1999 Plymouth Town and Country w/Hot Front Brakes

[bavarskas]

Any help explaining the following would be greatly appreciated.

1999 Plymouth Town and Country with alittle more that 70K miles. Time for another front brake job.
1) Turn rotors,
2) replaced front pads with NAPA's middle grade "Semi-Metalic" pads,
3) Lubed caliper bolts with Copper (not silver) anti-seize,
4) Bled brakes

New brakes function fine (just as one would expect) with one exception after a 20 mile drive or more the brakes smell very HOT and even the plastic hub cap is very HOT too the touch. This heat issue has not gone away in two weeks.

The driver does not ride the brakes or brake excessively heavy.

I put the van up on jack stands, took the front wheels off and put the van into Drive. Next I had a helper step on the brake pedal as I watched the calipers actuate. Result - both sides seem to be clamping and releasing normally.

Could the problem be the choice of pad material? Are the "Semi-Metalic" pads putting more heat into the rotor which is transferring the heat to the wheel and finally to the hub cap?

Comments/suggestions.

Thanks,
John

[Dodgevanman]

New pads take time to "seat" or break-in. I just put new rotors and pads on my wife's car. They smoked a little the first few brake applications, but they're fine now.

Has the smell gone away?

Brakes will get extremely hot during the course of driving....look at the job they perform. I've had customers come in for brake work after driving and you can't touch anything for about a half hour or so, but most of the time everything was okay.

Now if the owner is experiencing the wheels locking up or if the pads are wearing very fast or unevenly I would suspect a caliper piston that isn't releasing fully, seized caliper slides, bad brake hoses, etc.

[Dodgevanman]

Another thing to add is to be certain your installing pads that are of high quality and that can be used on that particular vehicle.

[gas28man]

I have one other suggestion. Take a look at your rear brakes. My rears seized in the off position on my 96 Town & Country, but I never figured it out because the ABS masked the effect, which was that I was only braking with the front wheels. The front pads smoked and smelled and wore out in about 7000 miles, and I thought it was just cheap front pads. Turned out it was a rear brake problem.

Just a possibility to consider.

Rick

[bavarskas]

Thanks everybody! The heat and smell have gone away.

What one mechanic told us was that NAPA buys thier replacement pads from Raybestos (Sp?) and that Raybestos' pads are thicker than OEM and other aftermarket brands. Because of the increased thickness the piston is fully retacted but there is still a slight interference between pads and rotor, and until they "wear in" there is increased friction causing the hot, smelly brakes.

I do not know about this, but I am greatful the brakes are back to normal.

John