Sticky Brake Calipers In Snow

[jmg3]

Just got the first serious snow fall here in NJ and it seems that when I stop and then release the brakes, it is a real sharp/abrupt/hard release of the caliper pistons or soemthing. It shakes the entire truck, and you can hear it also. It is almost like somebody glued my pads to the rotors and then the calipers had to pry the pads off the rotors. Anybody else notice anything like this? It happened every single time I stopped, road where covered in snow/ice/sluch, about 10-15 degress F outside or so conditions.

 

[02-Z66]

i have a co-worker that claims his brake light has come on since we had our first snow here; approximately 1/2 - 2 inches. wonder why? he drives a Navigator. i think i know why now...could be it's a Ford?

 

[RJLACK]

Not sure since I live in Texas and dont know what snow is - but I would suspect it has to do with caliper slides, each caliper has two sides that allow the caliper to float so that you get equal brake pad application. If these slides get dirty from say road salt or dirt and water they may not slide easily and cause the brake to stay tight for a moment or two(this also could cause some abs problems resulting in the abs pump to run or the light to come on). Remove the caliper bolts which are where the slides are and luricate them with anti-sieze (not grease) if this is the cause you should be home free.

 

[02-Z66]

i will tell my co-worker to try it.

 

[jmg3]

thank you, I will try that and if we get more snow, hopefully it will work right. I love these forums. You get answers so fast and easily. It takes me weeks at my dealership to get something like this from them.

 

[bryker]

I have had the problem withmy parking brake, most times when i release it it makes this loud clunck. Had it into the dealer many times, once they had to replace the whole braking system (thank god for warranty). The dealer has never been able to figure out what is casuing it. BTW even though I live in snow heaven (up here in Canada) it happens inthe summer too. All I do now is if I notice that the parking brake is stuck I go in reverse and back up an inch and then go forward and it releases. Its a pain, but nothing the dealer or GM Canada can do about it.

 

[lsuarchitek]

Had the same problem after about 16 inches of snowfall deerhunting in Western Pa. After getting in the truck on a very cold morning there was no brakes! I found this out going down a hill which could have been very dangerous if I was going fast.

I had to "de-thaw" the brakes by backing up and going forward mashing on the brakes. I cannot believe GM designed this thing do the brakes get wet and freeze. Never had this problem on any other 4 x 4's I've owned.

 

[gregz28]

I had the same thing happen to me the day after the Christmas storm here in Jersey. I was wondering what was happening. Must be something in the Jersey snow...........

 

[marc_w]

Mine does it EVERY time it's damp and or snowy out... ? It's foggy right now, I guarantee it'll happen when I leave in 10 minutes.

You're just getting a quick sharp lurch when you apply the brake right? ?Mines definitely the rear brakes... ?They act VERY touchy for the first couple of seconds of braking. ?It's fun sometimes... pulling down my driveway I used the 'easy lockability' of the rear brakes to slide the truck sideways in the snow, to line myself up for the sharp left turn out onto the road. ?

I believe they're extremely prone to rust and just rust up every chance they get. ?It's never happen to this level with any of my other Chevy's, but they also suffered from the same symptoms..... which was definitely rust..... ?

 

[lsuarchitek]

Has anyone taken their vehicle to the Dealer for this problem? I really see this as a serious safety issue.

 

[RJLACK]

Maybe you have not had this problem with other Chevys because there were very few older models with 4 wheel disc brakes, most having rear drum brakes. I am not sure what is happening as I dont live in snow country - but I do live where it is wet and humid and while rotors do rust - they dont rust up in a day and even when I have seen slight surface rust on the rotors I have not seen or experienced that problem. I would suspect it is a combination of road salt, snow (ice) and/or cold temps. Does this go away once the car is driven and stopped a coulple times?

 

[marc_w]

Yeah, mine goes away within about 5 to 10 seconds (tops) of just regular braking.

True, my drum brake vehicles used to be HORRIBLE with this... I had a '70 Olds that'd lock the fronts after sitting out in the rain...

The last truck I had was a '00 S10, which actually did have full disks. It used to do it, but it didn't seem as sharp or abrupt. Maybe they're using different brake proportioning on our trucks? (They're heavier, so more power to the back brakes? I dunno!?)

One of my motorcycles (high performance sportbike), will actually rust the rotors to the brake pads within an hour of washing. You have to give it a good shove to break the brakes loose. It's weird...