najel
Veteran Member
Hello!
I have read that there seems to be a fairly common issue with the dragging driver's side rear brake. I think I have this issue.
I noticed a drop in FE from 48 to 45 or so. One issue I noticed was that two tires had a slow leak. The other issue is that the left rear wheel seems to drag a bit. After a drive, it felt warmer than the others, and it is noticably harder to turn by hand than the other side.
I cleaned up the caliper and greased it (pads were rusted stuck) and the pins seemed fine to me, there was plenty of grease in there. I noticed that the parking brake lever does not return all the way (maybe 1/8 inch gap between it and the stop). Pushing it manually does not make a difference. I backed up the PB cable and it is not without tension at rest, and the wheel is difficult to turn after 6 or so clicks. Still no change.
This caliper is an aftermarket unit and was replaced around 180k miles due to leaking brake fluid according to previous owner's notes (now 220 k miles on the car).
I think I will just replace the caliper with a new TRW unit (those are OEM supplier, right?). I can get those for about $60. Does this sound like a reasonable plan, or am I missing something?
I have read that there seems to be a fairly common issue with the dragging driver's side rear brake. I think I have this issue.
I noticed a drop in FE from 48 to 45 or so. One issue I noticed was that two tires had a slow leak. The other issue is that the left rear wheel seems to drag a bit. After a drive, it felt warmer than the others, and it is noticably harder to turn by hand than the other side.
I cleaned up the caliper and greased it (pads were rusted stuck) and the pins seemed fine to me, there was plenty of grease in there. I noticed that the parking brake lever does not return all the way (maybe 1/8 inch gap between it and the stop). Pushing it manually does not make a difference. I backed up the PB cable and it is not without tension at rest, and the wheel is difficult to turn after 6 or so clicks. Still no change.
This caliper is an aftermarket unit and was replaced around 180k miles due to leaking brake fluid according to previous owner's notes (now 220 k miles on the car).
I think I will just replace the caliper with a new TRW unit (those are OEM supplier, right?). I can get those for about $60. Does this sound like a reasonable plan, or am I missing something?