So I made a thread last week about my frozen rear caliper. It was dragging in a closed position on the rotor causing a slight noise and a very warm/hot wheel.

Now a week or two later, what a difference in performance and MPG I am seeing! My MPG has easily gone up 2-3 MPG and my car is like a little rocket again!

Thinking back, I wonder how long my brake has been in that condition because i've had horrible MPG for a really long time now and my car has been quite sluggish. I chalked it up to needing a TB cleaning or plug swap. Little did I know a new brake caliper would cause these issues.

I suggest folks check the temp of all four wheels after a long drive, it will be obvious just by touching it that one is way hotter than the other three. Even a slight dragging of the brakes can cause a difference.

 

Thanks for the tip. What kind of mileage are you seeing now?

 

I used to get about 15-16 City and now am getting 18-19 city steadily

Highway I used get about 21-22 an now steadily get 24-25 hwy (about 70MPH on average)

Mind you this is with current winter gas so I expect it to go up 1-2 MPG with summer gas

 

did you get you Rear brakes fixed at the dealer? was it covered under your existing warranty if you have one. other than heat an 22mpg where there any other signs to look out for?

 

I have the Elite Extended warranty and they DID cover the new caliper, but refused to cover the pads and rotor. I had to pay out of pocket for those.

Other than heat, I would get a lot of vibration in the whole car at highway speed (I figure this is caused to the heat build up). At first I thought it was just due to needing a wheel alignment/balance, but the vibration is completely gone now after the brake job.
Also,when driving on local streets, the car would need a bit of extra gas to get going from a dead stop. On cold days the stuck caliper would emit a slight grinding sound.

 

Had this happen on a big pickup truck; so much torque you couldn't even feel it, but the gas mileage showed. I was also amazed at how hot things got. Felt like the whole wheel was gonna melt.

 

I think I had the same problem, my car was sluggish and the rear passenger side wheel was making a bit of noise. I figured it was just time to replace the plugs and brakes. So I went in today to get my rear pads and rotors changed and they found that my passenger side caliper was frozen and had to be replaced. After getting the job done the noise had disappeared and the car wasn't as sluggish anymore, everything was looking good till I got home. I was washing the car and when I discovered heat/steam radiating from the passenger side wheel well. The driver side rotor was warm to the touch but the passenger side was almost untouchable. I know new brakes run a little hotter but is it normal for one side to be that hot? Or did the shop install a faulty caliper?