My Brake Saga

[rtuck1]

Hey Guys,

Have not posted in a while but am at a loss at this point and am looking for all opinions and thoughts. This will be lengthy so i apologize in advance.

This all started with rear warped rotors. I took it into a local shop and told them the rotors were warped and i needed to get it fixed prior to driving out to Colorado for a week long trip. The shop replaced 4 pads, both rear rotors, turned the front rotors, and replaced the right front caliper. Went and picked up the truck and everything seemed A'OK. Fast forward about a week (i did not drive the truck during that week) i was heading to Discount Tire to have the tires rotated and balanced for the trip and i noticed the truck had a pretty severe pull to the left upon braking. So i took it to another local shop who i do a lot of business with to diagnose the truck. We discussed and decided it would be best to replace the other three calipers to play it safe. I agreed and they replaced them. Drove the truck, same problem. They took it back in and bled the brakes for 4 hours......took it out....same problem..... so i came and got it. Upon startup everything was fine, when you hit the brakes it stopped nice and even. As the brakes reached operating temp, same story....pulled to the left... At this point i am rather annoyed. I did 2 80-0 MPH stops to really heat up the brakes....after that it stopped straight again....once the brakes cooled to operating temp....back to pulling to the left......This all began AFTER the initial brake service. Does anyone have any thoughts on what on earth could be wrong with it? Master Cylinder? ABS block issues? What would cause this? It seems the Right Front is the issue as it is cooler than the other 3 rotors when we check the temps. I am lost....my departure is supposed to be 4pm tomorrow and doesn't look like that is going to happen. Any help is much appreciated.

Rotor Temps Below after Heavy Braking

LF - 215
RF - 195
RR - 212
LR - 212

 

[Crikeymike]

So it didn't pull one way or the other before the first work was done?

Maybe the first shop didn't bleed/add brake fluid correctly when they changed the caliper. From memory, if you let the master cylinder go dry when bleeding, it could cause damage inside, and not to mention the amount of air that could get inside the line.

Any idea how dirty the old brake fluid was? Maybe it was so bad that when they flushed it through, it pushed contaminants into the system? It still seems odd though.

I don't know/remember how the distribution block is supposed to work.

You were right though, I would have thought it was a stuck caliper.

Maybe the ABS system is freaking and only allowing one front caliper to engage? I don't know how that could happen though or if it's even possible.

 

[gm350reratliff]

It sounds to me like there's something wrong with the right front caliper. I would swap it out to see if the condition improves or stays the same. I would also inspect the brake lines from that caliper all the way to the MC in case a line got pinched somewhere along the way.

 

[nevada]

It sounds to me like there's something wrong with the right front caliper. I would swap it out to see if the condition improves or stays the same. I would also inspect the brake lines from that caliper all the way to the MC in case a line got pinched somewhere along the way.

agreed.
I expect it has already been inspected... but, check to make sure the line didn't get twisted, and kinked when it was installed.


just an FYI, this situation right here is why I say calipers should be changed in pairs....

 

[Brian3676]

Generally, unless you had a awful experience or the 1st shop caused am issue, it's best to take it back to the shop that did the work the first time. Now you have 2 shops to deal with fighting who is responsible for what part of the brake job.

All that said, as others have stated, check the caliper you think is bad. New does not mean it's good.

 

[vastano]

make that 3 for calipers. take the time and just invest in the 5th gen calipers to make sure this doesnt happen anymore.

 

[rtuck1]

Thanks for all the help.

The reason I involved the second shop is because it is one i trust and i had no problem paying for them to fix whatever the first shop managed to screw up. I had only chosen another shop originally because my preferred shop does not handle turning rotors, I did not expect the shop would be replacing a caliper.

Having said that the truck is now fixed. Truly not sure what fixed the issue. Today they replaced the brake pads (again) replaced the front rotors, and replaced the front left brake line (the front left was replaced a few days prior). After completing all of that he spent 4 hours bleeding the brakes. He started at the master cylinder and then the abs block followed by each caliper. Between all of that it now stops like it did the day i bought. My gut feeling is that the system had air in it somewhere more than likely from the first shops attempt at replacing the caliper.

 

[Slowgoat]

Bleeding this system takes some diligence and finesse. Glad you got it figured out. That sounds frustrating.