#20509, "Am I going to have to replace this caliper?" Oct-13-03 03:17 PM by bullox
For quite a while my front passenger's side rim had been getting dirty (brake dust) a LOT faster than the rest of my rims. Eventually, I got a squeak out of the pads on that wheel while appyling the brakes. Not long after that, I was getting a squeal the whole time the car was in motion (quite annoying).
So today I while changing the pads I noticed that the pads I just put on that wheel 4 months ago were toast, while the driver side wheel's pads had plenty of meat left. Also, it was VERY difficult to get the caliper off of the rotor. Not the bolts, but it just seemed like the piston was seized on the pads/rotor (I did take the cap off the reservoir). Once that was off, it was very hard to compress the piston with a c-clamp.
When all was said and done with new pads in and everything, I took it for a test drive. No squeal. Seemed to have fix the problem. But is this going to reoccur if I don't do anything about it?
I greased the hell out of the caliper bolts, they seemed kinda clean (almost no grease) when I took them off. Maybe that helped a little bit.
Any insight? ______________ Chris 96 ESI 5 spd Milwaukee, WI
Matt_95tgs: "People probably call your car rice because it's a straight up Uncle Ben mobile." - in reference to Jwadeclipse
#20510, "RE: Am I going to have to replace this caliper?" In response to Reply # 0
dude i had this EXACT same problem. we definitely need a solution. i did the same thing you did except i took a wire brush to it first. on mine it was the outside pad that was worn extremely bad on the passenger front. my caliper wasnt hard to get off at all, but my rotor was a BITCH. the drivers side came right off no problem. it seems to be a little better but still dusts worse than the other 3 wheels. have any other ideas as to what we can do
#20512, "RE: Am I going to have to replace this caliper?" In response to Reply # 1
Caliper rebuild kit, much cheaper than replacing the calipers. If the pistons get rusted or get grit in them they will seize up pretty bad like you are describing.
-Chris b.
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