1997 Chevy Truck Brakes are grabbing

BALLPLAYERMARK

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1997 CHEVROLET TRUCK

Brakes problem
1997 Chevy Truck V8 Two Wheel Drive Automatic 200K miles

This weekend I changed the rotors and pads. When I used a c-clamp to depress the caliper pistons they were very hard to depress. Once everything was back together I took it for a test drive and noticed that the brakes seemed to have a little bit of pressure being applied to the from brakes(the pedal felt fine). After driving for less than 10 minutes on the freeway I noticed smoke from the front-end. Upon stopping, I noticed that the brakes were glowing red hot. I pulled the cover on the brake fluid and noticed that the rubber seal was severely deformed. I assume from excessive temp. Of the fluid.

Any idea what could be causing pressure to be applied?

4 Replies

RASMATAZ

MECHANIC
75,992 POSTS

Could be jammed or corroded caliper piston/s or collasped brake hose

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Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 AT 9:05 AM

BALLPLAYERMARK

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2 POSTS

I replaced the calipers, rotors, and pads, andled the brakes. Prior to putting the wheels on I tried to spin the rotors. Same problem - locked up tight.

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Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 AT 4:20 PM

RASMATAZ

MECHANIC
75,992 POSTS

Do you have ABS

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Thursday, November 13th, 2008 AT 2:44 AM

BALLPLAYERMARK

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Problem solved. I was able to bleed the line at the caliper which released the pressure. I then pumped them back up and bled the line at the master cylinder, which also released the pressure(at this point I knew that everything was ok from the calipers, thru the ABS system, and up to the master cylinder). I then replaced the master cylinder and everything is working perfectly. This seems like an unusual symptom for a master cylinder, as the reverse is usually true (a loss of pressure). Thanks.

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Thursday, November 13th, 2008 AT 1:00 PM