Brakes seized up on the highway!!!

[Rascus]

So I'm heading out to take the Scout on it's first trail. Everything is going good, I'm on the highway and all of a sudden I'm losing power.

I start smelling the brakes and get off at my exit and my front discs are cooking!!! My brake pedal is hard as a rock. So as to not cause any more problems I end up letting it sit to cool down.

Brake booster seems to be working fine but the calipers were seized up on the rotors.

I drove it back home but as I was getting closer to my house I could feel the brakes going again. I didn't smell them this time but my lockers were burning up.

Only thing I can think of is to bleed out the brakes and change the fluid.

Anyone else have this problem issue?

[kmaysob]

have you made any changes to the brake system or exhaust system? i have seen this when headers were added to a friends chevelle. the exhaust would heat the brake lines up and once they got hot enough they locked up. as far as bleeding the brakes and changing the fluid, its a good idea to change the brake fluid every one to two years.

[Rascus]

Funny you mention that. It's had both a new brakes, master cylinder and a new intake and exhaust manifold but I have the I6 and not the V8 so I don't know if that would be an issue.

It was pretty hot yesterday and was some heavy driving.

I think I'll try the bleeding first then go from there.

[Allan E.]

Sounds like the master cylinder is not releasing. Might be the wrong one or defective.

Sounds like pressure is not releasing. The two things in my experience that have caused that is defective soft lines (interior "flaps") and sticking master cylinder valves.

[baldscout]

Could also be caused by a sticky caliper. If they were not pressed back into position evenly when the pads were changed, they could be getting caught on a groove and not releasing.

Check the maintenance records on your new toy to see if they replaced the calipers at any point. If they did as much brake work as you've previously reported, you shouldn't be having an issue.

[Rascus]

Yea he said new brakes and master so you'd think it would be kosher. Yesterday was the first day I had issues. WHen I first test drove it they seemed really spongy, I had to push the brake pedal in almost to the floor to stop it. Now I have no play in the pedal.