Did my own brakes, drove for three weeks, now front right brake is always on...

1999 Jeep Cherokee
4.0L I6

I did my own brakes about three weeks ago. I replaced the rotors and pads at the same time.

So, what is happening is my front right brake is seized/locked/engaged while driving. This happened a little before 6PM last night, however it JUST happened. I work about 25 minutes from my house and made the drive there and back just fine. I stopped at a computer repair store about two miles from my house and when I left, I noticed something funny. I noticed that I was getting bad MPGs, high RPMs and the Jeep was sluggish.

For the past while also, after doing my brakes, I noticed that they were kind of squeaky, almost as if the pad was being pressed against the rotors.

When I got home after noticing the brake issue, I smelled each wheel to see if it was one or the other. It was the front right as I could smell the usual smell of brakes.

Anyway, what I am hoping to find out is what I need to do about this issue so that it is not causing further damage/wear to the pads or rotors happens. Also, does this indicate needing to replace the caliper or do I just need to lubricate it so it releases? Has anyone had this happen before?

Thanks a lot. :cheers:

re-bleed and test. then replace the caliper if the bleeding doesn't cut it.

no....no lubricant is needed. the pistons SHOULD retract on their own.

Could be a couple of things. One of which is a common problem. Sometimes the ears of the caliper mounting part of the knuckle will get a groove in them right where the brake pad rides and the brake pad can get stuck down in this groove and keep the pad pressed against the rotor. The fix is either weld the grooves and carefully reshape that area (I've done this with great success) or get another knuckle in good shape.

Another is sometimes when the flexible brake line that attaches to the caliper gets old, the inside of the line can collapse and restrict the retraction of the caliper piston. Obvious fix is to replace the line.

Or your caliper is just plain bad.

Good chance it is one of these.

So before I bled them, I popped off the wheel and tire and checked the pads against the rotors. What I saw was practically ZERO clearance between the two. I could spin the rotor a little, but there was so little clearance that it was shearing off the dew that was landing on the rotor out of the air. I think what the problem may be that I need a new caliper as I could compress the caliper piston back into the hole, but I don't think it will return to its position once the brake pedal is engaged and released again.

Zero clearance between the pad and rotor is normal -- they should lightly touch.

Follow the advice of Warlock1. You have to carefully inspect the sliding surface of the knuckle to spot the grooves (or notches) and they may be very small, but they are a very common cause of pad lockup.

vikingxj said:

So before I bled them, I popped off the wheel and tire and checked the pads against the rotors. What I saw was practically ZERO clearance between the two. I could spin the rotor a little, but there was so little clearance that it was shearing off the dew that was landing on the rotor out of the air. I think what the problem may be that I need a new caliper as I could compress the caliper piston back into the hole, but I don't think it will return to its position once the brake pedal is engaged and released again.

Click to expand...

The caliper piston will not retract all the way back into the caliper without actually compressing it with a piston compressing tool or big C-clamp. When it is in use on the vehicle, and you let off of the brake pedal, all the caliper does is release the pressure off of the brake pads. It doesn't actually retract the piston. The slight runout of the rotor is what slightly pushes the brake pads away from the surface of the rotor which is enough to allow the rotor to spin. There should be an extremely small amount of drag on any disc brake system. That's just the way it is.

Even if you can physically press the piston back into the caliper with a tool doesn't mean that the flex line is ok.

I would check the knuckle ears for grooves first. If there is none, replace the flex line then go from there.

Did you clean and re grease the caliper slide pins?
If they get cruddy enough, they can cause the.caliper to keep one pad tighter against the rotor

Warlock1 wins the prize. Check for wear and/or fix, the knuckle ear brake pad slides, replace the rubber brake hose, replace the caliper if the first two don't fix the problem

So here is what I did.

I purchased two rebuilt (from NAPA) calipers. I replaced the calipers and put them on and now they are on properly. I then went to bleed the brakes and bled them so that there are no bubbles in the line when the pedal is pressed.

The problem now is that when I push the pedal, there is no resistance and I have to press it all the way to the floor for it to actually brake. Also, when I push the pedal all the way to actually brake, the "BRAKE!" light on the gauge cluster lights up.

The reservoir is full of brake fluid and I bled all of the brakes by starting in the rear right, rear left, front right and finally front left. I have a bleeder tube with a ball check that keeps air and fluid from getting sucked back into the bleeder valve.

I had to pack it in for the evening and now I am contemplating getting a rental car so I can get to work on Monday because I work so early. I am unsure what I am doing improper and need some more advice please.

Thank you.

Just to cover all the bases, don't mean to insult but you did put the replacement calipers on the correct sides? The bleeder screws have to be at the top.

I will have to check in the morning...I am thinking they may be upside down but will double check. No insult taken whatsoever either. I am a n00b when it comes to stuff not mechanical...I appreciate all the help I can get! :worship:

I also heard of something called the "Pedal on pedal off" method. Evidently to properly bleed my brakes I need to keep the pedal depressed when tightening the bleeder screw.

Iv'e put the wrong side on before... guess driver's/passengers side in China is different than in the USA....lol... Autozone brake lines mixed up too....

According to the: Chinacartimes.com; "China drives on the right hand side of the road (steering wheel on the left, like the USA)". You need only to be worried if the parts are made in Australia.., they'd be upside down.

I will check to see where the bleeder valves are. Are they SUPPOSED to be at the top? I am going to check to see where they are.

They need to be at the top, otherwise you will trap air in the system. Same thing for holding pressure as the bleeder is tightened, if you don't it will suck air back in

Although theoretically they seem like they should work, I've never had much luck with those check valve type of bleeders. At best the pedal is still spongy. I chalk it up to when you loosen the bleeder enough to have the brake fluid come out, the bleeder is loose in the threads and I feel as though it sucks air through the threads.

The best way I have found is the old school way.

-Have two people.
-One sits in drivers seat. Other is at brake bleeder.
-Starting at furthest from master cylinder. (RR, LR, RF, LF. Right=passenger side, Left=driver side)
-With brake bleeder closed, have assistant in vehicle pump brake pedal 3 times and then hold pressure down on pedal.
-Open bleeder and let fluid out slow to medium, no need to just open it all the way, and have assistant tell you when pedal hits the floor and tell him to hold it there..
-Close bleeder then have assistant release the pedal and pump it 3 more times and hold pressure down on pedal (just tell them "do it again")and open the bleeder and just keep repeating the cycle until all air in system is gone. then do it 3 more cycles just to make sure. Then move to next wheel.

Very important, keep your eye on the brake fluid level in master cylinder. Do not let it run out or you will have to then bench bleed the master cylinder. You do not want to do that if you don't have to. I try to not let the level go less than 1/2 way down, approx 5 cycles. Also, put the cover back on the Master cylinder while you are bleeding the system. If you don't, brake fluid will splash out of the Master cylinder and make a mess. Brake fluid eats paint!

If you do this correctly you should have a rock hard pedal. Good luck.

Also, did you check the knuckle ears for grooves and did you check the flex lines? You might have bought new calipers when you didn't need to. Although that's fine, it's your money, and sometimes it's good for piece of mind to have new, good stuff.

Thank you Warlock and Souske. I will have my brother help me out in the morning and try and get this done! I can't afford to not have my Jeep up and running for Monday, and I need to finish it before I leave for training...

I maybe didn't need new calipers, but like you said, sometimes peace of mind is worth it ($50).

So what ended up happening was the calipers were on the wrong side. So I switched the calipers to the other side and have the bleeder screws are on the top.

I can't begin to say how important it is to bleed the brakes by pressing until there are no air bubbles and then press the brake all the way down and keep it pressed down while you tighten the bleeder screw. Have someone press the brake pedal down or keep the brake pedal pressed down with a board so it stays at the floor.

PM me if you need any clarification.

vikingxj said:

So what ended up happening was the calipers were on the wrong side. So I switched the calipers to the other side and have the bleeder screws are on the top.

Click to expand...

Yup, certainly helps. Air always rises to the top in liquids.

vikingxj said:

I can't begin to say how important it is to bleed the brakes by pressing until there are no air bubbles and then press the brake all the way down and keep it pressed down while you tighten the bleeder screw. Have someone press the brake pedal down or keep the brake pedal pressed down with a board so it stays at the floor.

Click to expand...

Yes, that is why I wrote that. Been doing it for 36 years. If you were to let up on the pedal before closing the bleeder, you would suck air back into the system.

Now, is it working ok? What was the problem? Grooves in the knuckle ears? Bad flex line? Bad caliper? Inquiring minds want to know.

Warlock1 said:

Yup, certainly helps. Air always rises to the top in liquids.



Yes, that is why I wrote that. Been doing it for 36 years. If you were to let up on the pedal before closing the bleeder, you would suck air back into the system.

Now, is it working ok? What was the problem? Grooves in the knuckle ears? Bad flex line? Bad caliper? Inquiring minds want to know.

Click to expand...

Turns out it was a bad caliper. It wouldn't retract the piston once the brake pedal was no longer being depressed.