Hello I stored my 350z for the winter for 3 months and just brought it back out two days ago and also got new wheels installed.

I went to get a wheel alignment today and after when the guy was done he told me I had a brake problem in which the brakes were seizing up.

He then went to demonstrate it by putting my 350z into N and pulling the car. It required all his strength to roll it. He then went to do the same thing to the car beside us and it rolled much easier.

My question is is this guy trying to hustle me or do I have a legit seized brake problem? Thanks for the help!

 

One brake, very believable, all brakes , NO. Time to check it out with a jack and find out what is going on.

 

The push roll test sounds a little corny. Did he test the exact SAME make and model? Jack it up and take off each caliper, use a C-clamp to compress the caliper pistons. If it compresses you are good, might be a good time to check your pads and rotors also.

 

The other car he tested was a old BMW with a roll cage built inside it. Well the problem is that I have no idea how to do any of that, so should I bring it to another shop for a second opinion?

When I purchased the car 6 months ago I paid a Nissan dealership to do a pre-purchase inspection and nothing came up for the brake system.

 

I just don't think that guy should come to a conclusion like that without actually taking a caliper off the car or hearing it grinding while driving. Of course I know how he got to his conclusion, but there are too many factors like weight, tire size, etc. that make a car easier to move than another.

 

A real easy way for me to make you think all your brakes are seized up would be to fiddle with the adjustment rod between the brake pedal and the brake booster under your dash. Is this a known mechanic to you? What did he propose to do to fix it? Did he lift the front and rear seperately to show you if it's all four, or just one end of the car?

 

No this isn't a known mechanic to me but hes gotten a lot of positive reviews in my area that is why I went to him for my wheel alignment.

He told me it would costs me $50 just for him to look at it and find the problem. He doesn't know the exact problem he said it could be the calipers or any other small thing.

No he didn't lift the car to show me. How he came to the conclusion was that he had a hard time rolling my car when it was in N. He said my car should easily roll and told me he has no problem rolling even trucks.

 

It's entirely possible that you indeed have a brake problem, and it could be something that just manifested itself after bringing the car out of storage and driving it. $50 isn't bad to find out what's wrong, and you might as well pay him to hear what he has to say unless you are able to check these things for yourself.

Here's some things to consider:
1) Were any adjustments made to the brake system before it went into storage?
2) Is this problem isolated to the front, rear, or all four? Need to lift the car, put it in neutral and release the parking brake to find out.
3) If it's all four, we could agree that it's problem with the central components of the system.
4) Central components to consider? Could be brake pedal linkage. Could be binding in the master cylinder?
5) If its just the rears......the parking brake shoes may not be releasing.
6) if its just a single wheel......binding caliper piston or guide pins.

There's a lot of sub-components, but it won't be all of them. A new master cylinder is $115. Calipers are less than that. You'll pay for his labor, but don't get ripped off. Count on paying for system bleeding if any components are removed - pay the extra coin for a full flush and replacement of all the brake fluid while its on the lift.

If he can't tell you exactly what the problem is after his initial diagnosis, take the car elsewhere. It absolutely should not be some "redo-the-whole-system-its-all-shot" crapshoot.

 

I've had seized calipers before. Jack up your car. Spin the wheels by hand. It will be noticeably more difficult to spin the ones with seized calipers.

Another way is to feel for excess heat after driving for a while. Put your hand near your wheel. You will feel a lot more heat coming from the wheels with seized calipers.

 

I had this sort of problem about 3 months or so ago, except it was my driver's side ebrake that was sticking a bit, caused some smoke and the obvious burning brake smell after a drive , could feel the slight pull on gear changes and slowing down etc, that would be the first place I'd look.

 

My buddy Honda had a problem some what you are having. The brakes would lock up and could not even move the wheels. He ended up flushing the brake fluid and putting new brake fluid and never had the problem again. I have no idea why that fixed it.

 

Bret's suggestions make sense. It's improbable that all calipers would have siezed. I've stored cars routinely for 6 months/year and have had the parking brake (on one side) frozen by rust to that little drum on the rear rotor. However if that happens, the affected wheel will not rotate period. If the car was slightly damp when stored, one or two caliper slides might have rusted causing the pad (on one side of a rotor) to rub. As Bret said this is easily detected by jacking up the car and spinning each wheel. If the rust is not extreme, one can clean up a caliper and slide mechanism with a wire brush and apply special silicon grease for brakes. Sliding calipers, rust and repeated winter storage is the reason I fitted my Touring model with OEM Brembos from the Track model.