The last time I had a problem with my 2002 Monte Carlo SS, you guys helped me and it got squared away in a jiffy-- so I hope you can help again!

I appear to be having some manner of problem with my front left brake, specifically with what I believe is the brake calipers. With the end of winter I've been driving with my windows down more often, and on occasion I heard occasional squeaks-- its an old car, its been wet, so I didn't think much of it. But during a recent longer trip (I generally only use it to putt around town) there was a much louder, distinct squeak when light pressure was applied to the brakes on approach to stop sign/lights/whatever. Presumably, if I have a brake dragging, it was heating up and making the problem worse?

So I took the time to investigate it properly. Jacking the car up and giving each wheel a spin revealed slight resistance and the squeak coming from the front left, so I pulled the wheel off and-- well, let me show:

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Everything appears to be fine there.

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Behind the rotor, nothing terribly amiss?

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But then I saw this, when testing the spin of the brakes again. Is this something I should be concerned about? Or is my problem that the brakes are dragging? Is there some way to test/fix/adjust that?

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And for the life of me, I can't remember what this is called. Can anyone name that?

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So any suggestions would be appreciated! To answer a few other potential questions: I'm not experiencing any braking problems (hard pedal, slow response, etc), but I do think I'm experiencing resistance (it slows down faster without brakes applied) especially when at higher speeds.

 

That is the brake line going into the brake caliper piston. Not sure if those cracks are causing trouble but could be. It does appear that the brake pad is dragging on that rotor but kind of hard to tell not being there in person. May be time to replace the calipers. But please wait for others to respond to get opinions other than mine..LOL

 

i agree with p343. that caliper dosnt look pretty. id just replace it i think there only 50 bucks or so

 

I am going to agree with Barbara and Tobian on this one. I would replace the caliper as they are relatively cheap, just under $50

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But it kind of looks like your brake pad is cracked? on the backside which may also be causing the noise

 

That is a crack in the pad. On a new pad there is a split in the pad but you can tell it was manufactured that way. This is a split in the pad. That indicates too much pressure from the caliper piston. I think that caliper is shot for sure. But you may want to have your Proportioning Valve checked. I'm not saying it's bad but the proportioning valve controls the pressure to each wheel. In order for 1 caliper to put enough pressure on 1 wheel, the pressure had to come from your Proportioning valve giving more pressure to that caliper than the other 3. I
can't say for sure that your prop. valve is bad. Only a brake guy can. But getting it checked is better than buying a new caliper and pads, then having to buy a caliper and pads again in 6 months.