Driver side front brake caliper won't release when hot

InfamousCanadian said:
The timing of this thread is convenient as I recently started to have this same issue. Driver side rotor was getting extremely hot, however it was pulling passenger when I would brake. Just this past weekend. I was supposed to go up about a two hour drive from where I live and about 30 minutes in I started smelling brake pads burning. I'd tap the brakes and it would pull passenger. Pulled over the I could feel the heat coming off the driver side caliper. I drove it home and decided I would have a shop take a look at it. It sat for a day since it was the weekend and when I drove it to the garage the issue was gone. They spent a couple hours taking everything apart and road testing it multiple times to try and replicate it with no luck. They couldn't find anything wrong with the calipers and everything went in smoothly. I got them to flush the brake fluid since it needed to be done and will see if the issue returns. They said if the issue returns to come straight back and they would dig deeper.

Edit: I was also driving the Jeep earlier that day for work and didn't have the issue on the shorter commute.
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Exactly!!! It pulls right because the driver side brake is always applied when this problem happens, it heats up the pads so much they become much less effective than they should be and pretty much cools them, so when u apply the brakes the right has more force to slow that wheel down that it will pull right, that is what makes sense at least and that’s the same issue with mine, if you don’t press on the brakes at all though it should pull to the left because of the clamping on the rotor by the pads
 
InfamousCanadian said:
The timing of this thread is convenient as I recently started to have this same issue. Driver side rotor was getting extremely hot, however it was pulling passenger when I would brake. Just this past weekend. I was supposed to go up about a two hour drive from where I live and about 30 minutes in I started smelling brake pads burning. I'd tap the brakes and it would pull passenger. Pulled over the I could feel the heat coming off the driver side caliper. I drove it home and decided I would have a shop take a look at it. It sat for a day since it was the weekend and when I drove it to the garage the issue was gone. They spent a couple hours taking everything apart and road testing it multiple times to try and replicate it with no luck. They couldn't find anything wrong with the calipers and everything went in smoothly. I got them to flush the brake fluid since it needed to be done and will see if the issue returns. They said if the issue returns to come straight back and they would dig deeper.

Edit: I was also driving the Jeep earlier that day for work and didn't have the issue on the shorter commute.
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Also did they replace the caliper? I’ve narrowed mine down to the caliper piston. The caliper didn’t realease when I let brake fluid drip so there is no hydraulic force holding the caliper compressed, the slide pins slide the way they should as well so it has to be the piston, it’s the only thing left, so it must have been faulty from the factory ?
 
domfonts said:
Also did they replace the caliper? I’ve narrowed mine down to the caliper piston. The caliper didn’t realease when I let brake fluid drip so there is no hydraulic force holding the caliper compressed, the slide pins slide the way they should as well so it has to be the piston, it’s the only thing left, so it must have been faulty from the factory ?
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They didn't replace the caliper because they pulled the whole thing apart and said everything was working smoothly. I may go ahead and do that myself as I replaced the passenger one already because there was a chunk missing out of the piston. I had some really dark brake fluid so Im hoping putting in some new stuff should help solve the issue. The minute it happens again I'll take action but for now, everything is working fine. It doesn't happen on my 25 minute drive to work.

Edit: if it's happening consistently I would go ahead and get a new caliper and install that. Mine only happened the one time. I believe on the mechanics work sheet they noted that the brake pads were burnt and sanded them down but I can't remember exactly.
 
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InfamousCanadian said:
They didn't replace the caliper because they pulled the whole thing apart and said everything was working smoothly. I may go ahead and do that myself as I replaced the passenger one already because there was a chunk missing out of the piston. I had some really dark brake fluid so Im hoping putting in some new stuff should help solve the issue. The minute it happens again I'll take action but for now, everything is working fine. It doesn't happen on my 25 minute drive to work.

Edit: if it's happening consistently I would go ahead and get a new caliper and install that. Mine only happened the one time. I believe on the mechanics work sheet they noted that the brake pads were burnt and sanded them down but I can't remember exactly.
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okay, I’m gonna borrow a friends caliper that works to do a control test, if that fixed the problem then bingo if not, which with keeps it probably won’t, who the hell knows
 
domfonts said:
Also did they replace the caliper? I’ve narrowed mine down to the caliper piston. The caliper didn’t realease when I let brake fluid drip so there is no hydraulic force holding the caliper compressed, the slide pins slide the way they should as well so it has to be the piston, it’s the only thing left, so it must have been faulty from the factory ?
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Wait, in your original post you stated that you've already replaced the calipers. Have you or have you not?
 
I had this exact same issue and went through similar crap to fix it. I ended up replacing the caliper entirely and the problem was solved.

I’m still not sure what was wrong with the old caliper.
 
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qslim said:
Wait, in your original post you stated that you've already replaced the calipers. Have you or have you not?
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I have replaced them, about 8 months ago but it has to be defective because that’s the only thing there is left that it could be, it has to be mechanical because when I loosten the banjo bolt and let brake fluid drip it still stay engaged, and the slide pins move normally like they should
 
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Piston is hung in the caliper bore, or you have a brake line that is collapsing on the left side.

But the brake line doesn't make sense because you loosened the bleeder and no brake fluid came out under pressure.
 
Okay got new caliper, problem is fixed, for anyone else experiencing this, you should also see how tightly the pad is fitting in the hub ears when u or the caliper in, if it is very tight sand the hub where the pad slides smooth and grease it, and then file the pad down where the shim sits so it goes into place without too much effort, I think this was a factor as well because the brake pad might have expanded when it got hot and didn’t release because there is no real
Force pulling the pad back
 
domfonts said:
Okay got new caliper, problem is fixed, for anyone else experiencing this, you should also see how tightly the pad is fitting in the hub ears when u or the caliper in, if it is very tight sand the hub where the pad slides smooth and grease it, and then file the pad down where the shim sits so it goes into place without too much effort, I think this was a factor as well because the brake pad might have expanded when it got hot and didn’t release because there is no real
Force pulling the pad back
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That sounds like a lot of work for what should be a very simple thing. Are you sure you were using the correct pads? You shouldn't have to file them down.
 
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Jeffreybomb said:
That sounds like a lot of work for what should be a very simple thing. Are you sure you were using the correct pads? You shouldn't have to file them down.
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i was yes, but I did it anyway so it wasn’t super tight, I think it’s worth a try for anyone who’s pads are very tight when putting on the caliper and experience this problem
 
mrblaine said:
He is creating the issue by using a shim that shouldn't be there.
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Yep, trying to be smarter than the engineers who designed the jeep. I see it in airplanes all the time. People who should never put a tool in their hands trying to be airplane mechanics and they want to argue with a real mechanic because they read it on the internet somewhere.
 
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domfonts said:
Okay got new caliper, problem is fixed, for anyone else experiencing this, you should also see how tightly the pad is fitting in the hub ears when u or the caliper in, if it is very tight sand the hub where the pad slides smooth and grease it, and then file the pad down where the shim sits so it goes into place without too much effort, I think this was a factor as well because the brake pad might have expanded when it got hot and didn’t release because there is no real
Force pulling the pad back
Click to expand...
If you have to remove material on an item that is designed to hold a replaceable item, you have done something wrong. I think I am safe to say there have been millions of brake jobs done with these calipers and if removing material was part of the process it would be addressed by engineering and in the service manual. I hope you have not induced a critical failure down the road.
 
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