73shark

Just had to replace the hose to that caliper and then bled that caliper.

doo600 has a good suggestion, one I should have thought of since Sharks were famous for parking brake sticking due to the cable rusting inside the housing.

biglg

Well here it is! This happened Saturday when we were going to a family dinner in our home town, less than 2k people. WE drove the 45 mintue drive, the entire ride (i wasnt driving) I thought the vehicle was riding funny! We get to our destination and I get out and you can smell something hot. Turns out the drivers side rear wheel was HOTTER than hell. Seemed it was1,000 degrees. Anways, we didnt have any tools at this location. So I drove to the nearest shop that was open, of course they werent much help just said it seemed it was a bad caliper. There wasnt anyone that could look at it Saturday. So we left it there in town. This morning I went and bought a new caliper, rotor, pads, etc. Just so I would have what I may need since the location of the vehicle doesnt have much for parts in that town.

I call a buddy up who owns a body shop! He tells me he will look at it. I get in and just for "****s" pull the ebrake all the way up and down a few times. I drive it for about 10 minutes, not a damn thing seeems wrong, no heat, no nothing! So he takes it off anyways and says he doesnt see anything wrong with it. I guess it had something to do with the Ebrake. I dont know. It was not engaged in anyway, however it is now fixed! Crazy, i was prepared for the worst and I guess the new year is already treating me right! Thanks for the help guys!

73shark

Based upon my experience, if you don't use the parking brake (not an emergency brake cuz there's no way in hell it'll stop you) all of the time, then never use it. What happens is moisture gets in the cable housing and rust eventually fills the gap between the cable and the housing so that when you do decide to apply it, it wedges the rust and the spring isn't strong enuf to release it.

biglg

Well, turns out problem not solved. Recap: Remember, drove to home town for holidays and vehicle seemed to be driving strange! Got out and the rear driver brake was hot as hell! So park it and get parts the next day. Go to fix it, drive it first and the problem is gone. No heat in the rear wheel area. So, we take the wheel of and caliper and dont see anything wrong. It has since been driven for 2 days with no problem.

My wife calls me tonight on her way home from work and says it seems to be happening again. She gets home and smell is aweful! The rear wheel area is hot has hell again!

Anyone have any suggestions? Can a caliper lock up, unlock, lock up, etc? What could it possibly be?

doo600

Have you been using the emergency brake? If so I would guess that's your problem. You will not notice anything out of whack because the e-brake is a seperate drum type brake pads which do not use the main claiper. Instead it uses a curved pad which contacts the inside of the rotor. Here is a picture.

You can see the brake pads behind the spindle. The rotor is then placed over these pads and they contact the inside of the rotor.

biglg

We may have used the ebrake once or twice about 3 weeks ago. But nothing constant, nor do we seem to remember using it anytime around the first occurance.

We for sure have not used the ebrake in the last 2 days since the first occurance either. One other thing, if it were the ebrake, would it be on just the one side/driver side? Or should it be both rear brakes smelling and getting hot?

I just dont want to take it in, and have them say they cant figure it out since it isnt occuring at the time I may take it in. I also dont want to pay for them to put on 100 new parts and none of them solve the issue. I just dont know much about brakes and all components and the functions. Grr! Vehicles without warranties suck!

doo600

I can certainly understand your position but I would say there are 2 systems on a vehicle I would absolutely not mess around with if there was a problem. Brakes and steering. I doubt it's a caliper since it seems to be intermittent. You may have a bad brake line. I've had brand new brake lines go bad so don't gauge it on age. You may also have a rock stuck behind the caliper which is engaging the e-brake. I wouldn't chance a failure.

biglg

Well, I am going to take it to a shop tomorrow. I am just worried they wont see an exact problem just as I did when my buddy and I took the wheel and caliper off! Hopefully it will be malfunctioning tomorrow when I take it in! The rock theory would suit me fine! Thanks for all of you help, I kind of butchered your thread. SOrry! Thanks again for the input!

engine2

Looks Sharp Brother!!

ETA: Makes me wish I had a summit white LTZ.

doo600

No problem, let us know how it turned out.

Thanks!