brake slip pins / caliper drag

[kisenor]

Hi Folks.

This is my first post as I've recently acquired a wonderful '01 Insight m/t with 90 Km. I've been a follower of the posts and found a very useful one on reconditioning an EGR which totally solved a hesitation problem I was having.

Anyway, sometime ago iTrekker (John) had mentioned something about corroded brake slip pins. I was wondering if anyone was familiar with that topic as I'm having an issue with the passenger front brake. After moderate use it squeaks quite loudly for a time, yet after cool down the squeaking goes away but returns in stop and go traffic. I'm wondering if I'm getting a seized caliper or if it is something else. The reason I ask is that my fuel economy isn't quite what it should be. (h/w 4.6 l/100km @ 100/110 kph)

Any assistance would be appreciated.

BTW, I absolutely love my Insight - what an awesome car! (but then again you folks already know that )

[Guillermo]

Right after driving for a while, feel the temperature of the rim near the center (but not the plastic center cap) and compare it with the temperature of other rims. If the brake is dragging it will be warmer then the others.
Also remove the wheel and inspect the brake pad material thickness. You will likely need to rotate the caliper out of the way to get a look at the inner pads.
If the caliper is getting stuck one or more of the 4 front pads will be worn on one side more then the other.
If this is the case buy new front pads (if your rotors are original this is a good time to replace them as well), buy special extreme high tempeture grease desiged for brake service. Remove old pads, clean calipers and the sheet metal surfaces where the pads slide, and lubricate the piston boot slidders and assemble again, and bleed the brakes with new brake fluid. Reference the service manual for detailed insctructions.

A very important but mostly overlooked part of brake maintenance is to apply maximum braking power from 50 mile/hour to 5 miles/hour a few times per month. This will ensure the pads are positioned properly on the caliper, the full surface of the pad is contacting the rotors and the rotor surface is roughed up.
Religously using the brakes lightly and never braking hard causes the rotors to get polished to a mirror finish and increases the chances that the pads to get worn unevenly. When the time comes that the brakes are required to avoid a collision the braking performance will be much worse then neccessary.
A few day a month I'm an in-car instructor at a collision avoidance car control school. In the braking exercises I have experienced that many cars and trucks have terrible brakes that improve to be reasonable level after the hard braking exercise is repeated 3 or 4 times.

[Insightful Trekker]

Hi kisenor and welcome to the forum

While sticky brake slip pins can cause squeaking the type of friction material the brake pads are made of, the correct usage of any factory designed anti squeak shims, and the surface condition of the rotors are all a major factor too.

Sounds like a brake inspection by your trusted mechanic is in order. The slip pins and pin boots (keeps the water out) can also be easily inspected and cleaned / replaced as needed.

The inspection charge should be minimal (IMO 1/2 hour) and the amount should be applicable to any additional repairs needed by the brakes while the calipers are partially disassembled for this inspection.

HTH!

[Scott]

I had the same problem with a dragging caliper on my 02 CVT. It was the same wheel as you describe, the passenger front, specifically the inner pad. I was getting a scraping noise (wear indicator) after only 45K miles. When I went to replace the pads, it was only the inner front passenger that was completely worn. The other 3 pads had quite a bit of brake pad left. Ended up replacing the rotors also and I'll need to keep a check on that caliper/pad.