E. Brake Issue?

After a short drive I smelled brake dust, and my left rear wheel was warm. I pulled the wheel and had to use a "c" clamp to push caliper piston in a little to be able to remove caliper. Disc pads still had a lot of pad, and the rotor is not grooved or apparently damaged (unless it's warped). I did use the emergency brake on the short trip. Could the e. Brake somehow be dragging on one side? The VX has 87k miles, and the rear brakes were replaced once already. Has anyone had this happen? I did notice that the piston in the caliper seemed stuck. Also, my ABS light has been on for about the last 10k miles. Could this be a factor? Any help/ advice will be appreciated. Thanks.

The ebrake and regular brales are two different beasts. The ebrake is a drum brake within the hump in the center of the rotor where as the brakes are the disc. Several people have had the calipers stick amd had to replace them. If it is your ebrake dragging they can be adjusted through a small hole on the rear of the backing plate uaing a screwdriver.

I've got a sticking rear caliper (passenger side). It eats inner pads for breakfast. I've noticed that the piston is very hard to compress but the slide pins are moving properly. Each time I replace the pad, I exercise the piston 3-4 times for the full travel. It helps for a while but ends up sticking again within a few weeks.

I'm just trying to nurse it along till I can replace all four calipers, rotors, & upgrade to SS lines this spring.

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Originally Posted by avigator

...I did use the emergency brake on the short trip. Could the e. Brake somehow be dragging on one side?

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What you're describing will happen on my car if I use the E-brake. Since it's an automatic like the VX too though, there is rarely an occasion that I absolutely NEED to use the E-Brake, so I simply don't.

When it HAS happened with my car due to someone unaware of the problem using the ebrake, I've had to back the piston/pads off of the rotor using a manual adjustment screw on the back of the caliper. Once I've done that, the brakes have always gone back to operating normally.

That all seems to me to be more of an indication that the mechanical linkages involved are the cause of the problem, but I've never looked into it on the VX, so maybe someone else will be able to chime in on that one.