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Stuck Caliper


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Today I noticed that my LGT had slight brake pad burning smell and I discovered the driver's side caliper was warmer than all the others. The caliper wasn't super hot so I think the pads are just slightly making contract with the rotor.

 

Should I check is the slide needs to be greased? What are other likely factors?

 

I replaced all the calipers with Centric re-manufactured ones two years ago, and I probably put only 10K miles on the car since then. Disappointed to have issues so soon.

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The lower slide pins have a rubber sleeve on them, they are know to seize the lower caliper causing them to drag. If this is the problem, just take out the pins and pull the rubber sleeve off. Re-greese and reinstall. There is no effect to braking with the sleeves off.
My wife's balls are delicious.
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Took the caliper apart and the slides were fine. One of the two pistons seemed to be stuck even though the rubber boots looked great. I compressed it with a c-clamp and then used the brakes to push it out. Did this a couple of times and it seemed to move back and fourth a bit easier.

 

I noticed that when I pushed on the brakes only one of the pistons would come out. If I clamped the free moving piston, the other one would move. I thought this was a little odd.

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What is the condition of the brake fluid? Have you flushed it recently? If the fluid is really dark (the fluid that is in the caliper itself) then you could have corrosion buildup - as it takes on water, it darkens and color (it's a feature of the fluid) - also, the additional water makes the fluid corrosive to the materials in the caliper - if you have some corrosion on the interior of the cylinder or on the pistons, that can seize them up (the water also lowers the boiling point of the fluid). That's typically what causes the pistons in a caliper to seize/bind.

 

You might need to rebuild the calipers (replace the internal seals and hone out the cylinder bore if it's scored). At the very least, flush the fluid and get new stuff in there.

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Brake fluid is only a year old and the brake pedal is extremely firm. As a precaution I might bleed a little fluid out to ensure there is fresh fluid in the caliper.

 

I did 50 miles of mixed driving since fixing the caliper and everything has been fine so far. I am just a little concerned the issue might occur again.

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I have two new front calipers in my foyer. 163k miles and one of the pistons isn't moving for me either, so I thought it was time for a new pair. Rears are fine.

 

All new pads, rotors and fluid with new front calipers. Will be nice.

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  • 1 month later...

Looks like Centric's don't have lifetime warranty. I was able to unstick the piston, but this caliper was quite corroded for being so new and not seeing my snow or salt.

 

I think I am going to replace both front calipers with Duralast calipers with a lifetime warranty. Hopefully I will get lucky and they will last, if not I will swap them.

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