Ok, so I was away from home for two weeks. I asked my parents to drive my car a couple times while I was gone and they did. Apparently it needed more though because the battery was dead when I got home... Anyway, after I charged the battery I started it up to take it for a little drive and my brake light came on. I noticed the brakes were a lot looser than what I was used to. So mom, freaking out thinking I was gonna die in a fiery crash, immediately took it to our mechanic. The rear wheel cylinders were pretty much blown so he replaced them. The brakes were nice and tight after that, better than they've been since I got it. But my dad and I were looking at it beforehand and we noticed that the front disc brakes weren't disengaging completely when the brake pedal is released. We replaced the brake hoses on both sides hoping maybe there was a clog in the old hoses that was causing the problem. Well that wasn't it. We just finished that job (getting those old brake hoses off is not easy...) and the brakes still don't fully disengage. My cars always been a little slow off the block from my perspective and I'm thinking maybe this is why. I've heard that this could be caused by anything from the calipers to the ABS to the master cylinder. Any ideas?

My vote is on a stuck caliper.

Ok. So what is happening in the caliper that is causing the problem? I'm incurably curious haha

The piston inside the caliper can swell or rust. The pressure from the brake fluid will push the piston out, once out it sticks there. Your car should pull to one side (the side with the sticky caliper) when driving forward. That is unless both sides are sticking. If the brakes are draging you should smell the linings burning when you stop and get out. Just stick you nose down by each wheel. If it smells like something burning, it's sticking.

Ok. I've never noticed a burning smell before but then I've never stuck my nose down by the wheels haha.

I'm inclined to think it's something else but that's only because I'm hoping my luck isn't bad enough that both calipers are bad...
Thanks for the info though.

I have to assume you've checked the fluid? It's the brake light and not the ABS Inop light right?

Oh yea, the fluid has been bled and replaced completely once. And it's not the ABS inop light. If it was that I would probably have just ignored until something bad happened, haha.

If it is just BRAKE, that is your parking brake engaged

Except that the parking brake isn't engaged.. Could that be an electrical issue?

try pulling it up and engaging then pushing it all the way down as far as you can

Could be the switch on the parking brake.

I did that several times. Besides, after the rear wheel cylinders were replaced the brake light is no longer on.

Sooooo, what's the problem?

Um, the brakes don't disengage even when the brake pedal is not down. As it says above. When jacked up the wheels won't spin freely because the brakes never disengage completely.

you may need to pull your wheels and check your calipers. Also, check your fluid, and the lines. The rear brakes are the parking brakes and if the BRAKE light is on then something is messed up with at least one of them...

Just a thought, I agree your brakes may be hanging up, but have you disassembled either side yet? It could be as simple as a build up of rust between the caliper/bracket and the brake pads themselves. The effect would be the same as a sticking caliper. The brakes grab, but wont release. Furthermore, if one pad is seized on a caliper, that pad will have more lining on it than the pad that is still moving. I hope you find what ever the root cause is and God bless.

-Chvrlt283

For what it's worth, I had the passenger front caliper go bad on my Grand Am and the car didn't pull to the right. It did, however, warp the rotor badly due to the heat and it was the shaking that made me aware of the issue. Also for what it's worth, I don't ever replace brake pads without also replacing (not resurfacing) the rotors. And it doesn't pay to "save money" on rotors. Buy the best ones you can afford. The cheap ones warp something awful.

Raise front of car off of ground. The wheels should have just a very slight drag when rotating them. If it is more than that seeing that you have replaced both brake hoses, I would suspect a seized piston/ caliper and probably a warped rotor.