Just replaced my front brakes and fighting a rotor warp issue again. Rotors were fairly new (they were warped thus the brake job), so I had them turned by a local shop that does good work. Bendix rotors and installed Bendix ceramic pads. Lubed up the caliper pins real well (calipers have less than 15K miles on them) and torqued everything to specs. Just put less than 500 miles on the car and I can feel that the rotors have warped again. Lugnuts went on at 60lb then 80 the 100 ft-lbs in a star pattern. Everything except the booster and lines are almost brand new. Is it possible that there is a blockage in the line than is not letting the caliper fully release? I have never heard of that, but it is the only thing that I can imagine causing the problem. Any suggestions?

It certainly is possible. But it is not likely to happen on both sides at once. The culprit is the inner layer of rubber on the flex hose. It deteriorates and can result in a flap of rubber that forms a crude check valve that does not allow the pressure to completely release causing the brake to drag and heat up.

If your hoses have never been changed, they are old enough for this problem.

Never been changed (to my knowledge), almost 170K, feels like the driver side only. Yeah, I'll be changing both of the front hoses this week. Should the metal lines be a concern?

Only if they are rusted. Do yourself a favor and spray the fittings where the steel lines connect to the flex hoses with a good penetrating oil like Power Blaster (PB). WD-40 is nearly worthless as a penetrant. Just so you don't develop bad habits, keep the oil away from any rubber parts, it will soften rubber and make it weak.

If you have the time, spray the joints several times before you try to undo the hose fittings. Use the correct size flare-fitting wrench and hold the bracket still with a big adjustable wrench. Bleed the RF, then the LF, and hopefully you will be good to go.

Good luck.

edit: Hey! Just saw you are from Fairmont WV - Used to live in Morgantown - Small world.

I just remembered - there is another possibility that I have read about, although this will usually present as both front brakes dragging or heating up or wearing out too quickly. The brake booster can fail in such a way that the piston in the master cylinder does not fully release. Rare, but something to file away for future reference.

Small world is right!

I'll do the hoses first and tuck away the booster info (lesser of two evils)!

Thx.

Just replaced both front hoses. Not a bad job at all, about one hour total. The metal lines came right off without a fight. I didn;t turn the rotors again as I want to make sure it'* fixed. I can do that in a couple of days. WOW! Judging from the responsiveness of the brakes now, I would have to say it'* possible that both lines were restricted somewhat. Big difference. Have a quick road trip over to DC, I'll know for sure within a few hundred miles. As long as it doesn;t get any worse, I'll true the rotors up and move on to the next issue.