Is it time to replace front calipers?

[eljefino]

Could also be the brake pad ears swelling up from rust causing binding. Just get in there and look around.

Sometimes economy car drivers, or, really, any of us drive so sedately and are so easy on the brakes they run into problems like this before actually wearing out.

 

[PF52]

I agree with the recommendation to rebuild the calipers. I doubt the Echo calipers are anything special or complicated.

When I noticed Rock Auto only had four rebuild kits left for my daily driver, I snatched them up. They can sit on the shelf until I need them. Its an easy caliper to rebuild!

 

[supton]

Yep, that's me! 5 years /150kmiles and the rotors were badly pitted with half-worn pads... Replace pads because rust was eating under the pads. Oddly enough though, my truck probably will get new front pads after 20k, heavy beast with an automatic transmission.

VW A4 chassis though have weak rear calipers, I've replaced mine twice. Pistons get sticky in the bore and won't turn.

I'm just going to start pulling the brakes apart 2x a year. It's not that hard to do while doing tire rotations. If you have to get out a jackstand(s) to do a rotation then about half the hard work is done.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Low temperature will have nothing to due with the operation of the calipers. Have you cleaned and greased your slides/pins lately?


I was also going to ask this! It's the first thing that came to mind.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I though caliber is a lifetime product, none of my cars ever need replacing caliber. 360+k miles LS400 still on original caliber, but the front rotor had been replaced 2-3 times and rear rotor once.

What could be considered a lifetime in a nice climate is 5 years give or take in the salt belt.

There are so many things went bad in the snow belt within 5-10 years, many parts never failed (or working well for 200-300k miles or 15-20 years) in So Cal.

 

[Gokhan]

If you are having issues with brake performance even after you bleed the lines and master cylinder, calipers and/or master cylinder need replacing.

Aftermarket rebuilt calipers are cheap. You can rebuilt yours with an OEM Toyota piston kit like I did but it's a bit of a challenge. Same goes with the master cylinder but it's actually easier to rebuild than the calipers.

 

[asand1]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Low temperature will have nothing to due with the operation of the calipers. Have you cleaned and greased your slides/pins lately?


Depending on the age of your fluid and how much water it has absorbed I would have to think freezing is possible.

If the calipers aren't hanging up, and only acting up in the coldest of days I would start with a flush.

 

[sifan]

I actually had the mechanic flush the brake fluid few months prior caliper pistons sticking.

I have order a pair of calipers online which are not that expensive as I originally thought. I will have a mechanic replace them once the parts arrive.

 

[Nebroch]

Breaking a jammed bleeding screw is nice way to ruin calibers. Is it ok to put brake cylinder grease or copper paste to screw's threads to avoid jamming?

Something like this:
http://www.ate-info.de/en/products/datasheet/ate-bremszylinder-paste-180-ml/

 

[andyd]

Originally Posted By: Nebroch
Breaking a jammed bleeding screw is nice way to ruin calibers. Is it ok to put brake cylinder grease or copper paste to screw's threads to avoid jamming?

Something like this:
http://www.ate-info.de/en/products/datasheet/ate-bremszylinder-paste-180-ml/
Even regular grease. I use regular grease to seal the threads when I bleed.Then I put a blob on the outside of the bleeder too. When I was replacing the brake lines on the Rat, I started to twist the bleeders, I stopped so that I would have good cores. Saved myself 9 bucks a caliper on the re-mans I bought at Auto Zone.

 

[Rylan]

I rarely send my original cores in for any deposit/refund. Clean the OE units up real good and "reman" using the OE rebuild kits, or aftermarket in some cases.

I've done a few calipers and a master cylinder in the past. I've also done starter contact & brushes, but never tried to "reman" an alternator (too scared of frying the wiring).
Most had turned out reliable (had one bad seal), and actually a pretty frugal option. My dad saved $200 on his distributor with only a bad seal. New seals+ bearing+ cap&rotor was less than $40.

 

[Quest]

trouble with remain calipers is that they sandblasted the protective coating off of the original caliper before rebuilding them. They would then simply coat them with thin coat of oil before re-packaging them and sell them off. Unsuspected buyers would install them only to realise that they would fail in fairly short order (or caliper seizure in salt belt areas).

This is particularly true with Aisin and Nissin calipers (for older Mazda fans, Sumitomo calipers are notorious for that) which typically came with some paint-like coating that keeps rusting at bay. Sandblasting will strip that off.

I never install/purchase reman calipers for myself/my families/my clienteles, but instead I would buy new caliper pistons + rebuild kit and rebuid them myself and re-use them. A properly rebuilt calipers will last a long, long, long time, with no troubles of seizure due to salt/rust.

Q.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: Quest
trouble with remain calipers is that they sandblasted the protective coating off of the original caliper before rebuilding them. They would then simply coat them with thin coat of oil before re-packaging them and sell them off. Unsuspected buyers would install them only to realise that they would fail in fairly short order (or caliper seizure in salt belt areas).

This is particularly true with Aisin and Nissin calipers (for older Mazda fans, Sumitomo calipers are notorious for that) which typically came with some paint-like coating that keeps rusting at bay. Sandblasting will strip that off.

I never install/purchase reman calipers for myself/my families/my clienteles, but instead I would buy new caliper pistons + rebuild kit and rebuid them myself and re-use them. A properly rebuilt calipers will last a long, long, long time, with no troubles of seizure due to salt/rust.

Q.

Some reman calipers get a decent paint job. Napa Total Eclipse calipers are carefully painted.

But most rebuilt calipers have either no paint, or cheap paint that was carelessly applied and is already peeling off.