Joe Boulay

Judy informed me that she just had her front rotors and pads replaced on her 2002 Toyota Corolla and now she has an issue that she is concerned about. She says that when she now applies her brake’s the car pulls sharply to the right and wants to know what might be going on. I suspect that the left front brake caliper is binding or simply not working, so when the brakes are applied the right front caliper is likely doing all the work. This would definitely cause the car to pull to the right. For example you can see I have a caliper piston removed as indicated by a red arrow. On the right side of the picture you can see a white star that shows you the caliper piston installed in the caliper as it should to be. If you look closely at the removed caliper piston you can see rust pits on the once smooth chrome surface. This piston is designed to move freely within the bore. Simply put if it cannot move because of rust it will not work, or cause the wheel to drag and overheat and ruin your new brake pads. Another common source of brake caliper issues is seized caliper pins. In the next photo you will see a caliper pin and boot, the green arrows indicate the area at which the pin should travel in and out freely. Each caliper has two pins and two boots and if moisture gets underneath the rubber boots the pins can seize due to rust causing the brakes to drag, overheat and give you a soft brake pedal as well.

Green arrows and red line indicate the area of which the caliper pin should move. The caliper pin travels underneath the boot.

I would suggest that you bring your vehicle back to the shop that did the brake work and double check it . If you find out that you do have a bad brake caliper on the front of your car, I would recommend you replace both front calipers. Also keep in mind that if you have a caliper in the rear that is not functioning properly it will also cause these symptoms. If you have drum brakes in the rear of your car and there is a seized brake adjuster,or if they are simply out of adjustment this can also cause unequal braking. See page 130 of my book “If That Car Could Talk ” for more information about the brakes on your car. I hope this information helps you with the issue you are having with your car. Thank you for the question!

Note the pitted surface on the once smooth caliper piston surface.