I just put new brakes on my truck and didn’t replace the rotors, there’s metal shavings smell when I park but the rust on the rotors are being removed. Is the smell likely because of the rust removal, or because the calipers won’t release? Or?
Yup, could be both. If we knew more about what you were working besides “truck” we might be of more help.
05 Ford explorer sport Trac
If the calipers aren’t releasing do I just take it all apart and reassemble it? The brakes I mean
You can rebuild the calipers yourself but if the insides of the calipers are pitted with rust, a rebuilt one is a better bet since you won’t really be able to fix it yourself. You also need to check to see if the slides are free. Sticking slides can cause a brand new pad to rub when it isn’t supposed to.
First You need to determine IF one or more calipers are sticking. Drive the truck around the block a few times and feel if one wheel is hotter than the other. The hot side has the sticking part.
Additionally an really rusty rotor will carve its way into your brand new pads and cause a smell as well a bugger up a perfectly good set of pads.
And finally, a brake hose might have failed internally (especially a 13 year old one) and need replacing. Again, go to the hot caliper and crack the bleed screw. If fluid shoots out ad the caliper releases, the hose is bad.
Thought you were just going to Pad Slap this thing and go on with life, right? Murphy’s Law strikes again!
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Did you remove the sliders and clean and grease them before you assembled it???
The sliders must move freely.
You may have to replace the caliper. Once they stick you can rebuild them, but for the low cost of a new caliper it doesn’t pay.
Because the truck IS 13 years old, you could have a flexible brake line that is delaminating from the inside and acting as a check valve. I would just replace the flexible line along with the the caliper.
Yosemite
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Ok there may be a lil misunderstanding here. First off I’m no mechanic, I’m a novice with lil knowledge.i changed my brakes and there’s a metal shaving smell now. I have changed brakes before so I’m not all together clueless. But both sides seam farely hot. Warm but after 3 seconds burns. You think I may need to just do it over again and check results?
If the wheels or calipers are getting so hot they nearly burn your skin after a 2 mile drive with little to no braking going on, I’d say you’re going to have to disassemble the brakes on the wheels involved for a look see. Remove the caliper and make sure it is sliding on the rails smoothly is the first thing to check. If it isn’t sliding on those rails freely this could occur. The calipers piston(s) binding in their bore is a common cause too.
I’ve never noticed any odor after replacing brake pads. The only time I noticed an odor involving brakes was many years ago when a shop (a chain store repair place) replaced brake shoes on my truck. For some reason they adjusted them far too tight, and after driving about 2 miles after leaving the shop I notice a definite odor, so I pulled off the road. Both front wheels were smoking they were so hot! When I called up the shop to ask what to do, they said “just drive it for a while and eventually they’ll stop smoking” … lol … unfortunately I followed this advice and promptly warped the brake drums.
Always replace the brake rotors when replacing pads.New brake pads need more time to mate an old rotor surface that is uneven.The smell could be caused by that.
Not intending to be harsh but THIS is the time to visit an actual mechanic!
Learning by working on your own car is great but… driving is optional, stopping is not! Brakes are not the DIY project start with, it is one that you tackle when you’ve learned a bit more.
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were pads worn alot? so the pistons were fully extended? did you crack open the bleeder screw before you pushed the pistons back into their bores? or push the old cruddy brake fluid back into the system?
You may not be clueless, but you may be missing a few critical steps to doing the job correctly.
Even seasoned Do it yourselfers may learn from this short video.
Follow these steps and you will have an easier job and the job will last longer.
Yosemite