braking problems on 07 Equinox LT
 

The vehicle feels like it is dragging, like the brakes won't release. Last night while driving the car, it started jerking/sputtering and the brakes were hard to push. There were no warning lights on the dash. I have had to add brake fluid more than 4 times now in the past year. But I can't find any leaks in the system. Has anyone else experienced this?

Keep looking, if you are adding fluid then you are leaking. Check all 4 wheels carefully for something being wet. Also look around the master cylinder and all the connections in the brake lines including the hoses.

Jerking and sputtering? Sounds like the issue is more with the engine running than the brakes. A sputtering engine means less vacuum assist. This makes the brake pedal harder to push.

How many miles are on the vehicle?
If over 100,000 miles, have you replaced the plugs and wires?

It is also possible that your brakes are sticking. On a flat, level surface, if you put the gear slector to Drive and release the brake pedal, does the vehicle begin to move? If not, you have a seized caliper.

With regard to your issue with the brake fluid, the amount of fluid in the reservoir will go down as your brake pads wear down. However, the fluid is not lost. Its just staying in the brake calipers more instead of the reservoir. Your caliper pistons stick out more as your brake pads wear down, when this happens it draws a little more fluid from the reservoir. You shouldn't need to add much brake fluid, if any at all as the pads wear.

In another thread you said you just recently replaced the rear pads. What was the brake fluid level after they were replaced?

The car has 105k on it and yes I have replaced the plugs and wires at thee same time. My wife complained that the car was dragging and showed me that it would not move forward while in Drive. The next morning I drove the car and it seemed fine until I had to brake to pull into the driveway. After coming into the driveway, I ran over several speed bumps and it loosened up the brakes but the pedal was still touchy.

When I replaced the back pads I failed to check the fluid level in the reservoir. When I did check, it was down to the minimum level line. I filled it back to the max line and capped it.

In regard to the seized caliper, is there a way to know which one it is?

I think I'd just rebuild all four wheel cylinders, bleed um and start from there. It'd be a good time to replace the shoes/pads, but, you don't have to. If they're dragging, it's because they're not releasing properly.

Just in case you may have trash in the lines, you could give them a good bleed first. Make it run clear, THEN rebuild.

After taking it for a short drive, jack it up and spin each wheel. The one that doesn't move is the one that is seized.

A seized caliper is most often caused by guide pins that are dried up. The guide pins should be inspected and lubed up with high-temp brake grease every time the pads are replaced, but a lot of people don't bother to check these. Sometimes the protective boots for the guide pins crack and let dirt & debris in. The hardware kits run about $15 and include all the guide pin boots & pad clips for both rear wheels or both front wheels. It isn't a bad idea to replace them whenever replacing the pads because they're inexpensive, but this isn't necessary if the old parts look fine.

If the pins are dried up & seized, you can usually just clean them up, apply some lube (use only high-temp brake grease), and re-use them. A new set of guide pins shouldn't cost you much more than $10 for one caliper.

Thanks Ruley73! I'll cleanup and inspect the current pins/bolts and replace or lube as necessary. I know for a fact that the pins have not been lubricated because I'm the one who did them last. I'll keep you posted.

So, I cleaned and lubricated the guide pins and it seems to be helping the situation. My wife drove the car yesterday and only experienced 1 dragging incident. She hit the brake kinda hard and it released. Is this a sign that i need to rebuild the clalipers?

Please see my Post #5.

Starting with the 2007 model year, the Equinox has four-wheel disc brakes. So they don't use wheel cylinders; let alone four wheel cylinders.

It is never necessary to bleed the brake lines unless one of the bleeder screws has been loosened or if a hydraulic component (e.g. caliper, master cylinder, brake line/hose) has been replaced. Some people loosen the bleeder screw to drain the fluid from the calipers when they compress the caliper piston(s) during a pad replacement. There is really nothing wrong with this, but it adds unnecessary work because now bleeding the brake lines is required. Instead, one should loosen the master cylinder cap so the fluid can return to the reservoir when the calipers are compressed. This also keeps the hydraulic lines sealed, so there is no chance for air or moisture to contaminate the fluid.

What constitutes as "1 dragging incident"? Did you find out which wheel was dragging? If one is still sticking, it could be a sticking piston in one of the calipers; which is what I think SWHouston may have been eluding to. In which case rebuilding (much cheaper) or replacing (easier) only the faulty caliper would be necessary.