Rear Caliper Seized Up

crzyhrse99 · Jun 24, 2007

Drivers rear caliper has seized up, pads and rotor are trashed with it. Here is my list so far, let me know if I'm leaving anything out.

2 Rear rotors
2 Rear calipers
2 sets of pads
Brake fluid DOT 3
Brake Cleaner
Sealing Washers
Anti-squeal compound
Jack Stands
Haynes Manual (already have)
A buddy to help bleed the brakes

Car is parked untill I can come up with the money to fix, should be this wknd or next. I have never changed rotors or calipers before so this is going tobe the first time for me and have a few questions.

Since I am buying new calipers will I need to rent/buy a rear caliper piston adjuster to compress the piston? Or will the new ones have to be compressed?

When I remove the caliper what can I use to plug the brake line? Anyone know the size of the line, maybe I could pick up a plug that size?

When everything is installed and I go to bleed the system, can I just bleed the rears or do I have to bleed it at all four corners?

Thats all I can think of right now, so if anyone could share some tips or if maybe i'm leaving out anything let me know. I took my car to a brake place in town and they printed me out an estimate of $1,050 , I said no thanks i'll do it in my driveway.

Kilgore Trout · Jun 24, 2007

crzyhrse99 said:
Here is my list so far, let me know if I'm leaving anything out.

Might as well install speed bleeders at this time also.

crzyhrse99 said:
Car is parked untill I can come up with the money to fix, should be this wknd or next. I have never changed rotors or calipers before so this is going tobe the first time for me and have a few questions.

Consider painiting the rotor hats to prevent rusting. This is much easier to do when the rotors are new. Use silver high temp paint.

crzyhrse99 said:
Since I am buying new calipers will I need to rent/buy a rear caliper piston adjuster to compress the piston? Or will the new ones have to be compressed?

They will be compressed and ready to install.

crzyhrse99 said:
When I remove the caliper what can I use to plug the brake line? Anyone know the size of the line, maybe I could pick up a plug that size?

I have always wondered what is the best thing to use to plug open brake lines also.

crzyhrse99 said:
When everything is installed and I go to bleed the system, can I just bleed the rears or do I have to bleed it at all four corners?

Completely flush the entire system.

crzyhrse99 said:
Thats all I can think of right now, so if anyone could share some tips or if maybe i'm leaving out anything let me know. I took my car to a brake place in town and they printed me out an estimate of $1,050 , I said no thanks i'll do it in my driveway.

Wow! That is a lot of money! What kind of calipers and rotors are you getting?

crzyhrse99 · Jun 24, 2007

Thanks for the quick response KT, was hoping you would chime in on this one. Will have to do a search on the speed bleeders as I am a newb to brakes in general although I have changed my pads before.

Wish I had the extra coin to grab some quality parts, but this project is unexpected and is my dd. So now I have to share with the wifey's car to get to and from work so Autozone is where i'll be getting the replacement parts. Everything should be @ $250.

97speedster · Jun 24, 2007

Buy the rotors already loaded with the pads and I always use clamps to pinch off the brake lines if you still have rubber that is.

Kilgore Trout · Jun 24, 2007

crzyhrse99 said:
So now I have to share with the wifey's car to get to and from work so Autozone is where i'll be getting the replacement parts. Everything should be @ $250.

There is nothing wrong with using AutoZone parts I have done so many times to save money. They have very decent calipers there. I would suggest you get the rotors from Tire Rack however. They will be about the same price but you will get nice Brembo ones. They are heavy though, not sure about shipping costs... Speed bleeders are one way flow valves that make bleeding the brake fluid much easier and you can probably get them at Advance Auto for $5 each.

crzyhrse99 · Jun 24, 2007

http://www.autozone.com/N,14401121/shopping/partTypeResultSet.htm

Found something to close the brake line.

67effie, while the loaded calipers are nice and will take some time out of installation process, it seems much cheaper to buy seperate. And I want to make sure I get ceramic pads, brake dusted wheels= .

Mustang5L5 · Jun 24, 2007

Kilgore Trout said:
I would suggest you get the rotors from Tire Rack however. They will be about the same price but you will get nice Brembo ones. They are heavy though, not sure about shipping costs... .

Except they have been on backorder for ages.

I ordered my rotors in March, and still haven't gotten them yet

Of, no need to close off the brake lines. Just let the old caliper hang (tie it up with wire) and bolt the new caliper on. Then just unbolt the brake line from the old caliper, transfer it over (with new copper crush washers) and bolt it back on. The line will be open for less than a minute. The little bit of air that gets in won't hurt.

Most likely your caliper isn't seized up. Is all the damage on one side of the rotor?? The inside part?? If so, the caliper slide pins are seized. You might be able to free and relube them or just biuy the caliper brackets.

Of course for a first-timer, replacing the entire caliper with a loaded caliper is easier.

$1000+ for a brake job!! What a rip!! You could buy performance brakes for that much. A 13" upgrade can be had for less than $350!!

crzyhrse99 · Jun 24, 2007

Most likely your caliper isn't seized up. Is all the damage on one side of the rotor?? The inside part?? If so, the caliper slide pins are seized. You might be able to free and relube them or just biuy the caliper brackets

Yea thats exactly what happened, the inner side.

Mustang5L5 · Jun 24, 2007

Ah, very common problem with the Varga style rear caliper.

You can just relube the pins. If you do this then you don't need to replace the caliper, or crack a brake line and bleed the brakes. Just slap in some new pads and rotors and you are all set.

The way the rear calipers work is that there is a u-shaped bracket that holds the pads and the caliper rides on floating pins so it can self-center itself. Sometimes the rubber boots get water in them and the pins seize into place. When you press on the brakes, the caliper begins to push only from one side as the pins won't slide and let the caliper center.

To fix them, unbolt the caliper from the u-shaped bracket and hang it up. In this pic, the caliper is red and you can see the two bolts that screw into the black bracket. You can actually see the rubber boots where the pins sit. Remove the caliper and then take the u-bracket off
View attachment 379925

With the bracket in your hand, it's just a matter of twisiting the seized pins out, cleaning them up well, applying fresh high temp synthetic grease, replacing the boots if necessary and making sure the pins can move with ease.

Then just slap in some new pads and rotors and you are good to go.

Of course, if you want to replace the entire caliper, go for it. But just offering a cheaper alternative especially if you don't want to crack open a brake line.

Once in a rare while the pin will be permanently seized and you'll need a new u-shaped bracket. they are $40 from ford. I beleive Advanced auto sells them as well. Unsure of their price

crzyhrse99 · Jun 24, 2007

Mustang5L5 said:
Ah, very common problem with the Varga style rear caliper.

You can just relube the pins. If you do this then you don't need to replace the caliper, or crack a brake line and bleed the brakes. Just slap in some new pads and rotors and you are all set.

The way the rear calipers work is that there is a u-shaped bracket that holds the pads and the caliper rides on floating pins so it can self-center itself. Sometimes the rubber boots get water in them and the pins seize into place. When you press on the brakes, the caliper begins to push only from one side as the pins won't slide and let the caliper center.

To fix them, unbolt the caliper from the u-shaped bracket and hang it up. In this pic, the caliper is red and you can see the two bolts that screw into the black bracket. You can actually see the rubber boots where the pins sit. Remove the caliper and then take the u-bracket off
View attachment 379924

With the bracket in your hand, it's just a matter of twisiting the seized pins out, cleaning them up well, applying fresh high temp synthetic grease, replacing the boots if necessary and making sure the pins can move with ease.

Then just slap in some new pads and rotors and you are good to go.

Of course, if you want to replace the entire caliper, go for it. But just offering a cheaper alternative especially if you don't want to crack open a brake line.

Once in a rare while the pin will be permanently seized and you'll need a new u-shaped bracket. they are $40 from ford. I beleive Advanced auto sells them as well. Unsure of their price

Very good info Mustang5L5, thank you for the pic. I will for sure attempt to un-seize the pins before I buy new calipers.

86roadrace · Jun 25, 2007

I had the same problem on my 96--the caliper pin seized on the left rear. Just be careful when removing the pin--mine was so seized that heat and lubricating fluid wouldn't work. Had to be drilled out. The pin was in such bad shape it scored the inner race of the bracket. For piece of mind, I purchased a new bracket and set of caliper pins from AutoZone for around $35-$40. For what it worth, I bought my rotors from Summit. They seem to be holding up fine thus far, but on the rear, I guess that's what you'd expect.

J

Kilgore Trout · Jun 25, 2007

crzyhrse99 said:
Very good info Mustang5L5

+1

sccplr09 · Jun 25, 2007

when my left rear caliper froze up, i just went to autozone....quick and easy...

just bring yours in for the core charge...

Rear Caliper Seized Up

crzyhrse99

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Kilgore Trout

Fried or Broiled ?

crzyhrse99

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97speedster

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Kilgore Trout

Fried or Broiled ?

crzyhrse99

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Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

crzyhrse99

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Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

crzyhrse99

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86roadrace

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Kilgore Trout

Fried or Broiled ?

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