mstock

Took the ole girl out tonight, pulled into gas station and smelled awful smell. Smelled like a brake pad. Driver side rear whell pretty hot, smelled pretty bad. Took it back home. Pop off the rear driver side wheel, which is hot(still hot after 30 minutes). Smells like break pad. Rotor is hot to touch. Look at pad...pad looks fine. Look at rotor...rotor looks fine. Spin the rotor...rotor spins fine.
Since the rotor seems to spin freely, I am at a loss as to why is it hot, and why does it smell like a burning brake pad. The calipers were all replaced about a year ago, as were the pads...and the rotors. Any idea whats going on here, and how to fix it?
Thanks in advance,
Mark

45ACP

My guesses - a stuck parking brake or your caliper is hanging up intermittently.

mstock

Since I never use the parking brake, it is fairly safe to rule that out. As far as intermittent caliper hang up, whats the solution? Take it out and beat on the breaks for an hour to loosen them up?

bondoboy

If you have a collapsed brake hose, it will cause the brake to drag. These are still available from gm and they are very affordable.

jeckel

Could be a rusty piston in the caliper that is making it stick or hang up. You are going to have to inspect the pistions on the caliper to see how they look. If one is rusty or stuck looking, try to push it in and out to break it free. Might not be easy to break free if it breaks free at all. That is where I would start at least.

1tuffref

I just had a similar problem on my 77 but the right front wheel. It turned out to be a clogged or swollen, over time, rubber brake line. The one connecting the caliper to the hardline. I didn't figure it out until the wheel was braking all of the time and I changed the pads and calipers. If when you did your brakes you didn't do the hoses as well this is where I would start. Pretty inexpensive to replace.