Replaced Rear Drivers Side Caliper, but that side is smoking excessive.

[89-W-Body-Regal]

Hi, I replaced my drivers side rear caliper because the banjo bolt was rusty and the fittings were leaking. I thought I would replace the entire caliper because it’s still in warranty since I replaced both rear calipers last year because they were seize. I also replaced all rotors and pads along with parking brake cables last year. 
 

My concern: I cleaned the drivers side rear rotor, used a fine grit sandpaper to sand off the rust and cleaned the dirt off the pads. Installed the new caliper and bleed the rear left side. I put grease on the caliper piston boot and on the backing plate of the pads. After installed and cleaned all the brake parts, I bleed the one side and I test drove the vehicle. The brakes stop fine and doesn’t pull to one side. But I was smelling smoke coming from that one side. When I came back I noticed the area where I put the grease on the front of the pads were smoking excessively. It took a couple of mins for the smoke to fade. I know pads and rotors smoke when they are new to break the metal in. But the brakes still look fairly new because they don’t have alot of miles on them. Could it be it’s smoking excessive out of that wheel because I put grease on back of the pads? I recall other mechanics telling that it’s normal, just take it to a car wash and the grease will burn off every time you drive it. I just don’t want anything to catch flames. So I ask for advice. If I have to remove the brakes and clean the grease off the pads I will. Anything to have them stop smoking excessive.

[Cutlass350]

What type of "Grease".
How much??   

Also, I can Never Ever Ever stress enough that no one should even touch their car without a Dealer's service manual (and consulting it when doing anything new to them).
:)  :)
I just went through this with a friend. 
 

On to the Tech:  :)
Fwiw, I only use Permatex Brake Lubricant, and I use  a very very light coating of high temperature grease on the caliper boots.
Note that using the incorrect grease(or too much) can result in the grease running, getting on pads/disk, and resulting in the loss of braking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLaQGWtd1O4
How To: Apply Brake Lube | PowerStop
PowerStop - Official Channel


Btw, GM has their own brake lubricant.  Of course, that would work great on your car.
For me, I use a lot of Permatex stuff.  Again, that's my choice for my car.

Still, imho, the GM Service Manual is always the best advice.  Your car has lasted how long?  :)
And, it was built and put together by the specs/parts/stuff in the GM Service Manual.  So, I think that the people that wrote and specified the info on those books had some idea of what they were talking about.  :)

 

Good Luck!
 

 

 

 

[89-W-Body-Regal]

4 hours ago, Cutlass350 said:

What type of "Grease".
How much??   

Also, I can Never Ever Ever stress enough that no one should even touch their car without a Dealer's service manual (and consulting it when doing anything new to them).

I just went through this with a friend. 
 

On to the Tech: 
Fwiw, I only use Permatex Brake Lubricant, and I use  a very very light coating of high temperature grease on the caliper boots.
Note that using the incorrect grease(or too much) can result in the grease running, getting on pads/disk, and resulting in the loss of braking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLaQGWtd1O4
How To: Apply Brake Lube | PowerStop
PowerStop - Official Channel


Btw, GM has their own brake lubricant.  Of course, that would work great on your car.
For me, I use a lot of Permatex stuff.  Again, that's my choice for my car.

Still, imho, the GM Service Manual is always the best advice.  Your car has lasted how long? 
And, it was built and put together by the specs/parts/stuff in the GM Service Manual.  So, I think that the people that wrote and specified the info on those books had some idea of what they were talking about. 

 

Good Luck!
 

 

 

 

I used super tech grease from Walmart but I think I applied too much on the backing plate of the brake pads and that’s why it’s smoking so much. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Super-Tech-Multi-Duty-Complex-Hi-Temp-Grease-14-oz-Tub/16795246 but it’s for hi temps. Do you think maybe cleaning and applying a better grease will not make it smoke so much?

Edited June 3, 2021 by 89-W-Body-Regal

[vipmiller803]

That grease will eat any rubber in short order. Never use common grease on brakes. You'll need to disassemble and clean it all off. Caliper grease only, like this one here.

The only places that need grease in brakes are under the hardware (yes, you read that right, between the hardware and the caliper bracket), in the slide pin boots, and on the backs of the pads to reduce noise. The caliper piston boot does not need grease. The backing plate can use grease where it contacts shoes, but I think you are misusing the words "backing plate", so you do not need to worry about that. It sounds like you did not touch the pin boots, so get yourself some brake clean, take any grease left off, and put a light coat of caliper grease in the above mentioned places.

 

Again, be careful with the nomenclature as it can be confusing on a forum.

This is a backing plate:

 

These are the brake pads, and the top two images here are just the back of the brake pads, not backing plates:

Edited June 3, 2021 by vipmiller803

[89-W-Body-Regal]

On 6/3/2021 at 12:38 PM, vipmiller803 said:

That grease will eat any rubber in short order. Never use common grease on brakes. You'll need to disassemble and clean it all off. Caliper grease only, like this one here.

The only places that need grease in brakes are under the hardware (yes, you read that right, between the hardware and the caliper bracket), in the slide pin boots, and on the backs of the pads to reduce noise. The caliper piston boot does not need grease. The backing plate can use grease where it contacts shoes, but I think you are misusing the words "backing plate", so you do not need to worry about that. It sounds like you did not touch the pin boots, so get yourself some brake clean, take any grease left off, and put a light coat of caliper grease in the above mentioned places.

 

Again, be careful with the nomenclature as it can be confusing on a forum.

This is a backing plate:

 

These are the brake pads, and the top two images here are just the back of the brake pads, not backing plates:

Good to remember thanks for the correct terms.

[Schurkey]

On 6/3/2021 at 11:38 AM, vipmiller803 said:

The only places that need grease in brakes are under the hardware (yes, you read that right, between the hardware and the caliper bracket), in the slide pin boots, and on the backs of the pads to reduce noise.

There is no good reason to put grease on the back side of the pads.  In fact, it's crazy.

There are certain chemicals that can go on the back of the pads to reduce noise.  Grease is NOT one of them.

For example:

https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05016-Single-Brake-Quiet/dp/B000CINV88/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Disc+Brake+Quiet&qid=1624854144&sr=8-3

Mostly, this stuff has been made obsolete because pad manufacturers are already installing anti-squeel shims, and spring clips on the pads.

[vipmiller803]

To each their own. It’s how I was taught and it continues to make sense. Rattle clips sometimes just rattle themselves. Plus, it cuts down on corrosion, something we can always use less of around here.

7 hours ago, Schurkey said:

There is no good reason to put grease on the back side of the pads.  In fact, it's crazy.

Although I should be more clear. I do not put grease on the back of the pads, but rather on the top of the caliper piston and caliper end where the pads sit.

[Schurkey]

Grease has no damn business anywhere on the pad, or it's backing plate.  I don't even like a thin, thin smear on the far edges of the metal pad backing plate where it fits into the caliper or caliper bracket--it just picks up brake dust creating an abrasive slurry.

Grease melts at a lower temperature than the brakes may operate at.  Use the brakes hard, the grease may melt.  Bounce the wheel into a pothole, the grease may be displaced from the abrupt motion of the brake assembly.  If the grease melts, or is displaced by road shock, it's going to flow, and it might flow onto the friction surface of the rotor, contaminating the friction material of the pad.

Grease is not an anti-squeal product.  The CRC item I linked to, is.  There are other brands, there are other formulations, there are self-adhesive fiber shims, metal shims or springs that clip to the pad's backing plate...there's several kinds of products that are engineered to reduce or eliminate noise from the brakes.  A dollop of grease on the caliper piston isn't one of them,

If a steel anti-rattle (anti-squeal) clip is making noise, it was either abused during installation, or it's been overheated and lost spring tension.  They sometimes DO create noise, because they get abused, and they get hot.

Edited June 28, 2021 by Schurkey

[Jim_rockford_007]

Working on cars for 35 fucking years and I have never ever installed a set of pads with anything on the back of them short of the factory shims and I have never had a single set of brake pads squeal or make any noise. If you buy decent pads and not the fucking low-quality bottom of the barrel crap that you get from the parts store you'll never have a problem unlike others have said do not put any grease on the pads don't even put it on the caliper bracket where the pad slides you run the risk of contaminating the brake pads simply put it on the slide pins and on the slide pins only.

[Jim_rockford_007]

Also drop the car applied to break several times and then when you get the car back to the house or the garage wherever you're working on it at Jack that side up and try to spin the wheel if the wheel is hard to spin then more than likely your brake hose is gone bad and is acting like a check valve allowing fluid to go to the caliper but not allowing the fluid to return from the caliper when you release the brakes. I always put new brake hoses on any time that I replace a caliper.