I just replaced the rear rotors and pads on my 99 Forester. After a short drive the breaks smell hot and are much hotter then the front brakes. Is this normal during the break in period or did I screw something up??? After grinding down the pad ears they are loose in the channels and lubed with a sythetic brake grease. In the past I have had problems with new pads fitting to tightly in the channels and causing heat and warping of the rotors.

The smell is probably from the chemicals on the new pads, I hope you did not grind those ears down much, I have never had to do that on any of my front pads, I have drums on the rear so I dont know if that is a problem or not with the rear disc brakes.

A little more info please.

 

Did you "service" the brakes.

 

Or just slap rotors and pads on?

 

Did you check/lube, etc the sliders?

 

Why were the old pads worn? Like - the inside was shot and the outside pads had a lot left.

I serviced them; cleaned and lubed the channels with brush and also removed channels and wire brushed the caliper where the channels sit. The rotors were pitted and coroded, pads were grooved, put evenly worn. It seams like every time I buy Napa pads they fit too tight.

If you've got everything properly lubed for the slide pins and the thin chrome pad holders, I would wonder if your rear pistons aren't sticking in the bores of the calipers, and not releasing properly when you let off the brake pedal.

 

If you haven't flushed the brake system with new fluid every 3 to 4 years as indicated in the owner's manual, and then bled each caliper, you may well have pistons that are slightly rusted into their bores. If the rubber seals around each piston is ripped the same thing will occur. Definitely worth checking before you burn up the new pads or warp the rotors. Good Luck!

What are the bores???

What are the bores???

 

The bore is the name given to the circular "hole" that the piston slides back and forth inside the caliper.

If you serviced the caliper pins and they are sliding ok, and the pads are not too tight in the caliper brackets, then the next most likely culprit is yes the piston sticking in the caliper bore.

 

Esp. if you had to push the piston back into the bore to get enough clearance for the new rotors and pads. The part of the piston that is outside the piston seal sometimes will get rust or pitted, then when you mash that rusty portion back across the seal it will stick.

 

Here's a diagram that should be similar to your setup for reference:

I will just put a link because it's kind of big

http://www.porcupine73.com/pics/brakes/reardisc00obw2.gif

I have seen oversize pads also. When they stamp the backing the tooling is worn (or was crappy to begin with) and there is a smear of metal where it should have sheared cleanly.

 

We just bought an '05 forester with 30Kmiles and it had a sticky caliper I had the dealer replace before we picked it up- it can happen on something fairly new, and with no outwards signs, sometimes it just happens.

 

 

 

Dave

After looking at the diagram now I know what the pin and pin boot are. However I did not service them. What should I have done????

The pins, you remove them, clean them and the rubber boots, clean where they go in the caliper bracket, then apply a light coat of brake grease to the pins and reassemble. The grease often cooks and gets hard with age and can make them hang up. Keep track of which pin goes where because they are slightly different. If any of the rubber boots are torn replace them; otherwise water will get in there and rust it and you may have to replace the bracket next time.

Clean and lube them.

 

Looking for cracks in the boot, rust/crap on the pin, etc.

 

Take advantage(sort of) of the fact that the car is together.

 

Feel both rims after a drive to make sure it's both sides.

 

You had stated that the pads wore evenly.

 

Almost sounding more like a bad caliper than a problem with the pins/lube, etc.

 

Check to make sure it's both sides.