Oh forgot to mention, you MAY have to bleed the ABS brake control module (HECU). That requires an ODB2 scanner that can command the HECU into the brake bleeding procedure. When that happens, it will sound like a small air tire compressor or nebulizer clicking on & off several times. When it's done it will automatically stop indicating the HECU has been successfully calibrated & no air in the ABS module.

Hopefully you don't have to do that.

 

If you were in TX 2hrs away from me, I'd go help you.

 

I'm out of this one.

 

OMG what an idiot!

The mechanic told me that the front brakes look good. That I did a great job cleaning them up and installing them. He said the guide pins move fine, they move freely enough and are not hindering the movement of the floating caliper. He said he was actually impressed how well I did for an amateur, and that I used the same exact brake grease (Permatex Ceramic Extreme) that they use. This was all very satisfying to hear because lord knows I spent enough time on this.

They drove the car and OF COURSE, could not hear the same grinding and squealing that I heard. Ugh. They braked hard a few times and drove around for a while and did not detect any more heat coming from the right rotor as opposed to the left one. As it turns out the front right caliper is not seizing or dragging as I thought it was.

The grinding noise is coming from the REAR BRAKES, because they are completely worn down to the wear tab on the pads. I have not yet replaced the rear brakes, because I was so preoccupied with the issues on the front brakes that I wanted to resolve them before moving on to the rear brakes. They said there's nothing to do or fix with the front brakes. I am picking the car back up this afternoon. The rear pads and rotors have 125k miles on them, they were the factory installed equipment.

All this time I thought it was the front right brakes making the noise. You guys gotta cut me some slack, it's my first brake job ever, and sometimes, some things that are obvious to someone with lots of experience, will not be as obvious as someone with no experience.

I asked the mechanic if I successfully installed the fronts, will it be just as easy working on the rears, because the rears have some extra components and whatnot with the parking brake.

He said you just need a piston retracting tool to work on the rears, for the parking brake. I said I've already got one!

Man what a relief. I'm going to install the rears this weekend.

Thanks for putting up with me guys! I appreciate it. Hopefully all this information is helpful to some newbies out there.

 

So I've been driving for 2 days with the new brakes.

I'm getting lower gas mileage, and the car decelerates quite a bit more than normal, like when coasting.

I'm wondering, that these new pads are very thick, do I need to wear them down a bit to stop from rubbing the rotor while driving?

I've noticed, the front left wheel lugnuts get very warm, but the front right wheel lugnuts are very hot when I touch them.

Is this part of the bedding process?

I have read many reddit posts about "hot rims, hot lugnuts, after installing new pads and rotors"

The mechanic I took the car to said the front right wheel is not having caliper sticking issues. They also told me, after driving the car that the front right wheel wasn't any hotter than the front left.

However, after driving for a few hours today, I can confirm the front right wheel gives off way more heat than the front left.

It seems that the front right wheel pads are rubbing the rotor while driving. I'm not sure if it's because the pads are very thick and need to wear a little bit, or if it's part of the bedding process.

I have actually never had a car long enough to purchase new rotors and pads, so this is unexplored territory for me.

These pads have a larger friction surface area than the old ones, so the new pads will generate far more heat than the old ones.

Perhaps this is just how carbon kevlar pads operate? The braking power is impressive. They bite very well even though they haven't been bedded in completely yet.

It's just obvious that the front right wheel generates way more heat than the front left.

Another thought is that because my rear pads are nearly completely worn out, there may be very little braking power coming from the rear, so maybe the front pads are working extra hard to slow the car down, perhaps that is why they're so hot?

I ordered a laser thermometer on Amazon to see the temperature difference between the 2 wheels.

Tomorrow I will jack up the car and spin the wheels to see if anything is dragging. Should I put the car in neutral first?

Gosh this is frustrating.

If I'm going to diagnose this caliper dragging problem I should start with the easiest repairs, such as the brake hose. If that doesn't make a difference, then I may consider buying a new piston, seal, and boot for that caliper.

Does it make sense that brand new pads and rotors would result in one of the pads sticking on the rotor?

 

If vehicle is FWD, raise the front engage E brake & set gear in neutral. Chock wheels for added safety

If vehicle is RWD, raise the rear set gear in neutral, disengage E brake, chock the front wheels for added safety

If vehicle is 4x4, select your repair/affected (front or rear) raise affected set gear in neutral, chock unaffected wheels for added safety

If vehicle is FWD manual, raise front engage E brake, set gear in neutral chock rear wheels for added safety

If vehicle is RWD manual, raise the rear disengage E brake set gear in neutral Chock front wheels for added safety

If vehicle is AWD, raise entire vehicle, set gear in neutral

 

 

 

Re-check the guide pins, make sure they're still sliding freely. If not, clean them up and re-lube them. If they are sliding freely, just replace the caliper. You mention rebuilding it, but that might cause more headache.

 

is this the right way to diagnose whether the problem is the brake hose, or the piston?



# 3 have someone push and release the brake pedal . Try to spin the rotor . If it is stuck , remove the bleed screw dust cap & loosen the bleeder screw . If it starts to rotate easy , the brake hose is bad .

If it stays stuck , the caliper is bad & needs replacing .

 

When I call the Kia dealership to ask how much parts are, I have noticed a pattern that the parts are always about exactly TWICE as much as the parts on kiapartsnow.com

$100 for a brake hose at the dealership, $48 at kiapartsnow.com

On top of that the dealership never has these parts in stock, they have to order them and it takes a few days.

 

I've been reading about how to recondition/rebuild a caliper. It doesn't look too difficult. I read about a cool trick to use a rod or 2x4 to wedge against the brake pedal, to depress the brake pedal about an inch or so, this will prevent brake fluid from leaking out the brake hose when I disconnect it from the caliper.

I think the biggest challenge I face is popping out the piston from the caliper, in the event it's rusty and doesn't want to come out. I don't have an air compressor, obviously, but people have mentioned to use the cars hydraulic system to simply pop the piston out. So I need to remove the caliper and then go press on the brake pedal hard enough to pop out the piston. Does that sound about right?

 

I've been reading about how to recondition/rebuild a caliper. It doesn't look too difficult. I read about a cool trick to use a rod or 2x4 to wedge against the brake pedal, to depress the brake pedal about an inch or so, this will prevent brake fluid from leaking out the brake hose when I disconnect it from the caliper.

I think the biggest challenge I face is popping out the piston from the caliper, in the event it's rusty and doesn't want to come out. I don't have an air compressor, obviously, but people have mentioned to use the cars hydraulic system to simply pop the piston out. So I need to remove the caliper and then go press on the brake pedal hard enough to pop out the piston. Does that sound about right?

Make sure if you're going to use the vehicle hydraulic brake system to push out the caliper piston bore, that you have something or a brake pad to catch it. It will be under extreme pressure. Keep your fingers away.

 

Yes I've seen people recommend to put a piece of wood there.

Have an assistant at the brake pedal so you can deal with caliper piston bore extraction.

Yes, a piece of wood will do. Make sure it's thin & strong enough to allow piston bore to fully slide out. Hence why I said used a brake pad. If you have the old ones, use that instead.

 

Have an assistant at the brake pedal so you can deal with caliper piston bore extraction.

Yes, a piece of wood will do. Make sure it's thin & strong enough to allow piston bore to fully slide out. Hence why I said used a brake pad. If you have the old ones, use that instead.

if the piston slams against the brake pad, is there any chance of damaging the piston?

 

Rear brake day. Service manual wasn't specific enough about how to remove all the parking brake crap but I eventually figured it out. And I think I have the correct adapter in order to twist and push the Piston back in.

 

You guys like my setup? Happy Pride month lol.

 

I always just use a pair of appropriately-sized needle-nose pliers to get rear pistons back in.

When dealing with the parking brake/drum setup, it's good to either take a picture, or do 1 side at a time so you can reference the other side.

Make sure the shoes are adjusted correctly too before putting it back together, else you may get some drag or it won't engage fully.

 

I'm not even touching the shoes, I'm just taking the rotor off and putting on a new one.

 

When I'm pushing the Piston back in should I remove the cap from the brake reservoir and or open the bleeder valve?

 

Some say yes, others say no.

The building/built up pressure may cause fluid to leak from cap building pressure therfore getting a brake fluid facial.

Also removing the cap will any air trapped will travel back up & "burp itself out. Refill brake fluid reservoir & bleed the brakes.

MAKE SURE TO BLEED THE BRAKES

 

Does this look like sufficient lubrication for a slide pin?

 

I always remove the brake fluid reservoir cap when I push the pistons in when replacing pads. Don't open the bleeder. I just did this today when I replaced the front pads on my girlfriend's 2017 Cadenza. The dealer quoted $430 for doing this job. I bought Bendix pads for $50 and got the job done and cleaned up in under an hour.

When I rebuilt the calipers on my 300zx turbo, I used a bicycle pump as the air pressure source to pop the pistons out of the calipers. Worked like a charm.

If you open the brake system for any reason, I recommend installing speed bleeders. It makes it super easy to bleed the brakes by yourself.

 

I always remove the brake fluid reservoir cap when I push the pistons in when replacing pads. Don't open the bleeder. I just did this today when I replaced the front pads on my girlfriend's 2017 Cadenza. The dealer quoted $430 for doing this job. I bought Bendix pads for $50 and got the job done and cleaned up in under an hour.

When I rebuilt the calipers on my 300zx turbo, I used a bicycle pump as the air pressure source to pop the pistons out of the calipers. Worked like a charm.

If you open the brake system for any reason, I recommend installing speed bleeders. It makes it super easy to bleed the brakes by yourself.

I did install speed bleeders a week ago and proceeded to bleed the system. I just finished installing rear brakes and they seem to work well, I mean I haven't yet driven on them but it went well, the pistons retracted easily.

My problem is the front right piston, doesn't retract upon releasing the brake pedal. I spent a week driving on this stuck piston and it wore down like 20% of the pads, which sucks because these pads were $100 just for the fronts. I am about to try to pop the piston out using the cars brake.

Stupid question, but I assume I have to start the engine to do this right?

I'm going to slowly press the brake, I put an old brake pad in the caliper along with 2 pieces of cardboard to soften the impact in case it's hard.

 

what do you guys think of using a bicycle pump to push the piston out?

in this video this girl attached the bicycle pump to the bleeder valve. but when I pull out the caliper I'm disconnecting it from the brake hose. In this video the girl has like a cut piece of the brake hose still on.

 

So it worked. I popped out the piston using the bicycle pump.

And I discovered the cause of all my problems. The inside of the caliper is rusty, and the piston has some rust as well.

Do you guys think I can buff this out with a wire brush, or will I have to just order a whole new caliper?

If I do need to order a whole new caliper, I will still try to wire brush as much as I can, and put it all back together to see if it'll drive ok for a few weeks.

Because it will likely take a week or 2 for delivery of a new piston. The kia websites will likely say it's a back order item and it may take a week or 2 to have it delivered.

If after putting it back together the piston still does not retract, I'll have to rent a car for a week or 2 until the calipers arrive.

Sigh....

 

If after putting it back together the piston still does not retract, I'll have to rent a car for a week or 2 until the calipers arrive.

You could also just pick up a reman at your local parts shop and get it right away.

 

Using a Dremel and some wire brushes, I polished the piston as best I could. I also cleaned up the removed as much rust as I could from the caliper bore.

The bicycle pump method worked to pop out the piston. I just ghetto rigged the pump attachment to the back of the caliper and it shot out. It shot out hard too and went flying on the ground.

I used brake fluid to lubricate the side of the piston and the rubber seal and boot. Many people said to use Bigg Red rubber grease or silicon grease but I didn't want that mixing with brake fluid.

I placed the square cut O ring, then I placed the boot. Then, I gently inserted the piston just a little bit above the boot, and I again inserted the bicycle pump attachment to the back of the caliper, which forced air and made the boot open up and place itself over the piston. Then I just pushed the piston in.

I put 2 new copper washers where the brake hose attaches to the back of the caliper. I mounted and torqued everything down. I opened the speed bleeder, zip tied a glove to it, and proceeded to bleed this caliper. I bled it a little bit and then put more brake fluid in the reservoir. I wanted to clean out any brake fluid that was left over in the caliper from cleaning it and from inserting the piston. I wanted to make sure the caliper has clean fresh fluid. I only bled thru this one caliper, I did not do the other 3. I did a full bleed 10 days ago.

I had to clean up the caliper, brackets, and the pads. Everything was filthy with pad dust, and the new pads may have experienced premature wear of 15% to 20%. They seem less thick than the other pads on the other wheels. I drove for like 5 days on this stuck piston. That sucks, cuz just the front pads were $120.

Good lessons tho !

I went for a drive and the piston is clearly retracting properly. The car no longer feels slugging, MPG seems back to normal. Acceleration is no longer slugging. The car coasts a lot better. I believe the rear pads will rub against the rotors a little for a few weeks possibly until they wear down.

The caliper bore and piston were in bad shape, the caliper was full of debris and filthy fluid, which I don't understand how that's possibly since I bled the system a week ago?

I did a terrific job polishing and removing rust from the piston and caliper bore and the area where the seal and boot sit, but it's still in very used condition, with a lot of wear and tear. I wonder, that I should still get a new caliper eventually, perhaps the problem may come back because these parts have to much wear and tear? While I did a great job polishing the piston, it clearly has signs of corrosion that I can't fix. I wonder how long I can run this caliper before having another similar problem.

I occasionally have a slight vibration in the steering wheel in between 60mph and 80mph. This is new and has popped up since I had the problem with the front right caliper. On some streets it vibrates, on others not so much. I know for sure this is new. I had to have my car towed a week ago, I wonder if the towing may have warped something or put the car out of alignment? I wonder if something with the rotors is causing the vibration. This is not a brake pedal depressed vibration, like a warped rotor. It's all in the steering wheel. But if it was an issue with the brakes, or the rotor, then I would feel the vibration in the brake pedal too, and there is NO vibration in the brake pedal, while driving or braking.

When I returned from my 90 minute test drive, I checked 2 things.

I lifted the car and spun the front tires. The wheel with the caliper problem spun very freely, there was no sound of the pads rubbing the rotor. In fact, the wheel with the caliper problem spins more freely than the other front wheel!

I got my laser thermometer and checked the temperatures of both rotors, to discover that the rotor I just worked on is now 30 DEGREES COOLER THAN THE OTHER ROTOR !

Just a few days ago, the stuck piston wheel was 100 degrees hotter than the other front wheel. If the other wheel is 30 degrees HOTTER now than it may be the beginning of piston retraction issues.

That means, that I have to clean out the front left caliper sometime soon. If one caliper has gone bad, odds are, after 125k miles, that the other front caliper is either already bad or on it's way out.

The wheel on the caliper I fixed today spins better and is quite a bit cooler than the other front wheel. Next weekend I plan on doing the same procedure for the front left caliper.

I guess it wasn't the brake hose after all.

I'm glad I first attempted to clean out my caliper and piston before ordering brake hoses.

 

Good job cleaning up the piston and caliper! You'll definitely need to do the other side as well, but it sounds like it's not as bad (yet).

 

I just have to figure out why the steering wheel vibrates at highway speeds. I've been reading about it and I may have knocked off one of the pieces of metal used to balance the wheels. I have to check to see if any are missing. Also I may have to wire brush the mating area between the hub and rotor a lot better than I did. If there's a piece of rusty flakes there it could be causing a vibration.

 

I figured out why there's a vibration in the steering wheel at highway speeds and not while breaking. I just removed my wheel today and the rotor screws loosened up. How did they loosen on their own, I tightened them pretty well, I'm going to put thread Locker on them today.