP

[Moisabamf]

the 1200's front brakes are heating up.

the passenger side is heating up more than the drivers side.

i need help ASAP!!!

any suggestions on what i should do?

any help MOST appreciated

~mo

[moparvwfreak]

disc or drum? if its disc then you most likely have a bad caliper. if its drum it could be adjusted to tight. both are fairly simple to fix. one just costs moneyto do unless its under warrenty.

[Moisabamf]

disk brakes

[datzenmike]

Check the pedal is returning to it's fully up position. Next push down on it by hand, there should be some free play, under 1/4". If the pedal isn't coming all the way up OR there is no free play then the master cylinder isn't returning to it's rest position and some residual fluid under pressure is trapped ahead of the piston and can't bleed back into the master cylinder reservoir. Each time the brakes are used a bit more pressure is added until the brakes are locked solid.

 

If you have no free play there is a push rod connected to the brake pedal up under the dash. You can pull the clip out of the pin and remove it. The rod can now be removed and the lock nut loosened and the adjustment made. Re tighten the lock nut and re install the pin DON'T FORGET THE CLIP THAT PREVENTS THE PIN FROM FALLING OUT!!! Very important!

[Moisabamf]

funny you mention that about the codder pin,

i got in a fender bender a week before last year JCCS because of it:D

look at any pics of my car from that event, you can see the primer:D

i am now 95.37% sure that it is a bad caliper

anyone happen to have a pair that i can purchase:p

i pulled out the trusty ol'

and diagnosed the problem

[moparvwfreak]

it sounded like a bad cal to me. cals should be fairly cheap as it is a small one but then again they can be expencive or NLA like the 4 piston cals on my Plymouth.

[datzenmike]

Well, try prying the piston back into the bore. I had one jam in my dad's Sundance. By the time I noticed it, it was smokin' hot. Couldn't touch the rim. Threw snow on it to cool it down and got it off. I used a tire iron to pry against the pad and retract the piston then pumped it several times to bring it back out against the rotor. Drove home... no problems. I changed it the next day just in case, but it was fine. Maybe some dirt or rust on the outside of the caliper was causing it to hang up???

[Moisabamf]

hey, it turns out the brake calipers are fine.

but now both of them are freezing up, and my dad thinks it might be the proportioning valve. which one could i use for my car? im thinking i could use a 280zx one, but im not sure, any help?

[thisismatt]

I don't think your car has a proportioning valve, especially if it's anything like a 510 with a dual reservoir master. The junction with the wire coming off of it is just the brake failure indicator switch.

 

You could have a bad soft line - I've seen them collapse internally and act as a one-way valve.