Well we bled brakes & inspected pads. Left rear pad is worn more that the right side. Turning the rotor reveals that it is dragging. What is the likely cause & fix? My friend has new pads that go in tomorrow evening. I'm guessing that once everything is cleaned & lubed it will not drag. Opinions??

 

If you did this check with the car jacked up and the rear suspension full extended downward, it can put enough tension on the ebrake cable to cause binding. You can jack that corner with a separate jack under the lower shock mount to raise it up to its normal position (but not enough to lift the car off the other jack) and check again. The dragging might go away. Both of my rear brakes exhibit dragging when jacked but not at normal ride height.
Just a thought.....

 

Yes we had the rear suspension at full droop. Both sides dragged, but the left side more so & it also had very worn pads. The left sides were much more worn that the right sides. When we have it apart we will clean & inspect. It may be possible that it's just dirt hanging up the caliper & causing the wear. We will see. Thanks for the help vader.

 

Well we got three corners of the MINI brake job done. It appears the left rear caliper is toasted. The parking brake mechanism is not letting the pads retract off the rotor. This caused the pads to wear to near nothing. Also the dust boot is torn & brittle from the heat of the dragging brakes. When I tried to retract the piston it wouldn't budge. Most likely corroded. A new or rebuilt caliper is in order. Glad I don't have to pay for it.

 

Wish I didnt have to pay for it either. Oh well, the experiance has taught me alot...Thanks for your help Chuck!

BTW, for anyone else looking at this, rear calipers are only available from the dealer. No one in Ohio could source a rebuild, so I had to call Classic.