We have been having some ongoing issues with our brake calipers on our 2008 Crapavan. Actually, we've had issues with ALL of the brakes since we brought the thing home.

I've never been so disappointed in a vehicle and we have pretty much exhausted our savings account to keep this pile of junk running until tax refund season.

My husband is pretty stumped by this though. The rear calipers were not really working at all. The van was stopping with the front brakes for some time. Of course, the front rotors warped a long time ago and those need to be replaced (again) as well. They warped, actually, before the rear calipers stopped working, for what its worth.

So my husband replaced both rear calipers a week ago. Bled the system, took it for a test drive, and it seemed fine. Drove it the next day, and he noticed one side wasn't heating up at all. Thus, not working.

So he figured the caliper was bad...took it off and replaced it with a new one. Bled the system and took it for a test drive. Works fine, both sides heating up evenly, but not overheating.

Next day (yesterday), we drove it to church...about ten minutes from home. Get there, and not only is one side very hot, the other side is completely cool, and there's a burning smell.

Drove it home...both sides were working.

Drove it up to town (about a half hour), both sides were working...even heating, not overheating.

Drove it home...one side is hot, the other side is not.

Hubby cleaned the guides, pins, bolts (and whatever those things are).

One last thing...the brake pedal feels slightly spongy, the brakes shutter a bit when applied (which could be because of the warped rotors in the front) and the van does pull slightly to one side during braking.

My dad is in town, and he stated to my husband that he thinks it might be the proportioning valve, but we can't find much info on it, and the info I did find makes me tend to believe it isn't that (though I'm far from a mechanic soooo...).

Any thoughts on this?

 

you need to clean the bottom of the sliders well. then see if the pads move free. if u pushing the calipers in they need to be turned in with a special tool. not just in. they also need not to be completely in just in enough to clear the pads.


he could still have air in the line after bleeding the brakes.

 

Thanks! I will pass this along to him, as he'll understand it better than I...lol. I do know that he cleaned the sliders pretty well and then cleaned them again when the brakes worked and then didn't work correctly.

I also know that he was told to turn back the caliper and he mentioned something about needing a tool....some kind of cube-shaped tool. I'm not sure if he ever bought that tool.

I vaguely remember him saying the "universal" one that they sell at Autozone or Advanced Auto...didn't fit our van.

I'll also have him rebleed the system. He's going to need to anyways, because he wants to test and see if there's internal damage to one of the lines.

 

Have you checked/replaced the rubber brake lines? Those things will collapse internally and not let fluid go one way or another. Had this issue on my Sebring. They bled fine, but would not let the fluid pressure back into the system on one side and kept burning up brake components. Just another place to look. Those parts are not expensive.

 

Hubby says this is his next step.

He's been trying to find more information on the proportioning valve. Namely, where is it located? Is it part of the ABS module? Would you happen to know anything about it?

 

Proportioning valve is usually located in the rear somewhere before the brake lines split off to go to the separate wheels. At least on my truck it is.

 

Does this particular vehicle even have a proportioning valve? Is it called something else? We have been able to find pretty much no information from Google. All Google searches bring up older vehicles.

Is it possibly in the ABS module?

Is it a combination valve?

 

Might try and find a place to grab a service manual somewhere.

 

Hubby does have one. A Haynes. But apparently it only mentions the proportioning valve and doesn't actually show it or tell much about it.

He thinks its part of the ABS system.

No matter...I think we're going to try and replace the rubber hoses back there first.

I just need it to get me through until the spring...pretty sure we're getting rid of this van.

 

Proportioning valve is installed if you do not have ABS. Look at the ABS distribution block and trace each of the rear lines from there.