Sticky brake caliper - honda ridgeline

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My front brakes on my ridgeline are sticking again.
I had the stealership do the brake job last October, the old pads showed that the brakes were sticking pretty bad.

I am guessing the boot is letting dirt/salt/water in.
I have read a lot of similar complaint.
What should I do?
1. relube the slider pin and make it a maint item after winter every year?
2. replace caliper (new boot, pin etc)
 
file pads where they are sliding in calipers...so pads will have just a little play in calipers...

Do the breake job every year...its for your safety
 
Make sure your flexible brake pipes are letting pressure back. Sometimes they swallow on the inside, and lock some of the pressure in the calipers.
 
Is the pins, or the pad guides? I had two CR-Vs that would habitually get sticky pad guides. Usually had to pop them out, grind the rust off the edges of the pads, and smear some silicone grease on the guides. Never had a problem with the pins.
 
Originally Posted By: Dave Sherman
Is the pins, or the pad guides? I had two CR-Vs that would habitually get sticky pad guides. Usually had to pop them out, grind the rust off the edges of the pads, and smear some silicone grease on the guides. Never had a problem with the pins.


Clean the pads & pins and lube with permatex green synthetic brake lube. During the winter wash your wheels/brakes at one of those power wash places once a month. The salt does a number in winter.
 
Take it back to the dealer usually a 12000mile/12month warranty on brake work.
 
It could be one (or more) of 4 things (as mentioned)

1) flex brake hose
2) piston stuck due to rust
3) pad ears/tabs not moving smoothly
4) floating pins stuck
 
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When you wash it do not aim water at the calipers through the wheels, you can force water in the pins past the boots.
Take it back to the dealer under warranty for the job.
 
Is it the caliper, the pins or the pads? On mine the pads like to seize up and not slide real well. Dismantling, cleaning off the rust, greasing and reassembling buys another six months of time. Check the pad ears, the pads need to be just slightly loose.
 
I am tempted to open it up and check what is wrong with it.
I will have wait till I return from my trip to PA.
mpg is going to be a little bad but don't have time to mess with it now.

wow, I did not know you should not blast the calipers with the garden hose. I go to the dealership wash a lot cuz they only charge $1 for the wash.

looks like there is more to seize up than just the slide pin.

I will post pics of the old pads just for kicks, that will give you guys an idea not to ignore the problem.

Thanks guys!
 
Just don't use your brakes, lol.

Only half joking, actually. If they aren't retracting quite right, then after a few miles the pads get worn away, and the drag should be minimized.

I seem to wind up killing an afternoon doing a tire rotation and R&R on brakes. Nothing hard to it, just time.
 
Yeah, I tend to do brake service about twice a year during rotation/winter tire change.

I clean and relube the slide pins, wire brush the shims and file down the pad ears if needed.
 
Originally Posted By: stockrex
I am tempted to open it up and check what is wrong with it.
I will have wait till I return from my trip to PA.
mpg is going to be a little bad but don't have time to mess with it now.

wow, I did not know you should not blast the calipers with the garden hose. I go to the dealership wash a lot cuz they only charge $1 for the wash.

looks like there is more to seize up than just the slide pin.

I will post pics of the old pads just for kicks, that will give you guys an idea not to ignore the problem.

Thanks guys!


I'm in Cleveland...I have been washing my brakes in winter for 40 years. Never a problem. But we put literally tons of road salt on the roads. You don't have to blast the caliper just a good rinse. But I also really lube my pins well. I get an average of 70,000 miles on a set of pads and 150-200k on rotors.
 
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I don't think it's a problem to spray your calipers with water. If that were the case then everyone would be having issues after driving in the rain.

The front brakes on my VW are original at 11 years and 174k miles, still have about 3/4 pad left and are worn even. Never been taken apart and lubed or anything either. I'd think water over the years from washing and that one time it rained in Arizona would have seized up a caliper if it's true water is that bad for them.
 
I think Trav is referring to not hitting them directly with a 3000+ psi pressure washer at the car wash.
 
yes. I see people using these high pressure wands to clean their wheels, it can push water right past the seals if it hits the caliper. Not talking about a garden hose or rain.
Sorry i thought that would be sort of obvious to the poster with comment. LOL
 
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I've never had to file the ears on a pad before. Seems like a bad idea. Rather, I'd try replacing the pad hardware... I've seen that get bent up and bind. Relube and try it again. Sometimes a new (quality rebuild) caliper is the best t/s choice if you value your time. Good luck.
 
In your signature you show your Ridgeline has 33k miles. You had to get your front brakes done at ~30k miles? Usually front brakes will last 60k or more miles, unless your driving is a more severe service. Like Rand said, you could take it back to the dealer since there is probably a warranty on their work, but they're likely to say you need new calipers so that will be another $700+ job.
 
Also, if your vehicle uses different pins in the top vs. the bottom, that they're oriented correctly. Both of our Hondas' calipers use a pin with a bushing in the TOP, and a plain pin in the BOTTOM. Your Ridgeline may be similar. If they reversed these at the dealership by accident, it could cause binding in the system.

I use a dab of Sil-Glyde on every moving friction surface in the braking system. The caliper slide pins (just a light coating), the caliper ears (just a dab), the piston seals (for lubrication), and the pad backing plates (for noise attenuation).
 
Sure it's not a stuck piston? Everyone always says it's the sliders ... but I have never had a stuck slider. It's always the piston that gets frozen. Then it's time for a new caliper.
 
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