My brakes caught FIRE!! HELP please!! PICS ADDED!

[colinsmx3]

OK So get this....
I buy the EBC Green pads that are good up to around 500c.... I swap out my old OEM pads for the green stuff on Monday... Then I drive around with no problem... Park the car for the night drive to work no problems, go out get lunch come back to work no problems, drive home.... I made it about 20 min into the drive when all the sudden I started smelling burning brakes... I thought "ohh maybe it's just the break in crap comming off.... I then stopped at a stop light.... and WOOOOSSSSSHHHHHH a HUGE cloud of brake smoke comes over the car and my right rear caliper is ablaze... on fire.... I made a left and pulled over and couldnt even touch the RIM it was so hot... glowing rotor.... And the paint on my caliper is all bubling and the pad is melted on the edges.... So I let it sit for a few and limped it home (I was only about 3 khms away) I got home PISSED OFF, jacked the car up and could still turn the wheel as if nothing happend. So I said OK I will put the OEM pad on and make sure the caliper is not stuck. I could twist it in and out with no problem!! Ebrake was not stuck at all, engages and dissengages fine.

I drive to work today.... SAME THING caliper is smoking by the time I get to work!! I never used the ebrake at all, I could even stick a screw driver and move the pads on the shims so I knew they wernt stuck!!

ANYBODY know what the hell could have got bad with a simple brake job???
I should just let it burn to the ground and got the insurance money!

ALL other pads are fine and not hot... I then had to bring out the 323 winter car a month early today so I can get home!

Top pad was the outer pad which obveously caught fire....

Bubbly!!



Musta been pretty hot since there rated to 500c....

[rece]

sounds like you have a caliper that is stuck or seized. the new pads were larger than the old and were in continuous contact with the rotor. I had this happen once and not so much a fire, but the rim and rotor were blazing hot and red.

pretty sure you should replace the rotor anyways as that type of heat is not going to be good for it.

[onlytrueromeo]

Sounds like stuck caliper. When is the last time you serviced them? Rotor is shot now, pads probably are too. (glazing).

I'd replace the caliper (you can attempt a rebuild, but I don't know if that much heat weakened the metal) and do a full brake bleed.

[colinsmx3]

OK..... So how can the caliper be seized when you can still turn it in with no resistance and turn it out on the piston with no resistance??? And the new pads were NOT larger as they were the same size as the OEM ones that I removed since I just needed fronts but did all 4.

[onlytrueromeo]

It's not just the piston that can get stuck, but the bolts that hold the caliper together/to the hub assembly. If they are corroded, or the grease has dried out, it could prevent the caliper from disengaging properly. It's either that, or something is horribly wrong with your proportioning valve or something...which I don't think is the case.

Maybe try jacking up the car and having someone push down the pedal while you watch the brake assembly (with it attached)

[colinsmx3]

Well the odd thing is the slider bolt had an ample amount of grease on it and tame apart just fine with no rust and the caliper pivoted just fine... I am taking it to a buddy place who is a Mechanic and he's gonna try and figure it out.

[93vtecklr]

I'm sorry to hear that colin, you should almost start a "Weirdest Think To Happen To Your Car" thread.

[Mooneggs]

yeah definately a weird scenario... the closest thing that happened to me like this was in the middle of winter, some condesation got into my e-brake cable and froze. When I released the e-brake, the left rear side did not release and I drove on it for a few miles when I noticed it felt like something was dragging. I banged on the cable and caliper with a hammer and it finally released.

If the wheel spins freely that definately is weird since it seems the sliders would prevent that... hope you get it figured out and let us know what the conclusion is!

[_-Night-Shade-_]

Did you check your brake fluid after? Maybe the caliper is leaking...

[onlytrueromeo]

Leaking brake fluid would mean no pressure, not higher pressue.

This is odd.

[wytbishop]

Something is rubbing somewhere...it has to be to create that kind of heat. The floating pins may be siezed so the caliper is not flating back after an application and just rubbing slightly. If it was rubbing hard you would feel it when driving. So it's just dragging enough to generate a bunch of heat.

[marcdh]

hmm that heat build up has happened to me twice. Once was a wheel bearing the second was stuck piston in the caliper. Strangely on both occasions the wheel felt normal enough to rotate when jacked.

[mitmaks]

I'd put car on jack stand and take wheel off and turn it on and see where it's binding.

[Ryan]

was the body damaged at all? was this the show car?

[93vtecklr]

Ya it's the show car, I don't see the body being damaged by smoke. I sure hope not at least. I agree with mitmaks, get er up in the air.