After washing my 1996 targa, I usually dry it well and put it in my garage. My problem deals with the brake calipers sticking to the discs. It seems as if the they readily rust each time, and my calipers then are "glued" to the discs themselves. No matter how well I dry the car out, (by driving it, etc.), this eventually happens if the car sits for any length of time.
Can anyone suggest something that I could spray on my brakes to help release this before I take the car out again. I'm reluctant to put anything on the brakes that may contain a lubricant. I'm also reluctant to just back the car out when this happens, as I get the impression that I'm going to damage something by just trying to force them loose in this manner.

 

What's the big deal? Once you break the brakes free after backing out of the driveway, brakes are back to normal! Never had a problam in 30 years of car driving.

Also, the brake pads are what sticks to the disc, not the calipers (fortunately)!

 

The best thing to do is drive the car and use the brakes til they get good and hot, I usually do 5 or s stops from medium speeds as a minimum. The rust spots will degrade brake performance and can feel similar to warped disks, the feeling will eventualy go away but at a cost in pad/rotor life.

 

I am re-invigorating this post since I have a similar observation. We are in the rainy season here in the pacific northwest, and almost everytime I park for an extended period of time (>2 hrs), it feels like I have to break the pads free from the rotors when I am starting off in reverse or forward. It does feel stuck enough that something could get damaged, but according to Ray (above) this is normal and not an issue?

I also wonder if maybe I am facing a caliper rebuild or if the PO, who used this car for autox, has some special purpose pads on that may be more prone to this phenomenon, or if this is symptomatic with the OEM pad material also?

PS >> Thanks to the unending knowledge available on the list, I was able to repair the loose Park Brake contact in about 5 minutes last night :-)

 

I have the same issue every morning, during the rainy season" when I back out of the garage. I have not detected any performance or early wear issues yet.

 

I haven't had the rain scenario, but I've had the post car wash one.Now I always take the car for a short run. Actually to the end of my driveway and back (~400' one way & kind of steep). The result is shiny rotors and no promlems w/sticking.

 

This stickiness is sometimes the e-brake rather than the pads themselves. I short drive will sort out any rust issues..

 

this happen to me after a wash and sit in garage so i usually take her for a spin before parking