MacGyver

Yesterday I noticed a strong odor of burning rubber when I got out of my car after a 12 mile ride home from work. Thought it was odd, but dismissed it as one of those smells that appears and then promptly reappears, never to return again.

This morning it was back, so I started sniffing around. It seems to be coming from the driver's rear wheel well. I got my fingers wet with the nearby grass and wiped it onto the brake caliper... the water evaporated quite quickly and the caliper was quite hot for such a short trip (no hard braking at all). I checked the other three calipers and they were only lukewarm.

Sounds to me like a sticking pad (verification, please?)... suggestions on what I can do?

Thanks!

Slows2k

Sounds like the caliper isn't releasing. Either the parking brake lever isn't returning, or the caliper needs to be rebuilt.

MacGyver

That's right, isn't the emergency brake only attached to that one caliper? That's the area I should probably concentrate my search on. Anything in particular I should bang on to get it to release?

Crap, I hate to drive it home like that, but I don't have another car to use, either.

xviper

Ebrake operates both rear calipers.

MacGyver

OK, but there's obviously a separate cable for each caliper at some pointalong the way... maybe the cable on the driver's side is sticking. It's not a hard drag, you can barely notice it and it doesn't noticbly affect the car's speed.

I went for a 2 mile drive during lunchtime to pick up some grub, using almost all engine braking the entire way for turns and such. When I came back, 3 rotors were barely warm to the touch, but the culprit side was so hot it immediately sizzled off the spit on my finger.

I'll be calling AAA in a few to have it towed to Honda...

xviper

Yes, both cables start near the base of the hand lever in the console. The one cable could be seizing or it could be that side's park brake mechanism on the brake caliper that is seizing. Have you tried using the handbrake moderately while driving to see if it will free itself?
I'm just curious if you routinely use the handbrake whenever you park. Lack of use can lead to seizing.

Slows2k

Living on the atlantic coast can do it to, especially on a now 5 year old car.

MacGyver

Yep, 3 Boston winters with all of the requisite salt spreading... my car is part aluminum, part rust.

It's now in Honda's care, they said they'll look at it first thing tomorrow morning. I wonder how long it will take them to say something about the CEL (faulty air pump, need to replace it).

I use the e-brake everytime I park, even on level surfaces, so it shouldn't freeze due to non-use.

Slows2k

I'd bet it's the caliper not returning, not the cable. Especially if you use the e-brake everyday.

You can unhook the cable from the caliper and manually pull the e-brake lever to verify if the calipers retrn spring is returnng the lever. If the levr stays out, it's the caliper. if the lever returns it's the cable.

MacGyver

Assuming it's the caliper in this case, what's the expected repair? I don't know if I cooked the boots or not, but the rubber smell was pretty intense, and it happened twice. I'm also not sure if this warrants a fluid replacement.

I assume the caliper itself is unharmed (being a fat chunk of metal), although a rebuild may be in order. The lines were replaced a few years ago with stainless braided kevlar, so those should be OK. If I'm forced to replace any components, I would imagine the pads and rotor would be the only real problem children. Even then, I'm not so sure heavy enough damage woudl have been done to the rotor to warrant replacement (no warping that I could tell... no shaking during braking).