Brake calipers hanging up ?

It happened to me the last set of pads I put on .... jsta pushed the piston in with a big C clamp a couple of times. OTHER THAN buying brand new or re-man calipers .... anyone ever try pulling the piston out and 600ing the bore and piston to get that lite corrosion off? .. a bud of mine is having THIS ISSUE right now with his 07 Charger.

We are seeing more and more sticking calipers. The Rams and Dakotas are notorious for it. I have heard that they are easy to rebuild. But I usually just go to the pick-a-part yard and pull obviously remanned ones for $10 a piece.

That`s probably why most manufacturers suggest replacing or flush of the brake fluid often that 90% of the people don`t do. I think my VW was every two years or so.

I've only ever had the problem on two Chrysler products; a Dakota and a Grand Cherokee. Both have the phenolic caliper pistons Chrysler insists on using to save a few pennies. Both rear calipers on the Grand Cherokee stuck on trips at different times. One I had to change in the parking lot of an Advance Auto parts store in 95 degree heat halfway to my destination. Never an issue on any other brand of car I owned.

Good idea ... but how do you easily spot a good reman? Are some you know of painted or powder coated? I’ve cruised a pick part lot and have never seen anything majorly diff.

Buttt to REALLY FLUSH the system completely.... wouldn’t you have to unattach each caliper and turn it 180 degrees?

I’ll betcha very VERY few people do that !!

So YOU are known to carry around IN YOUR CAR a big 8” C clamp too ?

Big screw driver will back off a piston as well as any C clamp

On my '93 Dakota, I was having a problem with the right front hanging up. Being cheap, I ran the piston in and out (just short of popping it out) several times before putting everything back together. When I bled the brakes, I bled until I had clean fluid.

Seems to have worked. Aside from no more heat and smoke, another sign is that the truck picked up a solid 1 - 1.5 MPG. I'll take what I can get!

Oh, and I use a steering wheel puller like this and an old pad to push the piston back in.

The last time I used a C-clamp, with nothing more than hand strength, it punched thru the back of the caliper. It really didn't feel like I was cranking on it THAT hard. Never had an issue pushing it.

Easier to carry too.

Possible defective brake hoses not allowing the brake fluid to return back to the system

It's important to be able to think and improvise when you're on the road and you don't have access to all of your tools. The lug wrench worked well enough to be able to pry the brake pads far enough apart so the old pads could be removed from the old caliper, and the new (rebuilt) caliper already had the piston retracted. No need for an eight inch C clamp.

But what if Yurr on the road and it winds up sticking and SMOKING HOT ? I had that happen twice to me !! I had that C with me because it had stuck slightly before. AND the second time it did it I tried driving through the issue and it WARPED a good solid rotor so bad that I had to buy a new one !

The remanned calipers usually have a different finish to the metal. You can typically tell that they are not as old as the vehicle, especially after seeing a few original ones. And then the remanned ones often have a tag or sticker on them. If there are enough of the vehicles to choose from, sometimes you can score shiny, fairly new ones.

Just a few weeks ago, one of the calipers on our work Town and Country started dragging. I had to go to two different yards, but I found a fresh kill Grand Caravan with a nearly new complete front brake job. Calipers, hoses, pads, and rotors all for $40.

But it does take time to find and pull those deals. The only way it probably makes sense for most folks, is if it there were more than just those parts needed.

Luckily... the two yards I’ve wandered through have the vehicles UP ON welded steel wheels with the regular wheels OFF the car. I’ve never paid detailed attention to the front or rear brake systems - NEVER SEEN AN OBVIOUS NEWER SYSTEM like you did but I will pay better attention next time. Going in there probably next week.

Let me add ..., Ive never had a sticking caliper jsta outa the blue. It’s always happened jsta after adding new pads or rotors and/or at the most after driving for maybe 50 or so miles ... THEN it will COAST DOWN like a dream.

Maybe when you install the new pads you are cocking the piston or using your clamp to push the piston back too far. With all the brake jobs I have done I have never had a caliper stick.

Not sure about 07 charger, but being a first generation LX maybe it has the same
2 piston Aluminum PBR calipers with phenolic pistons as the last 2 05 Magnums I've had.

If it does, there's probably not going to be any corrosion, but sometimes the
Plastic pistons develop odd marks in the sides which cause them to stick.
I haven't been able to figure out where the marks come from but they did it twice.
Might even be my fault, I don't know.

Anyway it was the easiest caliper rebuild ever. 4 bucks for seals,
4.50 for new pistons, 99 cents for a copper washer. Take apart and replace the components.
Nothing there to hone and no corrosion at all......

I always push the pistons in very slowly to keep contaminates from getting pushed back up the lines. I never had a issue with sticking calipers on any of my modern stuff with the exception of a PT that the right front brake seized up. It was right after I put on some new ceramic pads. It must of had something to due with pushing the piston back for the install of the new pads. I ended up replacing the rotors, pads and calipers, and bleed the brakes to start fresh.

Maybe just lucky, maybe something to due with the environment the vehicle lives in. I don't know. I do know that we see sticking calipers on vehicles irregardless of the time frame of brake service or even on ones that have never had the brakes serviced. But it seems some brands tend to have trouble with the hoses, while others tend to have trouble with the calipers. And then some models have few, if any, of these problems. But we see more problems with the calipers it seems on these late model Mopars. But, fortunately, we aren't the only ones experiencing the issues. Which means that we are very likely to find replacement parts for cheap at the pick-a-part yards.

Would it not be a good idea maybe to open the bleeder screw when you push the piston back to flush out the old fluid and any crap that gathers there?

Kevin

This.

Also, depending on area, I see the bracket that holds the hose away from moving parts can get so rusted it will crush the hose shut.

THAT !! ... was an issue with the way earlier big vans !

It would allow the psi to PUSH THROUGH ... but not bleed back !

I had two experiences with that MEself !

It’s more than a good idea, it’s the best way. Why push the crap back up the lines. Does anybody flush the brake fluid on a good working system? You should.

But let’s get real here. How hard is it to take apart, clean and put new seals in a caliper? Its easy people!

How many people here have access to a REAL BLEEDER SYSTEM that will clean out the whole thing ?

Also .... the bleeder screw is at the top of the caliper- any trash is at the bottom!

So who here flips the calipers 180 and pumps through a gallon PLUS of brake fluid to clean out the system?

BTW ... jsta what does a dealer charge for a flush .., and how complete is that service ?

I think that some of the responses here miss the point on this particular problem. The calipers (and in some cases the hoses) just won't let the brake fully release. It can start anytime. Seemingly out of the blue. It is not tied to replacing the pads. And by the time it gets to us, it had been sticking for a while, the rotor has gotten hot and warped, and the pads on that side are worn down more than the other side.

So what began as a dragging brake, is now an entire front brake job. So, it is just cheaper and easier (at least for me) to pull everything off a wreck for $40 or so, that some other poor schmuck just paid retail for. And since it was all just apart recently, it all comes back apart rather easily. In fact, with my battery impact and Saws-All, I can probably have the parts off the wreck in less time than it would take to properly rebuild a caliper.

You can tell from the condition of the caliper, pads, and rotor of the donor vehicle whether the pulled parts were functioning correctly. Kinda like a test drive by the original retail buyer.

In fact, we get so many of our parts now from the pick-a-part yards, Amazon, Ebay, and Rockauto, that a regional rep for O'Reilly's wanted to know why we were down to less than a couple of hundred dollars a month with them.

In fact, we get so many of our parts now from the pick-a-part yards, Amazon, Ebay, and Rockauto, that a regional rep for O'Reilly's wanted to know why we were down to less than a couple of hundred dollars a month with them.

How much are you really saving by the time the pick-a-part yard adds all the environmental fees, core fee, and tax?

Just curious.

Some of youz full time repair - like that ole geezer mopX and the fiddler player from the heartland of Florida - I’m sure you’ve done more brake jobs in a week than I’ve done in my life !

Now to mop4 .... I’ve used my trusty C clamp the last 6 or so jobs I’ve done. The way I do it is an EIGHTH of a turn every 30 seconds or so ... DONT THINK there’s any issue cocking the piston.

As a business, we are tax exempt at the pick-a-part yards, same as the auto supplies. But the sales tax burden would still be less for most people at the pick-a-part yards than at the auto supplies because the sales amount would be less. Most don't charge the other fees yet, but a few are starting to. If they do charge additional fees, it is usually 75 cents a ticket for environmental and if they charge core, you can get that back. Some do charge an admission fee of $1, but many wave that for us since we are there regularly. In total, the most the fees would cost someone to buy the parts at some pick-a-part yards is $1.75 while the total extra fees would be 0 at other ones.

And then some of the pick-a-part yards run regular specials, like free admission, Rubber Mondays (tires for $10), $100 engine and transmissions, and all kinds of other deals. For those able to take advantage of the pick-a-part yards, they really can be a rockin' good deal. We save hundreds and hundreds of dollars there. It takes time and effort, but is well worth it.

The Pick A Part near here charges a $3 entry fee. Then they add sales tax and a $1 for the environmental fee, so there is an extra $4 added to the parts you get. The sales tax is always less then it would cost at a parts store because the parts are about 1/2 the price.

I'm usually looking for older stuff, I'd consider myself pretty lucky to find the older stuff with usable brake parts. Sometimes I've been lucky, but not very often.

Though it is true the caliper kits are pretty inexpensive and are pretty easy to install, that all goes out the window if you need a caliper piston, have to deal with a frozen bleeder screw, messed up mounting bolt bushings and threads or clean up a caliper full of nasty rusty crap. It doesn't take too long before you get near the cost of a rebuilt caliper without all the work. Gene

A couple of weeks ago I found a Diplomat in a yard that was in very good shape. Not sure why it was there. Anyway, I pulled the front disc stuff including the spindles for a project I'm planning. $80 for everything and the pads looked good, too. I spent a little more time and pulled the dust covers off the tie rods. They looked good and that OE stuff lasts better than about anything I can buy new now. They threw the dust covers in for free.

Not too many deals like that at the auto supplies.