Brakes Sticking Caliper?

stykthyn

I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.
15 Year Member
Jul 6, 2006
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gainesville
Just took the car out for the first real drive in almost a year. Car started smelling hot about a block from the house. Thermostat said the engine was good so I got home and was greeted by smoke pouring out of the passenger wheel well. Obviously the caliper is stuck or hanging. It's a 99 pbr twin piston unit. Waiting for it to cool down for a couple hours before I pull the wheel off, but how screwed am I? Any chance pulling the.caliper abd collapsing the pistons will fix this?
 
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I had this happen about a year ago. Not as bad of a circumstance as you, but I noticed that my car would hold itself on a small hill.

I pulled the caliper apart, removed all the seals, and used a piston hone to clean up the inside of the piston bore. Cleaned it well, and reassembled. No problems as of yet.

My calipers came from a junkyard, I think they had moisture inside them that causes some corrosion.

Joe
 
If it was a stuck caliaper make shure u check out your rotor. Does it have a blue color with waves in it(overheated). I've never dealt with dual pistons.. Check your slider pins, They can dry up or get a little rust on them if it was sitting that long.
 
Well the rotor is fine. No bLueing or warping. The caliper is in need of a rebuild. Piston seals are shot and one piston is frozen. I collapsed both and pumped the brake. Only one side moved.
IMAG0198.jpg
 
Piston Isn't moving. Tried soaking in parts cleaner and using compressed air to get it out but it won't budge. Reman Unit from A1 is around 45 dollars. May hit the jy abd see if there is a v6 sn laying around abd just take those.
 
Those calipers are notorious for sticking. It's a common issue, especially if the car sits.

A reman is about $40. Not a big deal considering there i a chance a junkyard V6 has frozen calipers too.
 
If a (mostly) non compressing fluid - brake fluid - at a high PSI will not move it, highly compressible air at a much lower pressure will not move it either.

I was logging on to ask if you kept the other piston in place with a C clamp, but someone pretty much beat me to it.

The guys warned about the used ones I have setting around. They are likely to be stuck, and to just go with remanufactured ones at the cost over doing it myself like a drum brake cylinder.