oldspackrat

Mother in law asked me to check her rear brakes on her Caddy SUV. I found the brake material had fallen off?? of one of the 4 pads. The steel part was still in the bracket but the actual braking material was totally gone. The other three still had plenty of material left on them. I've done hundreds of brake jobs & am 99.9% sure I did everything right. I replaced the pads & both rotors, being careful to suspend the calipers & not let them fall or hang by the rubber hoses. Everything went back together like it should have & all appeared well. The pistons pushed back in the bore with the usual effort & they were not the kind you have to rotate as you push. After a short test drive & many other miles driven this week it seems the calipers are not releasing & the hub/caliper/rotor/wheel get very hot. I measured with my laser thermometer & once both rotors were over 300 degrees. The sliders moved very freely when I did the job & still do. I find it very odd that both sides seem to be not releasing. I have not worked on many Caddys, am I missing something??

Fun71

Sounds as if the parking brake may be engaged. I have no knowledge of how Caddy rear disc parking brakes work, though.

Carshinebob

Could be just really cheap brake pads. Some of the aftermarket stuff just doesn't work. I've found some that were too thick or just shaped wrong. When I did the brakes on my SRX four years ago, I had no problems and it was the first and only time I ever did SRX brakes. I used NAPA's premium dustless pads. ~BOB

Indy_68_S

Bad/internally collapsed flex line at the rear causing caliper(s) to retain pressure ?
I don't know the SRX. Does it have a single flex line to rearend ? Or ?
Internal (inside the hat) parking brake ? Or uses the calipers ?

Railguy

My 06 ford van has rear disc brakes. But the emergency brakes are shoes inside the discs. Maybe you have problem you can't see.
Railguy

oldspackrat

Hi all,
Thanks for the replies. I went ahead & bought 2 rebuilt calipers & compared the resistance of the piston being pushed in between new & old. New, I could push in with my thumbs(after using low shop air pressure to push piston out about 3/4"). Not super easy but definitely not hard. The old pistons I had to use a large set of channel locks & quite a bit of force. I pulled the boot back on the old ones & did not see any corrosion or leakage but went ahead & replaced the calipers anyway. Took it for a short drive & when I got back I touched the rotors & they were barely warm. Problem seems to be solved. Oh also before I replaced the calipers, I loosened the connection at the brake hose at the caliper & the bleeder screw after stepping on the brakes. I did not see any high pressure release of brake fluid which helped me confirm that the piston was simply pushing out in the bore & not wanting to go back in.