Brake Problems

"Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras" (jegoingout)
08/18/2016 at 18:02 • Filed to: Halp

About 10 minutes into my drive home I see smoke coming from my rear left wheel. I pull over and see white smoke slowly coming from the top of my caliper. I camp out for 30 or so minutes to make sure it cools and to see if there was anything in between the pads or even on the rotor. I find nothing, hop back in my car, and I don’t see another puff of smoke all the way home.

Any idea what’s up? The brake pedal feel has not changed a bit, even when the smoke was coming out of the caliper.

DISCUSSION (16)

RedlineZ bought an SV (And is getting rid of the z) > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
08/18/2016 at 18:04

Could have seized up the caliper maybe contamination in the brake lines. Happened to me once back when I had my jeep

Echo51 > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
08/18/2016 at 18:04

Could just be a sometimes sticking caliper or similar so they failed to return/release proper. Did you feel any extra drag?

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Echo51
08/18/2016 at 18:06

Didn’t feel a thing different before or after the smoke

e36Jeff now drives a ZHP > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
08/18/2016 at 18:11

Maybe something burnable got stuck in the caliper and it burned off? Or it could be unrelated to the brakes, like oil dripping on a header and it just happened to waft out of the wheel well. I had an issue back in the day where a valve cover gasket would slowly drip oil onto the headers. the smoke could come out of the grill, passenger side wheel well or the base of the windshield depending on the wind, car movement and where exactly the drip fell. The coolest looking option was the front grill as I would come to a stop, light smoke would just come rolling out the kidney grills like a dragon snorting.

just-a-scratch > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
08/18/2016 at 18:15

Remove the wheel and have a good look.

Takuro Spirit > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
08/18/2016 at 19:53

Did it smell like brakes? Because brakes smell. You’ll know a hot brake smell versus something stuck in the brake burning smell.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Takuro Spirit
08/18/2016 at 20:12

It was toxic smelling, if that helps. I’ll side with hot brakes

Takuro Spirit > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
08/18/2016 at 20:26

I have a caliper that sticks for no reason at random times. After a 80mph jaunt down the highway she gets hot and smelly. Once you smell it, there’s no mistaking it... except for burnt clutch. That’s about the same smell.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Takuro Spirit
08/18/2016 at 20:26

any solutions?

Takuro Spirit > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
08/18/2016 at 20:47

Depends on why its sticking. Could be frozen or rusted slides, a bad piston seal, a bad parking brake assembly (if built in like mine is) or cable, a stuck pad or pad slide, a collapsed brake line or hose, or other issues I can’t think of....

Might need just a little lubrication, or might need a new caliper.

Rico > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
08/18/2016 at 21:16

You are defeating Honda reliability myths!

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Rico
08/18/2016 at 21:29

I defeated the Honda reliability myths with my Integra!

McMike > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
08/19/2016 at 08:05

Did you put your hand on the wheel to see if it was hotter than the other?

I had several days of a faint brake smell on one of my cars once. It wasn’t enough of a dragging brake to effect the driveability, but the smell was a giveaway and was pretty consistent as I stepped out of the car.

I felt all the wheels as soon as I got out of car once, and I found out which wheel it was. The LF was definately hotter than the RF.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > McMike
08/19/2016 at 08:06

The Left was no hotter than the R

Forge Crown Victor! > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
08/19/2016 at 12:09

Keep an eye on it and if it happens infrequently, lube the slides and pad contact points with brake grease (not the rotor side just where the backing plate contacts stuff!) Also a thorough cleaning of the caliper and bracket with brake clean and an aluminum or brass wire brush helps a lot. Espicially if high mileage as most shops and DIYers don’t perform this crucial step.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Forge Crown Victor!
08/19/2016 at 12:24

Thanks for the tip. Nothing happened today on my way to work but ill be watching it like a hawk