What can happen when the rotor wears out and is it possible for the caliper to lock up?

Answer 1

First off, What causes rotors to wear out is low brake pads. When people are not mindful of consistently squealing brakes, that constant squealing could mean that their pads are too low and it's time to change them out. Often times people ignore this alarm pretty much that's tellling them their brakes are too low. The squealing is this little tab on the end of brake pads that scrub against the rotors to squeal to let the driver know it's time to change them. The tab is like a little ruler to let you know how much your pads have worn. The closer the tab gets to the rotors, the more your pads have gone down. When ignored for too long,the tab digs grooves into the rotors which makes them wavy. You can sometimes save them by having them turned at your local Oreilly's auto parts. A brake shop or a machine shop would do this for you too. When the rotors are wavy this makes your vehicle vibrate when you try to stop. Wavy rotors wear out new brake pads quick too. Now to the calipers. Calipers lock up because either a leak in one of your brake hoses or a bad ABS pump. Sometimes from a sticky piston in your caliper. This may be because of wear over the years. If you have air in your system from a leaking hose or line,this can make them lock up too. A bad ABS pump will make them lock up in like five or ten minutes up the road. What happens is everytime you hit the brakes, the pump is supposed to bleed pressure off your calipers to prevent lock-up. If the pump is malfuctioning, everytime you hit your brakes you are adding more and more pressure to your calipers until they lock-up. If you slam on your brakes and can coast smoothly afterwards,your pump is fine. If you slam on your brakes and can not move afterwards even when trying to accelerate, your ABS pump may be shot.