Those bolts are the slide pins of the brakes. You might want to call parts stores, usually they stock them. Very cheap item too. If they were that bad, they may be an issue that'* causing the problem.

If it is indeed the pins, all you need to do is pull out the rubber bushings and clean the rust that developed between the rubber bushings and caliper hole. I hammered mine out as well, and after i cleaned the holes, the pins slid back as they should.

Out of the 20+ older road vehicles we have on the farm, i've yet to see a brake line fail in such a way as to block the passage.

I'll check the pins then, get new ones if need be. The brake lines to the calipers are in good shape.

Guys... please understand, you can not see the rubber brake lines fail.

I was a semi non believer in the lines going bad until my sister had an issue with calipers not releasing. Called my mechanic buddy for an on phone assist as I had picked up both lines and calipers.

I bought both not thinking it would be the lines. Mechanic Dan said it would take longer to explain it, but to change the lines only.

A couple of rubber hoses later, the car was like new again.

Visually from the outside, those lines looked fantastic. Inside..the rubber seperated and was blocking the return of fluid.

Alrighty, I stopped by Advance and got a pair of the slide bolts. They only had one pair. I will change them this weekend and will get another pair then. As these were pretty stiff in the holes before, they may be a problem even though I lubed them up. After driving the car today the left wheel in particular was extremely hot. It smoked like crazy while spraying it off, and the same nasty smell was there too. Something is definitely up with the brakes.

When I put the new pins in, what exactly do I lube up? Inside the sleeves AND outside the bolt? I have the red-colored brake parts lube which I am guessing is good for this. :?:

Bill, note taken on the lines. I'll see what happens after the new pins and go from there. Though if they are cheap I may do them anyway.

Do I lube the entire slide pin, inside the sleeve and out? Hopefully this will solve my problem.

You can only tell the condition of the exterior of the brake hose with a visual inspection. The hose may still be collapsed inside. The only way to test the inside of the line is to manually compress the caliper piston and see if it compresses easily. This test requires experience. To someone who has never done it before it may feel like it compressed easily when in actuality the line is collapsed. Or it may feel hard when in actuality everything is working fine.

Also, the piston itself can be stuck and make you think the line is bad when it is actually a bad caliper piston/bore issue.

If the piston compresses hard, you should next open the bleeder and retest. If it still compresses hard the caliper is bad. If it compresses easy with the bleeder open (but not closed) then the hose is bad.

At any rate, the caliper slide pins should be cleaned and lubricated during any brake job. Many GM vehicles have o-ring seals inside the caliper slide holes and the GM replacement pads come with new o-rings that should be installed during any brake pad replacement procedure. I’m not sure about the Bonneville though?

Nope. Put lube on the outside of the slide, none is needed on the inside.

Take the rubber boot out of the caliper, flip it inside out and clean the crap out of it. This is the root problem. Put it back in the caliper and fill it with the lube from the little packets. push the slide through, clean off the excess (use it on the other slide). Then install as normal.

Great, thanks for the responses. I didn't know the rubber came out of the holes so I only lubed the pins last time. I will clean and lube as directed