I'm 99% sure I have a sticky brake caliper. I mean, Carmax just replaced the wheel bearings, and I still have a minor squeak out of the front right.

The car also pulls to the RIGHT, and sticky caliper is in the front right. Do these two symptoms match up with each other? I got the car aligned about 8 months ago, so I don't think it should be like this.

Also, when I brake, the squeak gets slightly louder then completely goes away as my brake hardens.

Can this be diagnosed from a simple brake inspection? I want Carmax to replace the caliper.

 

Yes, a simple brake inspection could diagnose this. I would suggest:

Look for areas where the caliper is sliding, make sure the pads are not "digging" into the metal edge of the caliper, making them get hung up and not release properly.

Look for uneven pad wear, and look for loose rattle-clips... and make sure you have rattle-clips on the pads... they DO sell pads for our cars that do not have them (ugh).

Possibly bleed out all of your brake fluid and replace with fresh. I do this ritually, and it makes a great difference FTW.

 

Well, I'm not the one who's going to be inspecting the brakes. I just didn't want to pay Carmax for a brake inspection and find out there's another way to diagnose the sticking caliper.

I was pretty pissed there's still a squeak with new wheel bearings.

 

So yea I'm pretty sure it's still sticking. It's a bitch.

How long would it take for a place like Midas to look at it and confirm the stickiness? This is pissing me off, it's an 05 and sounds like a 95.

Also, how hard is it to replace brake fluid? It's got 23k miles, and I'm a noob.

 

Well if you only have 23k, and it's an '05, is it still under warranty?

Personally, I don't trust Midas. But if you do take it to a shop, they should be able to tell you in about 15 minutes what the problem is. BTW bleeding/replacing the brake fluid is easy if you have a vacuum bleeder kit. If not, it is easy to do if you have an extra person to help you do it the 'ol fashioned way.