Rear brakes keep seizing

Killtodie

New member
2nd time my rear caliper has seized up and does not release all the way, is there a helper spring that I might be missing?

I'll take it apart again, clean and relube everything again.
 

toayoztan

Moderator
Killtodie":2junhcu5 said:
2nd time my rear caliper has seized up and does not release all the way, is there a helper spring that I might be missing?

I'll take it apart again, clean and relube everything again.

Rear brake, you are referring to the caliper right? (I know you said it, but just making sure you aren't talking about your ebrake which does not use the rear caliper)

If the rear caliper, then no, there is no helper spring, it's purely a hydraulic set up.

If it is seizing, more than likely the caliper needs to be rebuilt or you need to buy a new one (overhauled from auto store). Mine had seized once, and I couldn't even press the piston back in.

When you are taking it apart and relubing things, what are you doing exactly?

You would need to go as far as taking the piston out, make sure there inside is clean, get new seals, etc (aka rebuild it).

Bryan
 

Killtodie

New member
The disc caliper, not the drum brake stuff.

When I rebuilt it, I took out the bolt, wire brushed it, cleaned everything with brake cleaner, used a pipe cleaner on all the holes, applies synthetic bearing grease, cleaned the brake shims and applies anti seize to them, put it all back together. Was fine for a few weeks, now after my car was sitting for 6 weeks, I went for a drive and it was seizing up. I had to replace the master and bleed the brakes, they work fine, but sometimes that pad drags.


When I say it is seizing, I mean it does not slide open very well, it actuates just fine, I can compress the piston back in and it locks up the wheel, just does not release well, hence me asking if there is a helper spring back there as well.
 

toayoztan

Moderator
Ah you mean like a v shaped clip that helps spread the pads apart?

I cant remember if there is one back therr either. Sorry.

Bryan
 

Fox 21 Alpha

New member
Most calipers aren't ment to release very far at all, just a few mm usually which can be barely visible depending on how thing your pads and rotors are. Did you compare it to the otherside? Or are you smelling/seeing it heat up or feeling it pull? And cleaning the bolt and the outside won't do anything for the actual piston, you have to actually take out the oil seals and pull out the piston and clean it, you can use extremely fine sand paper to finish it (600/800/1400 progression or something of the like). Rebuild kits are pretty cheap. Little pain in the ass to do to get it back together but not too bad in the scope of things.
 

Killtodie

New member
its dragging, smoking, and rubbing. The piston is fine, its the slide bolts that are causing it too stick. If I have the caliper out in my hands, it does not slide smoothly like the rest

I'll take it apart again today and take some pics.
 

Fox 21 Alpha

New member
Ah. You can get new slide bolts as part of a rebuild kit too, assuming its the bolts and there isn't much rust or whatever built up on the bolt holes in the caliper. If that's the case you'd have to get a creative way to clean it out. The only other thing I can think of is its not bolted on right or at angle or something which is pushing the caliper into the bolts at an angle and not letting it slide easier.
 

88gt4DE

Active member
I had a similar problem and only on one side after long drives. Did the caliper and it still happened. had new lines on deck to put on already so I did them and never had a problem again. Bad rubber brake hoses can act as a one way check valve and release pressure very slowly. Another maybe for ya to look at ...
 

Killtodie

New member
So I re-greased the slide pins, dont hear or smell them anymore.

The pads were cooked, had to rub them against each other for a few minutes to get all the dust off, flaking and pitting. Cheap pads, so I dont care. Getting some hawk pads and blank brembos in the future, as long as they dont stick again.
 

Killtodie

New member
Well, its been a week. I dont smell or hear them anymore, and no more brake dust. Think my issue has been resolved. I should probably rebuild them though when I get new rotors and pads
 

Killtodie

New member
ok, brake caliper totally seized up, could not get it to retract. Bought a new one locally for $55, works great. Much better braking and pedal response. Now I have to keep things even and buy a new rotor for the other side. Its probably on its way out too, judging by the rotor wear pattern.
 
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