One wheel locking

ROSEY105

MEMBER
2008 MAZDA 3
AUTOMATIC
100,000 MILES

My car has a few symptoms of something wrong, all started recently, they happen inconsistently, but becoming more common: 1) While I am braking, sometimes, my car will have a "chugging" motion. The car still brakes and I do not have to press hard, but I feel like I am being pulled back and forth. 2) Sometimes, while going a moderate to high speed (maybe forty to sixty mph), the car will start to vibrate in a way that feels like the right front wheel is going to fall off. 3) While in neutral, the car will not move forward/backward. It is like it is in park. I am sure that it is the right front wheel and only one wheel that is locked. A mechanic jacked up the car while in neutral and showed how all wheels rotated freely except for that one. My question is, what is causing this? What needs to be replaced? Note: I have also been told my control arm bushing is worn out, but if I replace this, that would not solve the locking problem, would it?

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,916 POSTS

A warped brake rotor will cause the pulsing feeling you described, and a simple machining or replacement will solve that, but a sticking brake will cause that sensation too when you are not applying the brakes. The rotor may be fine, but we have to solve the failure to release. Usually that is caused by a restriction in the hydraulic line, or less commonly, a sticking caliper. Your observation of the car not moving when in "neutral" agrees with your mechanic finding the one wheel locked up.

The hydraulic system needs to be opened at various places to narrow down where the pressurized brake fluid is being trapped. If you can get underneath and open the bleeder screw on the caliper, and it releases, that will prove the caliper is okay. The best suspect is the rubber flex hose at that wheel. If that is where the restriction is, loosening the metal brake lines at the master cylinder will not let the brake release.