Brake stuck

I am having an issue with the driver's side front brake on the Colony Park (disc brakes). I pulled the tire off and can see that the brake pad is sticking to the rotor. The rest of the brakes are functioning normally and the brake pedal is not sloppy...I do not see evidence of any fluid leaking. I remember seeing a receipt that the previous owner had brake work done about 20,000 miles ago, so they are not ancient. I am assuming that something is causing it to hang up and not release completely. I'm not really sure where to start....this is the first time I will be fooling with a brake job. I'm wondering if something may just need to be lubed, or if I need to start disassembling. Any advice would be appreciated....thanks! Mike

 

Check the rubber hose going to that brake. Possibly a bad hose that has compressed holding the fluid in the caliper. Or a bad caliper it'self not releasing.

 

X2 on that Mike! It has to be one or the other, Jer

 

Generally when this happens the caliper is not "floating" which is usually a problem with the caliper slide not having lube. Basically the caliper is not moving as the steering turns and moves the rotor back and forth. The caliper must be removed and the slide greased with caliper grease, normally your local parts store will have a small package of caliper grease, it doesn't take much.

Cats right too check the brake hose over carefully, if the outside shows cracking or dry rot it should be replaced as well.

 

X3 on the brake hose or a bad caliper/hanging piston. The calipers are supposed to almost touch the rotor at all times, talking a few thousands clearance. The front wheel should turn freely with just a slight or no drag. Crack the bleeder on that caliper for just a split second then close it and if the brake releases it's the hose or something down the line. If it's only one side I'd bet on the hose or caliper.
The caliper bracket attaches to the steering knuckle and turns with the wheels. Turning has no effect on the relation of caliper to rotor unless you have too much side play in the wheel because of bad wheel bearings or a spindle nut that isn't tightened to specs.
You can't tell if the hoses are bad by looking at them, old hoses can look fine visually. If they're old or you don't know they're history you replace them.
Worn out brake hoses expand and when you release the brakes the fluid pressure from the collapsing hose goes to the piston and basically applies the brake.

 

Yes ! Open the bleeder. If the wheel turns it's a collapsed hose. Replace both of them. Don't ask why!
If the wheel does not turn the caliper is hanging up.
Both easy fairly cheap fixes.

 

As a matter of routine, I replace the flex lines every 8 to 10 years. The fronts are about $17 each, and the rear is about $25. All are readily available, too. Lubricating the sliders is as simple as pulling a bolt, using the proper lubricant on it, and putting the bolt back in. On these cars, the m9unting bold is the slider, and should one be damaged, they are readily available as well, for about $10 per wheel. All these prices are in Canadian dollars, at Canadian prices which seem to be higher than U.S. prices even with the dollar close to par.

 

The rubber hose does not have to look bad, or be weather cracked or split.

i have seen perfect appearing hoses be bad on the inside. On the other hand i've seen brand new hoses split and rip after a few weeks on the OUTSIDE lol.

 

Thanks for the info everyone. I watched a decent video last night on youtube which showed how to remove and lubricate the slider pins on the calipers. Checking/replacing the hose seems easy enough as well so hopefully we'll be in good shape after a couple of hours and some minor cursing. I will check back in after I take a closer look.

 

I have replaced the rubber brake line, upon closer inspection, the outside of the line was cracking. I nudged open the bleeder before removing it, and that did not release the pad. The fluid started coming out immediately.

I also removed the caliper pins and greased them. They came out relatively easily. I cleaned the pins gently with a wire brush and wiped them down. I coated them with the grease and worked them back and forth in the holes. I repeated that process several times. The break pad still seems to be sticking. I took off the other front tire to compare how the brakes look and you can definitely see the slight gap when the pad releases on the passenger side. I got my wife to step on and off the brake pedal so I could see what it looked like. The drivers side is still not really showing any movement.

Any suggestions as to where I should go from here? I did not completely remove the caliper when I was cleaning the pins. Is that necessary? Is there some other moving part that I need to check?

 

Based on what you have done/said and myself experienced the same problem with my daughters Mustang (now sold) replaced both front calipers. It's got to be the piston sticking.....replace and replace both sides

 

Gotta be rusted, frozen up, caliper pistons. Rebuilt they are not really expensive and not a real difficult job to do. Just don't let them hang by the hose or you may need another new hose. Use a coat hanger or bungee cord to hang the caliper.

 

Agreed, times 2 with Tedy. Replace the calipers. They are quite inexpensive and since the sliders are freshly lubricated the job should be a snap. Also, ALWAYS do both sides at the same time even if the other one looks good. They are (hopefully) the same age,, so the second will begin to hang up soon. Also, look carefully at the brake pads. You may want to slap in a new set while you are there. Chances are the existing pads are now uneven between the sides, so one side will begin grinding before the other. Keep in mind, too, the pads for these Fords do not seem to have the wear indicators in them, so unless you look, your first sign of trouble is metal on metal, which means new discs at that point for sure.

 

I would get the loaded calipers. They are usually cheaper than buying all of the parts separately.

Also I tried looking at Rock Auto, but for some reason 85 doesn't list a Colony Park. Huh??? Is it me?

 

The brake pad steel is a stamping, and sometimes the stamping isn't exact. I have found on my Ford Explorers, that If I take a slight amount off the steel, that they fit better to the caliper, and they don't cock in the caliper and wear unevenly. The brake pads are intended to "float" in the caliper so there is a slight amount of room for expansion from the heat that is generated by the braking action.
As for the sliding action of the caliper, both the pin and bushings must be clean and lubricated for them to work properly. Disc brakes are relatively easy to work on, however, there are some aspects of the installation that are missed because either the person doing the job doesn't know about them or they just don't care. Same for doing drum brakes. This is why so often people say that the car doesn't stop like it did when new, even though they just spent a lot of money to have the brake components replaced.
Not disagreeing with previous posters about the caliper being bad, or possibly the hoses. Just wanted to add some additional information so this post benefits everyone reading it.