so my old brake pads were pretty much completely useless and I did a brake pad replacement. Now my front passenger brake is locked up and burning when I drive. Any advice on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated

 

Sounds like something was not assembled correctly

 

when you compressed the piston, did you crack the bleeder valve or open the master cylinder?

 

not during the brake pad change but I did afterwards to try to get some of the pressure out of the caliper

 

It's just a guess, but the caliper piston likely has no dust seal or O-ring left and OP pushed on one side of the piston rather than using a tool and cocked the brake cylinder in the bore. Another question that only a physical inspection can truly answer. Zclumpy- how many miles are on your Z and have you done many brake jobs like this?

 

it's got about 116k on it. I haven't had it long so this is the first brake job I've done on this car but I've done plenty on other cars before and had no problems.

 

Year? Brembo, non-Brembo? What and how did you compress the piston?..

 

03 non brembo. Used a brake compression tool

 

back to my original question, did you take the cap off the master, or crack the bleeder valve when you compressed it?

 

no. Not until after when I tried to relieve pressure

 

OK. I'd say disassemble it again, then reassemble it according to this:
http://www.nicoclub.com/service-manu.../coupe/2003/br

 

ok thanks

 

that is prob your issue then

 

Not opening it up?

 

yes, you added pressure to a sealed system...

 

Any idea on how to relieve the pressure

 

Take is apart and diagnose the problem. You could have diagnosed the problem in the time it took you to post.

 

lol Dude! It's too late for that now!

 

great. Just replace everything I guess

 

No.. Just disassemble them. Look for abnormalities. Then reassemble them according to the FSM(factory service manual). You could've just overlooked something. It happens.