"Frozen" calipers
 

'06 Taco, 95k miles and I'm on my third set of brake calipers. WTF? I don't do off road. It only sees about 200 miles/week during the summer but even so I don't see lack of use as a problem do you? Ideas?

Whats locking up the piston or the caliper slides?

The piston either works or it doesn't.
If one pad is wearing faster, it's probably the slide (cause=cheap grease).

Same thing happened with my new 'foreign made' set from napa. The piston rusted and froze in a year or two w/new dot2 and flush.

Are you sure it isn't the brake line? Old front flexible brake lines eventually swell up inside and become one way check valves.

piston

i.ll keep an eye on the lines but should I jizz the pistons now and then?

The rears?

if the hoses are > 7 years old or age is unknown then replace them with new factory rubber hoses

- that is a must do on any used car I buy

you can check the piston operation manually when you have the hose off

do all 4

but NO, do not get any jizz on the pistons - surely you can afford brake paste...

i have a 2006.

do they freeze up after a car wash?

+1 for failed brake hoses. Calipers are generally ultra reliable. Repeat failures are so unusual as to be a good indication that the problem is elsewhere.

What's the actual symptom?? Brakes dragging? Do they free up if you crack the bleeder? If so, something in the system is holding residual pressure. Either brake hoses, or a poorly fitted master/booster or a faulty ABS system.

we have drums in back. they barely work. :) just kidding they work fine.

Manifests as a very low brake pedal, minimal braking power.

ha! OK but brake paste? Is there a lube for the pistons? I replaced the hoses this time around.

I'm in the process of patching my frame back together again on mine (03).
Never had any brake problems.
Still got the original calipers on it with 160K miles on them.

+1, I tore apart the calipers on both my 944's, 7 out of 8 were in great shape, the one that had minor surface rust on the piston, had a pinched off brake line going to it.

Have you actually checked that the calipers you are taking off are bad? What does bleeding do? Are you losing brake fluid?

pistons are frozen, I couldn't make them move, Bleeding as a first action did nothing. No fluid loss.

Have you taken apart any of the pistons you replaced to see what they are like inside?

Has the m/c or booster been replaced?

Could someone have spaced checking the clearance of the rod going from booster to m/c causing brakes to drag?

What kind of caliper is going back on, OE or aftermarket?

Do calipers show(as best you can tell) water/salt getting by dust seals?

Unisilikon TK 44 N brake paste - Porsche part # 000.043.117.00 for a 50 g tube


if your wife finds out about the cost, tell her it is like face cream

do NOT do all the calipers at once - do 1 only then drive 100 miles or so; do the another, etc. - I assume car is driveable...

I remember Toyota brake pistons being anodized in the 90s. Perhaps they discontinued this causing corrosion to occur sooner?