Hey guys, my car's brakes have been squeaking and occasionally I hear a grinding noise if I brake hard, so I took it into meineke to diagnose the problem. The guy said my inboard brake pad is basically gone on the front driver side. He said it was either the caliper or the hose that went bad. There's an excessive amount of brake dust on that wheel and I just changed the pads about a year ago... so it matches up. My question is do you think it's really the caliper or hose or could it be something else?

 

Wearing out one brake pad while the other one is OK is because the caliper can't move side to side properly. It slides on pins that can get rusty or sticky because of a lack of the grease that should be there.

 

So do I need to replace the whole caliper or can I just clean up the pins?

 

Maybe. Since this is a DIY sort of forum, start by re-inspecting all four brake pads yourself and confirm that one is gone but the other 3 have plenty left. If that's the case I'd suggest a "loaded" caliper which is a complete assembly with the brake pads and pins already assembled. Simply bolt it on, bleed the line, and go, and you have a guarantee on the whole thing. Fussing with that stuff can be not worth the time.

Also of course since it seems to have worn down to the metal you'll need a new rotor.

 

I think I fixed it. Took the calipers off and played with them, they were working fine. Bled the lines, put it all back together with the old pads, took it for a drive. That grinding/rubbing feeling I got when braking hard was gone even with the old worn down pad on there. Threw new pads on there when I got back, seems to be good. Probably gonna get the rotors turned this weekend just to be safe. Thanks for the help.

 

I never get my rotors turned, I just buy new ones. They're only like $30 a pop.