I apologize for the lack of MG content with this post,
but I am desperate, and need the help of the combined
technical minds on this list. Please reply off
list...
I took my wife's 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee in to a
"bargain" brake place to have the brake pads replaced.
They replaced them on the front and rear. As far as
I know, no other work was done.
After leaving the shop, within about a mile, the front
brakes were clearly dragging. It started off not too
bad, and got progressively worse and worse. I knew
something was wrong as was trying to limp it to a
"real" service facility, when the Jeep basically
became undriveable. The front brakes were essentially
locking quite seriously and generating a LOT of heat.
So I pulled it over and called the brake place that
did the original work. They said to take it wherever
I wanted and they would stand behind it.
The shop I took it to - after two days of digging -
says they are totally stumped and doesn't know what
the problem is. The rear brakes are fine. BOTH front
calipers are locking up. When they cool off
completely, they free up quite a bit - enough to drive
- but after a short while, they start dragging more
and more and more until eventually you can't turn the
wheels at all. Their "solution" is to replace
virtually everything. Calipers, rotors, lines, and
possibly the master cylinder. I am not comfortable
with throwing parts at this thing without knowing
what's wrong, and since they don't know what's wrong,
the original brake place is angling to NOT pay for any
resulting damage, saying that it appears to be a big
coincidence.
So I took it out of the second shop and towed it to
the Jeep dealer, thinking they could get to the bottom
of it. But after a day of looking they appear to be
totally stumped too. Everyone who looks at it says:
"There doesn't appear to be anything obviously wrong,
and we have never encountered anything like this
before."
Any thoughts? I DO NOT want to get stuck replacing
the whole brake system just in the hopes of fixing the
problem without knowing what it is. Plus, I need to
know what caused the problem so I can know whether or
not the "bargain" brake place was at fault in any way.
I'm desperate.
In summary, the facts are these:
1) The front brakes started locking literally less
than a mile after leaving a shop that changed the
brake pads front and rear. Nothing else was changed.
2) I never lost the pedal or got any kind of ABS
warning light or anything.
3) The rear brakes are fine. The wheels turn freely
at all times, and the brakes work fine back there.
Again, sorry for the lack of MG content, but I don't
know what to do. Although I DO find it amusing that
my MGB is now our only car, and it has been the
reliable old workhorse through all of this... :)
Thanks in advance,
=====
Paul Misencik
1971 MGB Tourer - Blaze
Huntersville, NC USA
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