Caliper problem?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
9,468
Location
Connecticut
This is for my 2000 Jeep Cherokee - 174k miles.

My brakes were grinding a bit, so last night I replaced the pads and rotors. I noticed the caliper pistons were a bit tougher to push in with the C-clamp than I remembered, but didn't think much of it. The passenger side seemed the toughest. I put everything back together, and used silicone brake grease in the slide pins.

Upon test driving, there is a hard pull to the driver's side when pressing the brakes. I went back and bled the brakes just to be sure there was no air. The calipers and brake hoses are only about 2 years old, and supposedly are "premium" replacements. I replaced them because of the same issue 2 years ago, pulling to the left under hard braking. Is it likely the passenger side caliper is shot again?
 
Check proportioning valve or is this dual diagonal MC? Maybe MC time.
-
-
[ I just had to replace calipers and rotors in the rogue due to frozen slides - ON A 2-1/2 year old vehicle under 3-36 warranty! They said they were rusted since I didn't drive enough. I guess driving 55 miles back and forth to work five days a week is not enough.. yeah I gotta call Nissan Customer "idontcare" - but not before one last talk to the service MGR.]
 
Last edited:
Did you manually push the calipers to make sure they slide ok ?

If the calipers slide fine, the other possibility is one of the pistons is hanging up.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Did you manually push the calipers to make sure they slide ok ?

If the calipers slide fine, the other possibility is one of the pistons is hanging up.


^ This. I suspect the caliper slides are sticking.

Scott
 
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Check proportioning valve or is this dual diagonal MC? Maybe MC time.


I'm not 100% sure what kind it is. Would this problem have been apparent before changing the brakes? The brakes worked fine before replacing the pads and rotors, they were just near the end of their life and were grinding a bit.

I should note that the pad wear was even on both sides when I pulled the old ones off, and the fluid looked okay.
 
Originally Posted By: SLO_Town
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Did you manually push the calipers to make sure they slide ok ?

If the calipers slide fine, the other possibility is one of the pistons is hanging up.


^ This. I suspect the caliper slides are sticking.

Scott


This I will check when I get home. They were greased well, and were moving before I bolted everything up.
 
I know for some Jeeps around that vintage the original caliper was a Teves and was undersized. Jeep sold a kit to upgrade to a larger Akebono caliper. I did that on my 2001 Jeep GC.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
I know for some Jeeps around that vintage the original caliper was a Teves and was undersized. Jeep sold a kit to upgrade to a larger Akebono caliper. I did that on my 2001 Jeep GC.


Yeah, that was only on the 1999-2002 Grand Cherokee WJs.
 
Sticky caliper slides or maybe some rust/sludge from the piston bore made its way through a passage or the hose. Some calipers might reuse pitted pistons or cheap pistons with a poor finish.
 
Most aftermarket calipers are poor quality. I'd believe it was the caliper 6month old let alone 2 years.
 
Pulled everything apart last night. Installed rebuilt calipers and new hoses on both sides along with hardware. Bled brakes, fresh fluid, etc.

It definitely seems much better. Not sure if the pull is 100% gone, but then again there doesn't seem to be any straight roads around here. My alignment might not be perfect either, so I'll have that done soon as well. The alignment isn't bad (goes straight down the road when letting go of the wheel) but it hasn't been done in a while.
 
Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Check proportioning valve or is this dual diagonal MC? Maybe MC time.


I'm not 100% sure what kind it is. Would this problem have been apparent before changing the brakes? The brakes worked fine before replacing the pads and rotors, they were just near the end of their life and were grinding a bit.

I should note that the pad wear was even on both sides when I pulled the old ones off, and the fluid looked okay.


If it worked prior to replacing the pads, I wonder if you damaged the caliper piston during compression.

I am personally a fan of using the old pad as a cushion to push the piston in as opposed to just clamping on 1 side of the piston and basically forcing it down the bore at an angle. Not saying you did it this way.. just shooting suggestions.

Anyway, did you end up replacing the passenger side caliper or both? What brand caliper did you go with?
 
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Check proportioning valve or is this dual diagonal MC? Maybe MC time.


I'm not 100% sure what kind it is. Would this problem have been apparent before changing the brakes? The brakes worked fine before replacing the pads and rotors, they were just near the end of their life and were grinding a bit.

I should note that the pad wear was even on both sides when I pulled the old ones off, and the fluid looked okay.


If it worked prior to replacing the pads, I wonder if you damaged the caliper piston during compression.

I am personally a fan of using the old pad as a cushion to push the piston in as opposed to just clamping on 1 side of the piston and basically forcing it down the bore at an angle. Not saying you did it this way.. just shooting suggestions.

Anyway, did you end up replacing the passenger side caliper or both? What brand caliper did you go with?



Yeah, I'm thinking that is what happened. They both did seem pretty stiff, so it is possible they were seizing up anyway.

I actually used Advance Auto calipers (Wearever) and hoses (replaced both sides). I normally prefer Napa but apparently the only caliper they stock is the driver side and they didn't have either of the brake hoses. I couldn't get an explanation of why they only stock calipers for one side. They had something like 5 or 6 driver side calipers in stock but no passenger ones.
crazy.gif
I checked Autozone and they had nothing in stock, not that I wanted to buy from them anyway...
 
Too bad you had to go by those. Wearever are actually A1 Cardones.

From what I've read, they aren't a very reputable brand. I've had quite a few issues with them myself. No more AAP calipers for me. Lol.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top