My Caliper Siezed at 21K

Sean · **Posted:** Fri Apr 14, 2006 7:25 am

Cliff Notes: At 21K miles, my rear caliper siezed up

Well Tuesday evening I heard a moaning noise in the rear as I pulled into my apartment, I got out, and it smelled somewhat sweet, an unusual strong odor. Well I figured if it did it again I would take it to the dealer. So I am about to get on the expressway and I hear the noise again, and I had noticed at that same time that it wouldnt idle forward (automatic trans, at a stoplight) with my foot off the brake unless I gave it gas... weird right?
So I take it to the dealer, they look at it right away for me, as I was loaded up with gear going home from school.
So they do a brake inspection and find that my right rear (passenger side rear) caliper was siezed up, my brake pad was burnt up and if I had driven much further, it could have melted the brake line attached to the caliper, and as the service manager put it, "spraying brake fluid, which is flammable, all over your rotor, caliper and pad... causing it to start on fire" Luckily he said it would be covered under warranty, minus the pads I am assuming.
Well, it was Thursday night when I took it in, and they said they couldnt get the part until monday morning. talked to the mechanic, and he said he had seen it "a couple" times before on the liberty, but it wasnt something that he thought was excessive. The dealer said it would be ok to drive back 5 miles back to my apartment so I could unload.

One question I have:
Should I try to have them replace pads / rotors under warranty also (atleast on the one side) because the failed part caused excessive wear on the pad/rotor?

I post this here so everyone remembers the importance of getting your brakes checked every so often, and if there is a noise, its better to get it checked than not.
Looking back I had two clear signs of a problem: A noise and an odor.
If unsure, it doesnt hurt to get it checked anyway.. a half hour or hour at the dealer is better than having something worse happen while on the expressway.

05kjrenny · **Posted:** Fri Apr 14, 2006 8:20 pm

same thing happened to me two weeks ago ,right rear caliper locked up at 14000 miles on 05 renny, dealer has to cover rotor and pads because caliper failed and messed up other parts

Albert · **Posted:** Fri Apr 14, 2006 8:50 pm

Wow................Good thing that didn't cause a fire or worse. It's good that the dealer is covering it all. Thanks for the heads up. Glad no one was hurt.

valvestem · **Joined:** Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 222

Sean wrote:

Cliff Notes: At 21K miles, my rear caliper siezed up

Well Tuesday evening I heard a moaning noise in the rear as I pulled into my apartment, I got out, and it smelled somewhat sweet, an unusual strong odor. Well I figured if it did it again I would take it to the dealer. So I am about to get on the expressway and I hear the noise again, and I had noticed at that same time that it wouldnt idle forward (automatic trans, at a stoplight) with my foot off the brake unless I gave it gas... weird right?
So I take it to the dealer, they look at it right away for me, as I was loaded up with gear going home from school.
So they do a brake inspection and find that my right rear (passenger side rear) caliper was siezed up, my brake pad was burnt up and if I had driven much further, it could have melted the brake line attached to the caliper, and as the service manager put it, "spraying brake fluid, which is flammable, all over your rotor, caliper and pad... causing it to start on fire" Luckily he said it would be covered under warranty, minus the pads I am assuming.
Well, it was Thursday night when I took it in, and they said they couldnt get the part until monday morning. talked to the mechanic, and he said he had seen it "a couple" times before on the liberty, but it wasnt something that he thought was excessive. The dealer said it would be ok to drive back 5 miles back to my apartment so I could unload.

One question I have:
Should I try to have them replace pads / rotors under warranty also (atleast on the one side) because the failed part caused excessive wear on the pad/rotor?

I post this here so everyone remembers the importance of getting your brakes checked every so often, and if there is a noise, its better to get it checked than not.
Looking back I had two clear signs of a problem: A noise and an odor.
If unsure, it doesnt hurt to get it checked anyway.. a half hour or hour at the dealer is better than having something worse happen while on the expressway.

I had my rear rotors seize on the way home one day @ about 34,000k. Solution: new rotors, new pads, new e-brake linings, new e-brake pivot pins. Cost: unbelievable.

My Caliper Siezed at 21K

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