Chrysler Repair: 97 T&C front brakes dragging/hot, stoplight, calipers

Question
2 days ago, while driving home from work (~20 miles), my van seemed to be getting bogged down. As I came upon a stoplight and began to touch the brake pedal, it felt very solid & just the slightest pressure brought me to an abrupt stop. I had to really rev the engine to get it moving again. When I took my foot off the gas, it slowed down, even going downhill. I was only about a mile from home, and made it the rest of the way, but probably wouldn't have made it much farther. When I pulled in the driveway, I moved the transmission into reverse and forward a few times, and the van wouldn't move unless I significantly revved the engine. I shut it down, started it again, and rolled back and forward freely with the engine idling (normal). The front wheels felt extremely hot, and I smelled a very strong burning odor at both wheels. the back wheels were normal. An hour or so later, I got in the van and drove it around the neighborhood for 20 minutes stop and go w/ no problems at all. I drove to work yesterday morning w/ no difficulty, but the front wheels did seeem hot when I arrived. My drive into work is usually stop & go, ~40mph, but my drive home is fairly steady at 65mph until the last 5 miles. On the way home last night, I had a similar experience as the previous night, except that when the bogging down began, it progressed more quickly, and I didn't make it home. When I could only do ~25mph in a 45 zone, I pulled into a parking lot. Once I turned it off & back on, everything seemed to let go and roll freely again, and the burning odor was back w/ the hot front wheels. The mechanic looked at it all day today, drove it over 60 miles, and never got the lo ckup that I did. He did measure the temp of the front wheels at 285-290. I've seen no brake or ABS lights on the dash. No trouble codes. Mechanic says calipers are fine. I'm now into a "level 3" diagnosis ($$$), and would appreciate any insight you could provide.  thanks.

Answer
Hi Donald,
The manual suggests the following possibilities:
contaminated brake fluid, some seals in the system swollen (not specific as to which, however),
master cylinder not releasing fully due to internal binding, the stop light switch not adjusted properly (is operated by the brake pedal arm, if so the switch would be holding back the pedal from returning to its full height), or the pedal mechanism binding.
Because it affects both sides of the front, it probably is related to the master cylinder or the pedal operation. So verify that your pedal is coming up all the way, then maybe try bleeding the brake fluid from the front wheel lines enough to get fresh fluid to the calipers, and finally consider the possibility of replacing the master cylinder.
An outside possibility, particularly if the two front wheels are equally bound up is that the rubber hoses that feed the calipers are degraded internally such that the fluid cannot flow freely backward sufficiently to release the caliper after each use. This happens over time, but not usually equally (binding is usually noticed on one side or the other), but you could have deteriorated brake hoses on both sides. You could try changing out the hoses, then bleeding the system as described above to check out this possibility before replacing the master cylinder.
Roland