dragging brakes?

[tarbasd]

Hi,

I removed my front tires today, just from curiousity (I'm learning to do things on my car). I observed that my brake pads at both sides touch the rotor and so there is a slight drag when I turn the rotor. Is it normal? Should there be a clearance between the rotor and the pads? I haven't found any info in Haynes. The drag is not too bad, I can turn the rotor relatively easily with my hands.

The second interesting thing I found was that the right (passenger side) wheel turned completely around even though the automatic transmission was in P. Is that normal? I started to be afraid that maybe my right front wheel was not connected to the engine correctly, so I started the engine while the car was on the jackstands and put the transmission to D. Both wheels turned, although at different speeds, but I assume it was due to the differential.

I appreciate your help,

[[SMAN]]

Puting the car in park does not stop both wheels, what it does is put's one to spin oposite the other, so if you turn one wheel one direction, the oposite one spins in the other direction.

[karazy]

The pad clearance is normal as well.

[Cyorke]

Everything you asked is normal.

[marc780]

Yes normal, most disc brakes do not have any kind of return springs for the pads. They depend on rotor runout to push them away from the rotor. You'd think the pads would wear out in no time flat, but obviously this is not the case. Except when theres something wrong with the caliper like a sticking piston or something.