Whoa!
Time out.
Your rotors SHOULD look the same. Grey, non reflective and slightly rough to the touch.
If they looked different from that when they gave them to you, both are suspect and I
would scrap the rotors and replace them.
Next, after a week of driving, you should have a semi shiny rotor surface. They also might have
changed color slightly. There should be no appreciable wear, no irregular grooves. They also should
not be super shiny and yellowish. If they are the pads were not broken in properly and the pads and
rotors are glazed. More on that later.
Either the floating pins or the piston itself can seize, and both can do so intermittently under the force
of braking. Both usually show up during a brake job though, through excessive difficulty pushing the piston
in, or difficulty getting the calipers over the new pads.
A seize can be slight, simply causing pad contact with the rotor when you are not braking which dramatically
increases wear on pad and rotor on that axle. Or it can be extreme enough to completely freeze the piston
so that while you have a hard pedal, no braking takes place. That is pretty rare, usually it's the first kind.
Take the pads out of the pad carrier and bolt the caliper back in place without them. Now pull the caliper
toward you and push it away from you. It should move both ways very easily. If it does not, remove the caliper
bolts and boots, use brake cleaner and pull a rag through the passages to remove any old grease and clean the
sliding pins on the pad carrier the same way.
Inspect the sliding pins for excessive wear spots, most of it should be shiny and new looking. Also, shine
a light down the passages the bolts slide into in the caliper. Look for wear or signs of damage there.
If the bolts look seriously worn, replace them. If the passages in the caliper look rough, replace the
caliper as well. If neither is true then...
Re-lube the caliper sliding bolts with a quality synthetic grease MADE for brake assemblies. Clean the boots
by pulling the rag through and add a little grease inside those,then reassemble. Try the push pull test again
after assembly, getting the caliper to slide toward you and away from you should be easy. If it still isn't
something got missed on inspection or the parts are too worn and should be replaced.
Don't forget to put the pads back in after that
If you are inclined, while the calipers are off, you may wish to expel the main piston and inspect the sides and
the bore. Also inspect the seals. If you do not know the procedure for doing this let us know first. It's
potentially dangerous operation.
If you have the other style of caliper, instead of sliding pins you will have sleeves. Same procedures apply.
It is interesting to note that the factory does not instruct you to lube anything EXCEPT the caliper piston seal
and boot (if you remove them), the back of the pads and the backs of the anti-squeal shims, and the sliding pins
for the calipers. All rubber parts are supposed to be replaced, most of us inspect them and reuse them if they
are not hard or torn.
Also, pads these days usually make noise of one kind or another, squeaking or a slight grind depending on the pad
material. So regular inspection is the best policy.
My right front brake squeals like a live pig over an open fire when I have light to medium pressure on it.
Nothing wrong with it though. It is kind of irritating and embarrassing so I'll probably check and re-lube
contact points this weekend. PM me if you want me to take pictures of what a rotor should look like
normally and what they shouldn't usually look like.
***
During a normal 'break in' period, if you do not perform a specific break in procedure your pads may
take up to or over 100 miles to build a level of material on the rotor necessary for proper braking.
If the brakes are used heavily during this period or abused, the pads and rotors will glaze and a decent reduction
in stopping power results. going over the rotor surfaces with some 400 grit or so sandpaper will break the glaze
on the rotors and will rough them up enough to break the glaze on the pads. No need to get crazy, it just takes a
good once over on both sides.
***
Re-bleed your braking system as a matter of caution and diligence. Something tells me if you had enough air in
the system to get a caliper piston not to move, you would be in much worse shape than you are now. The pedal
would be soft or worse, and you would have virtually no stopping power without really getting onto the pedal.
***
It's true rocks can get between the pad and the rotor and make noise, but it shouldn't last very long since you will
wear the rock down thin enough to drop out in no time. I can stick in the pad, but because of temperature differences
they don't usually.
***
Try all that and see where you are at. Take your time with the inspecting, take pictures and post them if you can.
Brakes are the most important part of a car, none of us can afford not to have them when we go to press that pedal...