I recently replaced my front brake pads and rotors, after destroying the old ones. I bought titanium ceramic pads and got the "premium rotors". But for some reason im getting this really weird smell, the same smell it made when i was killing my old brakes. I noticed when i took my old ones off that the left front was worn more than the left. Could this be caused by a bad cylinder? Maybe its not opening completly or something, i dunno. If thats the case how could i check to be sure that the cylinder is working properly.
Oh ya I also tried to change the fluid, in the process the bleeder valve on the left side broke. I can get it out when i have the time, any ideas on how to get the others off without breaking them? I'v changed my fluid before on other cars and never broke the bleeder valve, i usually just use liquid wrench. But this time my buddy thought it would be a good idea to use heat.But if it is the cylinder on that side ill just replace it. Would it be safe to replace just one side though?

anybody?

When you took the calipers off to change the pads, did you clean the mount, lubricate it etc? Also, it is very important to take apart the caliper slides (in actuality the slides I change every time). At least take them out, clean them and re-lube them with caliper slide grease. It just sounds like the caliper is holding one side in and it is slightly dragging on the rotor, which could lead to warping.

You are going to have to take off that other caliper to get the bleeder remnants out. My suggestion, because there is a hole in it already is to use Easy-Outs. Snap-On make the best ones. Soak it with the liquid wrench first and if that doesn't work...heat it a little (please be careful!! Empty first). The other side, if you cannot get the bleeder free, make sure you unhook the flex hose first before heating because if you overheat man are you going to know it!!! That flex hose will blow and you will swear to god you just bit the big one...speaking from experience. Being good with the torch and knowing just how much to heat things up is an art.

Hope this helps.

Jason McKay

Couple thoughts:

1) Since you have disc brakes up front, it'* a caliper, not a cylinder. Drum brakes have a slave cylinder; disc brakes do not. If you're referring to the master cylinder instead, I doubt that'* where the problem is.

2) It'* possible that the side that'* heavily worn, whichever that is (you said "the left front was worn more than the left" above so I don't know which side you're really talking about), is working just fine. If one caliper is not functioning, the other caliper has to do double the work. I would check both front calipers for proper operation, not just the one that'* worn out.

I dunno; I think I'd replace both sides at once, to keep the performance balanced, otherwise you'll have the same situation continuing if one side is more effective than the other.

I know this may sound weird, but I had a similar problem a couple years back. A buddy of mine that is a certified mechanic told me to check my brake hose. It seems that they have a inner liner inside of the brake hose that will give out over time and will collapse when you apply the brakes and trap fluid in the caliper and not allow all of the fluid to leave the caliper once you let off of the pedel. This will permit the caliper to apply enough pressure to make the pads rub on the rotor and really heat things up (thus the smell you could be getting) Take it for a short drive, a block or two, and then feel for abnormal heat on the suspected rim. (compare to the opposing rim) if its real hot (careful) I would suspect that might be your problem. If you go replacing parts, the cheapest would be to try the hose first. It worked for me. I had never heard of that before in my 25+ years of working on cars, and since then I have encountered it a couple of times. Let us know what you do find out.