Chipped caliper piston

[Jimmy9190]

My front brakes have developed an internittent squeal so today I removed the pads to inspect and apply some anti-squeal compound. The pads have no shims. Anyway I saw on one caliper the piston has a chipped piece on the very outer edge of the circumference of the circular piston surface. I was able to remove the chip, its a sliver of piston material, I guess ceramic. The chip is about an inch long and maybe 3/32" of an inch wide. I wish I had a camer to post a pic but I don't. If you can imagine the outer ring of the circular piston, on one side there is an inch long and thin chip knocked out of it.

Does the caliper have to be replaced or can it still be used? I think it would still be able to press out and move the pads and stop like normal. These are the original calipers, have 122K on them now. I have never seen a cracked caliper piston before.

This is probably a really stupid question but I just don't know as much about brakes as most of you do. I can change pads and rotors fairly well and once I replaced the calipers, pads and rotors all at the same time on my old Jeep truck. But I need some info on this before going further with it.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Billbert]

Brakes are to important to mess with. It's time to change out the caliper(s) At that mileage you should do both.

 

[beast3300]

Sounds like a Phenolic piston. Replace calipers in a set and you will be good to go.

 

[labman]

May be a little early to rebuild/replace a caliper, but the rubber parts eventually need to be replaced and it is the only way to get all the crud out and new lube on the piston. Back when kits were cheaper and easier to find, a rebuilt caliper usually was cheaper than a kit and piston without the labor.

I did both my truck and car over a years ago. I let the guy at Oriely's talk me into just putting grease on the back of the pads to control squeal. So far, so good. You might try cleaning up the caliper bolts or whatever and putting a high temperature grease between the piston and pad. I swear I have no financial interest in Sil-Glyde, but highly recommend it. Put it on the bolts or whatever the caliper slides on too. I put it on everything the moves but the friction surfaces.

 

[mechtech2]

You cracked the piston somehow on installation or removal.
That is a really big chip! It will cock the piston and pad - sorry.
I like to replace calipers in pairs, if money is available.

 

[JustinH]

I would just buy a rebuilt caliper. They come loaded and unloaded (with or without pads).

The price is usually very close, so I would just replace the pads also if they are even close to done..

 

[Jimmy9190]

Pads and rotors both are only 2 months old. I probably cracked that side of the piston when I used a big pair of Channel Locks to push it back into the bore when I was installing the pads. I was trying to push it back quickly to figure out some other problem with the brakes on that wheel.

Anyway, I got a pair of Reman calipers at AAP for $52.00 each and lucky for me they had brake fluid on a BOGO deal. I picked up a BOGO deal on brake cleaner too. The AAP guy was very helpful and even gave me a length of hose for free to use when I went to bleed the brakes. I used the hose and a 16 ounce Diet Pepsi bottle with some brake fluid in it to check for air bubbles. My gf pushed the pedal while I worked the bleeder screws and everything is back to normal now. I put 2 coats of CRC brake quiet spray and a very light coat of brake grease on the back sides of each pad and so far there has been no squeal at all. Used caliper grease on the slide pins and slide surfaces too.

I just wish I had not spent half the day today on this little project, but I know if I had not fixed it now it would have become a serious problem later when the jagged edge of that cracked piston finally ripped the boot around it and leaked brake fluid out.

Thanks very much for everyone's help here.

 

[mechtech2]

OK, next time use a block of wood or an old brake pad to distribute the load if you push on the piston.
But you did you and your car a huge favor by carefully greasing everything!
Your repair was needed, don't begrudge your labor or costs!

 

[Jimmy9190]

Thanks for the tip. I count myself really lucky that I wanted to fix the brake squeal and ultimately found that broken piston. It was an accident waiting to happen for sure. And I almost didn't go out to do it since it was freezing cold here. Well it was about 45 or 50 degrees which is freezing to me anyway.

Hopefully I won't need to get back into my front brakes anytime soon. I do want to inspect, clean and adjust the rear drum brakes as soon as I can. At 122K I am probably ready for new shoes and hardware on the rears. This is technically the second set of front pads and rotors, I had a pulsation/vibration problem a couple months ago and rather than turn the rotors I just bought new rotors and I replaced the pads too even though they were only about halfway worn down. The pads that came off of it this last time went on at about 65K but I figured I would just get new pads now instead of having to do it again in another 20 or 30 K anyhow.

I have heard and read that every third time you do the front pads you should replace the rear drums. I don't know how much truth there is to that. My truck is stopping great and has a good pedal now, but I am planning on doing a good cleaning, adjustment and thorough inspection on the rear drums if not this weekend definitely the next.

 

[artificialist]

You can't tell when drums need to be replaced unless you measure them.

 

[mechtech2]

Rear drum brakes last 2-4 times as long as the front disc brakes.
You might be surprised if you yank the drums off and look.
A good cleaning and lubing may get you 20,000 more miles, or more.