my89xj

While driving today I noticed the 2001 wj I've been driving was going slow and wasnt going with out some effort. When I stopped I could smell either the rotors or the brake pads burning. I jacked up the rear right side and put the car in neutral. The wheel took some effort to turn. I didnt check the rear left yet. I think the fronts are fine. Any ideas?

lestatsghost

You will want to get the whole axle off the ground to test what you did. Otherwise you are fighting the diff and veri lock if your wj has it.

Cherokee_Mike

Think I may have a similar problem - my 2000 WJ didn't seem to be running properley earlier today - lacked power, but when braking if felt as though one or more wheels was braking harder. Just done about a 30 mile journey so felt the alloy wheels - rear left and front right too hot to touch, rear right and front left still cool.
I'm guessing the rear left caliper has eaither seized or the parking brake has not dis-engaged on that side and also that the front right caliper has seized.
Is this a common problem on the WJ ?
Guess I should really change all 4 calipers at the same time.
Any advice appreciated.

GI-Jeepin'

I also have an 01 WJ and this happened to me once last year while driving from VA Beach up to West Virginia. While stuck in traffic I notice the smell of burning brakes or Clutch. Then i noticed a trail of white smoke everytime I moved. So I pulled off the road to a gas station, jacked up the jeep and my right rear caliper was red hot. I pored water on it and it instantly steamed up. I took out the jack handle and pryed the caliper over to free the rotor. Then had my son step on the brakes, it moved but got stuck again. We did this about 4 more times then, click, either the pad was wedged in at an angle or the piston was. Either way, that click was something getting freed because after that I hadn't had a problem in over a year.

When we got back I changed the pads and inspected the caliper. Other than me knowing what happened, there was no sign of anything wrong.

my89xj

My parking brake was stuck. I backed up fast and hit the brakes and they popped loose.

alexallen86

Up until a few weeks ago my breaks where fine but now they chirp up to 40 mph and squeal like no other 2001wj and click to at slow speed turning right I thought I was rubbing but theres nothing to rub I ripped it all out and can't figure out the clicking (different then the break chirp)

BMac329

Be very careful on that stuff, Just after I bought my 01WJ, I had the same problem but my caliper seized up so much that the brake pad actually caught fire. Replaced the caliper and all is good for the last 12k miles.

my89xj

How much was a new caliper?

my89xj

Yea, mine just caught on fire lol

Cherokee_Mike

Well, I've only been doing short trips these past few days, couple of miles here and there and have been checking to see if there is any excess heat in the alloy wheels - now seems perfectly normal ???

This may sound odd, but on the day the problem happened, I had driven up a gravel track and a few other poorly surfaced roads - I wonder if a piece of gravel or a stone had lodged in the brake caliper and kept the pads in contact with the disc ? When it cooled down, the gravel dropped out ?

GI-Jeepin'

Possibly. But when it happend to my WJ, I was on the highway traveling at a constant 60-65mph. Then I hit traffic and was a slow crawl for a few miles. Thats when i noticed the smoke and the smell. I think it was just a caliper malfunction that seems to happen to these WJs often.

I am curious, because of the E-brake setup, are the rear calipers different from left to right?

alexallen86

I actually heard from a mechanics the other day that this model jeep has a lot of problems with warped rotors like the way the brakes where designed doesn't allow for proper heat movement and causes failure so he recommended changing pad brands and moving to drilled and slotted I'm just gona go with drilled because slotted and drilled go really quickly so just drilled and I'm moving up to EBC brake pads I think yellow stuff is what he recomended

GI-Jeepin'

I have had my WJ now for 2 years with the stock rotors out back and other than the caliper issue, I've had no problems.

dh650

Hey all just stumbled upon this thread after Googling for solutions to a very similar problem. I'm glad I'm not the only one now after reading these posts.

We have a 1999 WJ V8 Limited and it was my wife's daily driver until 2007. We kept the Jeep and use it occasionally for short trips usually under 10 miles from home. About 2 years ago we made the mistake of taking it to a local Jiffy Lube for a quick oil change before heading out on a road trip. On the way back from that oil change, we could notice the car riding differently and it felt like it was not accelerating without hesitation. After we got home we could smell what appeared to be hot metal grinding together, or from riding the brakes too long.

I wondered if it had something to do with them messing with the parking brake because it was something we NEVER felt before leaving that place. Ever since then, if I drive the Jeep more than 8 to 10 miles or so, I start to feel that hesitation start, and it won't accelerate freely and it seems like the engine is really fighting to move. It also brakes really heavy and pulls to one side more and eventually the smell starts. I won't drive it very far from home because of this, and I've been wondering what the problem could be so it sounds like the problem could be very similar to what everyone has posted here in this thread.

We're going to get rid of the Jeep soon, because we don't use it very often and it would be better to trade or donate. My concern is we'll probably need to get this issue fixed before trying to trade it and especially if we're going to be able to get the thing to the dealer without it melting down. Does it need new pads/rotors or does it sound more like a parking brake sticking issue? I really don't want to spend any more money on it but if it's an easy fix I can and have fixed many things on this ride over the years. Any ideas?

dave1123

Okay, here's my experience with WJ brakes. The front calipers are dual piston and sometimes one piston will retract slower or not as much as the other one and cause a rubbing, clicking sound. There are 2 different types of calipers, the Teves and the Akabono. Lots of people have had problems with the Teves warping rotors and have upgraded to Akabono. The Teves calipers are larger and act as a heat sink, not cooling as fast as they should. The fix is supposedly phenolic pistons but I had one piston set up anyway.

One thing I will tell you is lubing the guide pins is CRITICAL! You can't just lube the pins, you have to make sure the inside of the rubber bushings are lubed as well. Another thing, if you're going to use the e-brake, use it often or the cables will set up causing the brakes to drag.

My '00 WJ has the Teves calipers and had no problems for 9 years, then I've had nothing BUT brake problems. The next step is switching to Akabono calipers.