arctic_mark Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 I need to overhaul my rear right disc-brake caliper. The piston appears to have stuck, holding one pad to the disc all the time causing the brake to heat up. No biggy to overhaul. But . . . Is it better to drive with the brake stuck on for the next couple of days while I get the parts on order, or should I disconnect the brake line and removed the jammed caliper and run on only 3 brakes? It's my daily driver so I do need to use it brakes or no!!! All advice appreciated. Also, what's the best way to close off the brake line once I disconnect it? A bolt inserted in the end and a hose clamp? Thanks Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic_mark Posted February 5, 2007 Author Share Posted February 5, 2007 Maybe removing just the pads would work? Any advice would be VERY useful as I need to hit the road soon and drive home from work with or without a rear left disc brake! Thanks Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 If you remove the 1 pad that is sticking, the next time you hit the brakes all of your fluid will blow out of that Brake..... and the other 3 will most likely not work due to no pressure.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 The correct answer (unfortunately) is NOT drive. When you apply the brakes, the piston may move. It is more likely it is the other side that is sticking. If the piston has nothing to push against, it will be pushed right of its bore and you'll lose the fluid and all pressure to the rear brakes. And have a mess. OK, if it was me and I was in the middle of the Black Rock desert and this happened to me.... Remove the caliper, place something solid and uncrushable between the brake pads. A piece of steel, aluminum, masonite or other hard wood the same thickness as the rotor would be perfect. A bit thinner is OK. Wrap duct around the whole mess so the chunk of whatever cannot fall out. Wire or zip tie the caliper SECURELY to the axle, out of the way of damage. Drive very carefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
br2an Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 You've been driving around with it stuck already so continue until the parts come in. Only make short runs and not too fast. If it gets too hot the brake fluid can boil causing loss of rear brakes altogether. (Gas mileage will suck too but it probably does already.) Make sure to order the rotor and brake pads along with the caliper. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 (edited) You've been driving around with it stuck already so continue until the parts come in. Only make short runs and not too fast. If it gets too hot the brake fluid can boil causing loss of rear brakes altogether. (Gas mileage will suck too but it probably does already.) Make sure to order the rotor and brake pads along with the caliper. Brian Ummm.... do you continue to pull the trigger after you survive one round of russian roulette? To a small degree, it's kind of the same thing. Sure, nothing dramatic has happened yet, but who's to say the rotor is not about to come apart due to heat stress and being worn very thin? I saw the aftermath of that once. The caliper was seized, pad had been dragging, a chunk of the rotor broke out. Wheel locked solid, car spun, attempted to take out a tree. Failed. Fortunately, the driver only suffered a few broken bones and no innocents were taken out. The odds of that happening are very slim, sure. But the repercussions? Can be pretty serious. I say, why play that game? Life is short enough as it is. But good point on replacing the pads and rotor. They really do need to be replaced. Edited February 6, 2007 by mws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 park it before you kill yourself or someone.. please! thanks if you do keep driving you'll also most likely need new rotor$ too. i also suggest you get new hoses as they can't be inspected from the outside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic_mark Posted February 6, 2007 Author Share Posted February 6, 2007 Thanks for the advice! Pathy's parked, whole new caliper, new rotor and new pads in this afternoon! Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 (edited) Good on you! Yeah, it hurts to spend money like that, but it hurts far less than what it can be if you don't. Part of being an engineer is failure analysis. And sooooo often, it turns out that terrible "accidents" were completely and totally avoidable, if only a couple people had chosen not to ignore symptoms or choose to take risks. We all do that on a daily basis, but we must be prepared to accept the repercussions. And if we don't HAVE to chose to take risks, why do it? Do it right, do it once. Edited February 6, 2007 by mws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 (edited) if you're in a pinch, you can repeatedly squish the piston in with a clamp and block of wood and push on the brake to make it slide out. If you do this 10-15 times it should loosen up the piston so it works marginally better. I had to do this on my brother's MR2 to keep him going for another week before he got enough money to buy new calipers. If the boot around the piston is cracked, you'll need to get a new caliper. Like mws says, be careful on icy roads!!!! oh yeah, when you install the calipers, make sure the air bleeder is facing up - I was in a hurry installing mine and I couldn't figure out why the lines wouldn't bleed properly sssh and keep your greasy mitts off the rotor and pad surface Edited February 6, 2007 by skrillaguerilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic_mark Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 Well, got the new caliper on, new pads and bled the system (using my buddy - a big bag of transport chain to keep the brake pedal depressed!) and now she's running fine. But I'm left scratching my head now . . . I've been having problems that when I turn right (in the truck, not walking!!!) , the parking brake warning light, quickly followed by the ABS warning light, had been coming on. Recently they were on all the time. As the ABS sensor is mounted centrally on the rear differential I was reliably informed by pretty much everyone I asked that these warning lights coming on had nothing to do with the seized disc brake, probably a faulty sensor or wiring. But, you've guessed it, I got the brake workig again and now the parking brake and ABS warning light don't come on when they shouldn't. What's the connection!? If it was sensing speed off the pinion then the brake being seized or not shouldn't make a difference, right? I'm confused. Damn it Jim, I'm a head-in-the-clouds academic, not a mechanic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 I had that happening (the lights) a couple weeks back on sharp right turns. I topped up my fluid, which wasn't low, but not full by any stretch, and the problem went away. Probably was just setting off the sensor in the fluid reservoir when the truck tilted on turns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 I'm with Simon on this one - I suspect the fluid level monitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic_mark Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 could well be, it wasn't below the LOW mark but after bleeding the new caliper and then topping it up, it could well be what sorted out the problem Thanks for all your advice on this guys Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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