Help! Brakes locking up!
 

My front, passenger side brake is locking up. It totally locks up with just a little brake pressure. The other three wheels feel like they are braking normally, but the fourth one locks up so bad the tire starts skidding. It sounds like the ABS is trying to do it's thing but doesn't.

Any ideas? I need to fix this ASAP but have no idea what is wrong. I just pulled off the wheel and took the brake pads out. They look brand new. The rotor is in perfect shape too.

Is this an ABS problem? Or maybe a bad brake proportioning valve or is that just for front to rear pressure regulation? Help! I'm stuck.

I forgot to mention the horrible squeaking sound it's making. I'm testing it driving about 5 mph and gently pressing the brakes. The front, passenger brakes squeak and the front end dives toward that wheel. It's only been doing it for about a mile of driving. I noticed it driving home from work.

At lunch today I went through the car wash and reprogrammed the factory alarm (disabled chirp and auto door locking). Other than that, I haven't made any changes, hit anything, or noticed anything strange. What gives?

I think I've eliminated ABS as the problem. I engaged my rear locker in 4 hi (which turns off the ABS) and still had the problem.

I've been doing some reading and am leaning towards a bad brake caliper. How can I test that?

Bad caliper is the only thing I can think of. :dunno:

Yea mine is actually doing that very same thing on the passenger side front. Its horrible in drive thru's. I hope its not a bad caliper because I really dont have the money to spend on that sort of thing.

I just checked the price of a caliper at Napa - $89 plus core charge. Unless someone comes up with another cause, I think I'll be spending the day tomorrow swapping it out.

I replaced my caliper today and I'm back on the road. I'm sure glad that resolved the problem. The old caliper looked fine to me though. Can you tell if a caliper is bad by looking at it?

generally no, unless its broken in half, or leaking :hillbill:

It is usually bad when it no longer compresses properly (can be due to rust inside, overheating, etc).
Most of the time a mechainic will not take the time to find out what it was, only that replacing it fixed the problem.