Disc Brake Sticking - '98 Civic HX

Hello,

I've been working on a '98 Civic HX with 108k miles on it. It was bought
used, and had some sort of intial brake problem when test driven that
was taken care of by the used car dealer it was bought from. I think the
pedal was soft, so maybe it was just bleeding or master cylinder work.

The driver's side front brake is sticking. This started after replacing
the pads for the front brakes. I noticed when replacing the pads that
the pads on the driver's side brakes were worn unevenly across the
length of the pads. The upper pin of the caliper was not moving very
freely and had to be cleaned up and lubed. Also, pushing the piston in
with a c-clamp did not work until opening the bleeder. This was not
required for the passenger side which was done first.

The sticking did not occur immediately after replacing the brake pads.
The car was driven at least 120 miles before the problem started. When
the brakes started sticking the car was driven to the point of smoke
being emitted from the brakes. After receiving advice from a mechanic I
decided to replace the brake hose for the assembly. When doing the work
I inspected the caliper and the piston and noticed the dust seal on the
piston had melted. I got a used caliper from a junkyard and installed it
and bled the system. The car was then driven for a solid 300 miles with
no problems until the brake started sticking again. Its driving me nuts
because I will drive the car and the brakes are fine and then as soon as
I hand it over to my brother it starts sticking again.

Anyone got any ideas about what could be the problem? Could it be the
pipe from the master cylinder to the hose?

Thanks for any ideas or advice,

Mark

 

-------------------

Were _all_ of the brakes overheated, or just the one? Does it have ABS?
Has anybody had the master cylinder apart (and set the clearance so
tight so the brake boost is always ON)?

'Curly'

 

The only brakes having the problem are the driver's side front. This car
does not have ABS. I do not know what the used car dealer had done to
remedy the initial brake problem I mentioned. Unfortunately I didn't
drive the car at all until after the dealer had fixed the brakes.

My father talked to the mechanic who recommended replacing the hose and
said that air can be stubborn getting out of the lines and that you may
have to bleed, drive a while, bleed, drive a while, bleed, etc. to get
all the air out.

The one thing through all of this that seemed odd was how the piston in
the caliper wouldn't budge on the driver's side front until I opened the
bleeder. This was not necessary on the other side or either of the front
brakes on my '91 civic.

Mark