Is It A Seized Brake Cylinder?

[gerallt_p 0]

Sorry if its been asked before but here goes,

 

Went out for a leisurely drive today to celibrate the end of my exams , however after a couple of miles the OS front wheel seemed as if it had a puncture or something so I stopped. Tyre was fine so I jacked up the car and tried to turn the wheel, it was very stiff and smoke came off it. Since I was in the middle of nowhere I had to drive home, at first the problem seemed to have gone but once I applied the brake for a short amont of time it started again.

 

After ariving home I have taken the wheel off (which was VERY hot) I have had a brief look in the Haynes book of lies and it says it may be the brake cylinder, was wondering if anyone on here could give me some clarification.

 

Is it an easy job for me to change one in the garage with some basic tools or do you need any specialised piece of kit?

 

Many Thanks

Gerallt

[Tom Fenton 1,540]

It does sound like a sticking caliper, this can be one of a few things.

 

No 1- The sliders that the caliper body moves on have seized or are sticky.

No 2- The caliper piston that pushes onto the brake pads is seized or sticky.

No 3- The brake pads themselves are rusted solid in the caliper body.

 

It sounds to me like you are perhaps fairly new to repairing cars, so especially seeing as it is the brake system I would recommend that you source a reconditioned caliper from a motor factor. This is reasonably straightforward to change over and then re-bleed the brake hydraulics.

 

If you are a bit more confident you could investigate which of the 3 options above is the problem and then free off and lubricate as required. However if you are not too sure a reconditioned caliper shouldn't be too expensive and is possibly the better solution for you.

[Richy_cti 0]

i had the same problem pull the caliper off

remove break pads

 

press breaks so piston moves out (carfull not to pop the piston out completly)

push it back in should be relitivly easy if not it the piston can be freed by reppeting this step several time and it should free

 

the sliders nay be sticking i took a brilo pad to them to remove the rust and then used a small amount of copper grese on them

 

refit pads or replace with new one

[gerallt_p 0]

Thanks for the replies, Im not a complete novice on car mechanics but was just wondering if the cyliner has to be pressed out or something since i dont have a hydraulic press. I think the best thing to do is take it apart tommorow and see what happens. Looks like the cylinders are only £15 or so so will replace if worse comes to worse.

 

Thanks

Gerallt

[hengti 2]

g-clamp's ideal if you've got one, or careful leverage with crowbar&lump-of-wood, etc

[kyepan 291]

if it happens again after that the bores may be corroded and you may need a new caliper.

[gerallt_p 0]

Right then, bought two new(reconditioned) calipers from a motor factor to replace the seized one plus the one on the other side to be sure.

 

The problem now after fitting them is that the car veers to one side when I brake, I have bled the system thoroughly, although when I did I noticed that there was a larger bleed niple on the side the car veers to. Could this be the problem and the caliper is meant for a gti? or should I bleed again to try a diagnose the problem.

 

This is just what I dont need when ive got a rally in 16 days!!!!!

 

Any advice greatly welcomed!!

 

Gerallt