Brake Problems

legion · 09-06-2007, 05:58 PM

I think I have my brake problems figured out. I had two separate problems:

1) Pistons on all four calipers are sticking. This is causing the pads to rub the rotors. (I compressed the pistons and the rubbing stopped.) This has caused my front rotors to warp.

2) When I had my brakes done (by a shop) two years ago, the Mintex pads were slightly too wide. The shop appears to have hammered them in (as evidenced by my difficulty removing them.

So I have:

-Damaged pads
-Warped front rotors
-Possibly damaged calipers.

New calipers are $530 each. I can't afford to spend $2,200 on rotors alone right now.

I checked with my local parts store, and they can get me rebuilt Brembo calipers (do not say Porsche on them) for $50 each. It looks like a rebuild kit is $40 from Pelican.

Should I assume my calipers are damaged and get the rebuilt ones?

Techno Duck · Techno Duck's Garage

I think the rebuild kits from Pelican are $40 per piston, you need four of them per caliper. Ive gone through this already and rebuilt about 8 calipers already. There is nothing that really wears out inside the caliper other than the replaceable seals.

If you can get rebuilts for $50 each, i would do that. I find that hard to believe they are $50 though..maybe for the single piston n/a calipers.

legion · 09-06-2007, 06:23 PM

I checked, the pictures (from multiple angles) were definitely 4-piston Brembos.

Dave L · 09-06-2007, 06:37 PM

A quick check on autozone and they have fenco rebuilt calipers for $50 after the core charge. No idea if they are brembo or not but it could be a cheap fix. I recently put in rebuilt CVs axels that were rebuit and very inexpensive compared to new. The CV's work just fine.

Techno Duck · Techno Duck's Garage

Just checked autozone my self...dont see 4-piston turbo calipers..just the single piston n/a calipers.

http://www.autozone.com/N,14400852//shopping/partTypeResultSet.htm

legion · 09-06-2007, 07:13 PM

Fortunately, I went to Advance Auto Parts.

Techno Duck · Techno Duck's Garage

Interesting, i may order a pair just to see the quality of them. Heck i can probably resell them on eBay for more...

legion · 09-07-2007, 11:21 AM

Well, Advance Auto Part, AutoZone, and Napa can't actually get the rebuilt calipers...

legion · 09-25-2007, 05:48 PM

Update:

New front rotors are installed.
New-to-me (used) front calipers are installed.
The whole system has been bled
New pads all around.

Something weird I noticed: (Nick can back me up on this)
I had to grind down the pads because they were too wide in the back (had to do this with two different brands), and also in the front with the old calipers. With the new calipers, the pads slid right in.

Aslet · 09-26-2007, 11:13 AM

How much did you end up spending on the parts? Everything working well again, I hope they are for you!

-Randy

legion · 09-26-2007, 07:19 PM

I spent around $750 total. Road test is tomorrow as the battery died while it was in dry-dock.

legion · 09-27-2007, 07:54 AM

Oh, and had I bought four new calipers...that number would be closer to $2,700.

legion · 09-27-2007, 04:27 PM

I started the car up, the brake pedal went to the floor. (Never even got the parking brake disengaged.)

So I hooked the brake bleeder (pump style) back up to the master cylinder and pumped until I had 5 psi. Then I sat in the car and pumped the brake. Immediately, I saw air bubbles rising through the fluid-filled hose on the brake bleeder.

I took the car for another test drive. The brakes were much better.

Just to be sure, I hooked the brake bleeder up again and pumped. More air bubbles. I seem to get air bubbles no matter how long I pump, but the pressure does not drop on the bleeder.

Could I have a leak in my brakes? I can't find any leaks. When I put the new calipers on, I did not put teflon tape on the brake line when I screwed them into the calipers. Should I have? There was not teflon tape on them before.

earlr85944 · 09-27-2007, 07:38 PM

After hooking up the bleeder and pressurizing it, open the bleeder at each wheel as well as on the clutch system till all air bubbles are gone, you will be flushing the system at the same time, dont let the level in the res get low.

legion · 09-28-2007, 04:50 AM

That's what I did when I bled the whole system. Unfortunately, I had to bleed the front lines dry when I swapped calipers, so there was still air in them when I refilled the system.

earlr85944 · 05:36 PM

Hi, no go on the teflon tape, rebleed like you did originally to get the air out, but dont let the fluid run low.
BTW, pumping with the power bleeder on will not remove trapped air in the sys, you have to crack the bleeder screws ans replace the air\fluid in the lines with fresh fluid.

djnolan · djnolan's Garage

Here is a good bleeding tip I learned many years ago from a guy that raced. Have an assistant pump the pedal and hold it down with the bleeder closed. With the assistant keeping pressure on the pedal just barely crack open the bleeder screw. Most of the air will be right at the end of the line and escape. Then close the bleeder and repeat. Do this several times per wheel until all the air is gone and your brake pedal will be rock hard. Can be done with one person using a piece of 2x4 to hold the pedal down as well. If you put in fresh fluid you will need to redo in a month or two due to the oxidation of the new fluid.