Brakes Stuck?!

[z12358]

That sometimes happens on my 98 Maxima after I drive it in the rain and leave it parked for the week. During the storm couple of weekends ago, I drove it through some deep messy puddles. The next weekend, when it first started moving, it sounded like the brakes were stuck and got unstuck with a "clunk" sound. After that, for the first 10 minutes of driving I felt periodic rubbing noise -- as if something was rubbing inside the wheel. Then it went away and all was good after that.

My theory was that debris and rust from the water must have entered between the pads and the rotors. First it got baked in between, which made the brakes stuck and then it got rubbed off after few applications of the brake while driving. The periodicity of the rubbing was probably from the rotors being slightly warped by being dipped into high, cold water while hot.

Jim, can you explain why you think it's the CV joints, and is it dangerous in any way?

Thx,
Z.

P.S. I don't use the parking brake.

[John V]

The rubbing you heard was the pads scrubbing along the rust that had formed on your rotors. It should have gone away after the first brake application.

Again, this is nothing out of the ordinary.

[C5150]

Brakes were just checked - looking good here. The sound only happens after a car wash (which then gets parked immediately afterwards vs. driving around for a while), and after it has sat for an extended period of time. So isn't the ABS or the CV joints.

The rotors certainly show their rust post a good wash - and I thought it was caused by the brakes "rusting" onto the rotors. Just wanted to make sure that I was not doing harm to my ride - or if I should not be parking her immediately after a wash (for whatever reason.....)

Thanks - C

[FrayAdjacent]

Yep, sounds like some oxidization on the rotors. Happens when I wash my car, but I haven't noticed the breaking free sound. Could be your pads are different than mine, and interact with the oxidization differently.

Overall, I wouldn't worry about it.

[CJ_Boxster]

Originally Posted by C5150

Brakes were just checked - looking good here. The sound only happens after a car wash (which then gets parked immediately afterwards vs. driving around for a while), and after it has sat for an extended period of time. So isn't the ABS or the CV joints.

The rotors certainly show their rust post a good wash - and I thought it was caused by the brakes "rusting" onto the rotors. Just wanted to make sure that I was not doing harm to my ride - or if I should not be parking her immediately after a wash (for whatever reason.....)

Thanks - C

Try driving it around the block an hr after the car has dried, this will likely knock off the rust spots as a result of rinsing and the only rust you'll get on the rotors while parked is if anyone wets them again.