this has happened to me, but 2 times on the same side of the vehicle. i also kinda think its not related to the caliper itself. but it could be a seized caliper that needs to be replaced.

 

I have yet to see any ABS issue where it holds pressure on one wheel in my 20+ years of experience. I am not saying it is impossible, but after servicing tens of thousands of vehicles from every domestic make, I have not seen this happen.

As for the caliper, there is a screw type mechanism inside that it uses for parking brake actuation and adjustment. This is why the caliper must be screwed back in. This design has an inherent flaw where it can hang and not retract fully. That is why I blame the caliper. Same thing for those slides, they have a bad habit of sticking up far too easily.

Best bet if you feel the ABS is at fault is to find someone with a dealer level scan tool and they can fully test the ABS unit. Anything less than that will not be a proper and full test. Another way to test if there is pressure stuck in that line is to loosen the bleeder when the brake is dragging. If there is residual pressure, it will squirt out with force.

 

Anyone know what they make the pistons in the caliper with - metal or the bakelite ones?

 

i know i'm a little behind on this but the main problem for the rear brakes is the rear calipers. They do not retract back in as they should when you let off of the brake pedal. then when you try to retract the piston back into the caliper it sucks in and destroys the caliper. dodge has revised the calipers and solves this problem for the most part. the rears still wear faster than usual due to the 50/50 brake ratio.

 

No, not problems of this nature.

I also think a likely source is a problem with the ESP system.

 

07 and older vans did not have these style calipers when disks were used on the rears, only 08+. I'm not quite sure why you guys are desperate to blame electronics when there is plenty of evidence this is a mechanical issue.

 

I've driven mine down a small summit here accelerating to over 60 mph with ESP and going through some slight curves and one major sharp curve in dry weather and it handles like a sports car - a pleasure to drive. I've also driven it in rain conditions on similar roads following other vehicles while in drive with the ESP and while it holds the road it also wants to run over the other vehicles and the braking is like being in free wheeling. You apply the brakes the steering column shudders almost violently - the ESP seems to keep the van in the line it is suppose to but it is almost terrorizing to keep it from gaining too much speed in the wet conditions.

 

b1lk1, It definitely could be a mechanical problem. However it would be in the ESP controlled valves. If the ESP system is able to apply hydraulic pressure to individual wheels, as the Manual describes, there has to be electro-mechanical valves in the lines to each wheel. The ESP computer simply tells these mechanical valves to open or close. So, If one or more of these valves are sticky, they may not open, which would keep that brake on. Or - the computer is telling the valve to stay closed when it shouldn't.
I agree the calipers are a poor design. However, by the process of elimination, we ruled out most everything. I had that caliper replaced. It didn't help. I cleaned and adjusted the parking brake screw. (and haven't applied that brake since) I ground the pad tabs to slide freely in the guides. applied lube to all contact points. When reassembled, the wheel spun freely. Still I found that one brake held on so long and hard that it burned the pad and turned the rotor Blue! It had to be hydraulic pressure to that wheel.
Besides all this, it doesn't happen constantly. It is intermittent.

 

I have a 1992 that is sitting here rusting away. It was hardly run after my father in law died and when I used it a number of times the computer in it would cause the motor and transmission to run rough and a couple of times shut down and left us stranded. Tow it to the garage and it would be fine when they started it. They ran a computer check on it once and said the speed control needed replaced but when they checked it a second time it said it was fine. Then it ran fine for a long time but the speedometer would suddenly stop and drop to zero then bounce up and down a few times then it would start working again. So Herb7472 I think has a valid point in this case -

 

by trading it in with a Hyundai... good luck guys with yours