Will worn brake pads cause drag? Help.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 293
Likes: 2
From: Atlanta Georgia
Will worn brake pads cause drag? Help.
I got in my 06 Z06 last night to leave and when I went to move, there was significantly more drag than usual. The car would not roll down a slight hill with it in neutral or clutch disengaged. The drag was on and off, sometimes it would roll, other times it would not. Along with the drag, there was an ear-piercing screech (similar to loud brake squealers). I limped home (three miles) at 10 mph while frequently stopping to check everything. The left rear rotor became very hot despite me not using the brakes really at all. The right rear rotor remained fairly cool. My first thought was possibly wheel bearing. I pulled the wheel, caliper and rotor off this morning to find no obvious problem. With everything off, hub rotates fairly smoothly. The only thing that I noticed is that the brake pads were worn pretty low and the squealers might have been getting into the rotors. This could possibly explain the screech but I dont know why it would cause the drag. I put everything back together and the problem seems gone but Im sure that it is still there. Can anyone give me any ideas as to what my problem might be? Would pads cause this?
Thanks,
Josh
Thanks,
Josh
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 41,058
Likes: 9,821
From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Worn pads would cause the squealers to make noise but they shouldn't cause drag. The only way you are going to get brake drag (and it sounds like there might be a problem) is due to a caliper problem. With a 4 piston fixed caliper it only takes one piston to sieze and you would get a pad jammed against the rotor heating it up and possibly squealing like hell. I would check the left rear caliper for problems with the pistons, etc. Depending on how dirty the caliper is a pad might get hung up on the pad guide bolts.
When the right front caliper on my Tahoe froze up there was quite a loud squealing sound while I was driving.
Bill
When the right front caliper on my Tahoe froze up there was quite a loud squealing sound while I was driving.
Bill
