I parked my Mini on a slight hill and it noticed that the car leans excessively to one side, and also rolls back about 10 inches before engaging. I drove it to the shop who recently replaced my pads and rotors... and when I parked I had tons of smoke pouring from my back right wheel - which was super hot.

The mechanic says my caliper is hung up, and or my ebrake cable is not working properly.

The weird part is that when the ebrake was engaged on a hill, it leaned to the side that was smoking. It felt like the left side wasn't engaging at all. Is it possible for one side to not engage while the other is stuck in the engaged position? Is this due to a botched brake job? I felt like my brakes never had the same initial bite after getting these ceramic brakes - just wondering if this is the issue.

Any thoughts?

 

Do you track the car? If you don't, why did you get ceramic? Brake pads work differently at different temps. Many of the daily driver pads bite well at a low temp but high performance pads may not until they are heated to a good operational temp.

Your eBrake cable is likely bad. I had mine on my 06 replaced this year. Right rear is the one that tends to hang up (mine was). You should be able to feel tension on the cable when you release it. Also, you can go behind the car (not on a hill) and release it by hand using a pair of pliers. I had to do this for a while until I got the cable replaced.

 

How much did it run you? I dont track the car btw, I just wanted less brake dust and longer life. The mechanic said ceramics would provide both. The initial bite sucks on these, and they turned out to be a metallic / ceramic blend with a wood additive (monroe). They're not the best pads, but I'm hoping the hung up caliper is the reason for the bad performance. Also, how do I know what to look for when using pliers under my car?

 

It is about an hour labor to do the job plus the cost of the cables. You have to do both left and right.

Looking at the back of the caliper you will see an arm with a spring. That arm will also have the cable attached to it. Basically what happens is when you lower the brake, the cable loosens and then the spring moves the arm and pushes the cable back in. You have to release the brake and then go behind the car and turn the little arm.

BE CAREFUL!!!! Once you do this, the car will be free to move. Make sure you are on a flat surface and/or have someone to hold the regular brakes.

Next time go for some EBC greens... They have been a great pad so far.

 

My parking brake cables seized due to 6 winters-worth of road salt. Yep, corrosion-causing salt is used in the winter time to melt the tremendous snowfall we get, which turns the underside of my MINI into a rusty mess.

So, I had to have my cables replaced after I noticed a set of rear brake pads were gone after just 6 months. It turns out, the cables weren't fully releasing the caliper/pads, and so they wore down much quicker than normal.

So, about 2 months after I had the new cables installed, I had to have the ebrake handle recalibrated, because the new cables stretched out. (Anyone who has ever purchased a new bicycle knows about cable stretch. A month after they bring their new bike home, they need a tune-up, because all the cables for the brakes and derailleurs have stretched out a bit)... Same thing here...

Just FYI.

 

What you described is classic sticking caliper.
It may have been caused by the brake job, but is hard to say without seeing the caliper. They could have messed up putting the e-brake cable back on which would be just like a stuck caliper.
At the least you should ask them to fix it without cost to you. If it was sticking when they did the repair they should have noticed.

 

Sounds like a stuck caliper to me too. Did they compress the rear calipers by screwing them in with the proper tool?

 

Lift the car off the ground and check the rear calipers with the Ebrake applied... are both wheels locked up ?? release the Ebrake and recheck. Are both wheels free to spin. If one side is still locked, remove the Ebrake cable at the caliper... Is it still locked up?
If the wheel is still locked up you will need to check the sliding pins for proper operation and lubrication. If you apply the brakes a couple times keep checking the brake to see if the caliper itself locks up.
Once the piston has been retracted either with the tool it should not seize up.

 

The ebrake cable on the right rear wheel was super rusty and failed to retract. Sprayed tons of antirust lubricant and played with it for a while. I think it needs to be replaced... quoted $186 parts and labor.