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99 Grand Prix GT - Front wheel mystery

J

jammy

New member
Today, as I was filling up at the gas station, I noticed a black deposit on the front pass side wheel rim. It was more than normal brake dust. First, it was only on the lower side of the rim, as if something had dripped out of the center of the wheel/axle, and second, in addition to back dust, there was a thick, almost grease-like, substance. Unfortunately, I wiped away most of the grease, but you can see some of it in the attached pic.

When I got home, I parked the car in the garage and went in to get into some work clothes. When I came out, I noticed a "wet" spot on the garage floor under the same wheel. I jacked up the car and removed the wheel, calipers and disc to take a closer look. I noticed that the wet spot had some black dust mixed in with the liquid. The liquid was colorless and had no odor - almost seemed like water. Brake pads aren't worn at all.

It was dry today, but it did rain a few days ago. The car is kept in the garage, however.

The mystery is that once I took everything off, I couldn't find anything wet on the bottom of the caliper, disc, knuckle or anywhere else that was obvious. I didn't see any brake fluid leaking from the brake line or caliper. (The liquid wasn't like brake fluid anyway.)

Any idea what could be going on? Please see pics here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t8jk12xmi8erioa/AAC-g4PjqOTkPKdrSIdFqTVda?dl=0

Thanks in advance for the help.
 


alen:

The CV joint looks completely dry; boot and clamps are intact; cannot find any grease or wetness when I touched the bottom of the boot. I have a pic of the inside of the wheel. Shows the splatter before I touched it.

I took some more pics of the inside of the wheel which I didn't clean. You can see a lot of splatter and a clear drip that went down from the middle of the wheel to one side.

More pics here. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/skjkp4swy8qv3db/AABFAytOrSKb7PCVXcseZDjca?dl=0
 
with the wheel being wet, not the wheel well. thats brake fluid i bet.

take the wheel off, have some one pump the brakes while you watch for a leak.

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ItHurtz said:
Looks like the classic brake fluid design that happens
Click to expand...

Scottydoggs said:
with the wheel being wet, not the wheel well. thats brake fluid i bet.

take the wheel off, have some one pump the brakes while you watch for a leak.
Click to expand...

You guys have convinced me - the inside of the wheel is very telling.

So, now two questions:

1) I see almost a dozen different brands of calipers on Rock Auto for this car (Wagner, PowerStop, Cardone, AC Delao, Raybestos, Centric, ...) Is there any logic as to which one to select? (Other than pure price, of course.)
2) Should I do both wheels?

Note, this is a car that I drive VERY VERY infrequently. It stays at our vacation house in MA and we only use it 3-4 months a year for short distances. (Not good, I know.) It is a '99 but has only about 90K miles, out of which probably only 20K miles in the last 10 years.
 
any replacement will do. or buy a rebuild kit and rebuild it yourself for under 10 bucks. its just a seal around the piston.
 
Thanks, guys. Just replaced both front calipers and hoses. Hopefully I won't be having any more brake problems.

I am posting two new questions. Please read them.
 
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