Rear brake calipers seized up?
10-26-2011, 07:02 PM
#1
4th Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1,775
Rear brake calipers seized up?
Well I was changing my brake pads at a friends shop and the fronts went on with no problems but we got to the rear brake pads and I couldn't
Figure it out so I had my friend do it and he said the brake callers appear to be seized up cause it won't turn. According to him I need new calipers in the back. He said it's because I'm in an automatic and don't use the e brake enough. Does this sound right? If so where's the cheapest place for replacements online? (07 v6)
Figure it out so I had my friend do it and he said the brake callers appear to be seized up cause it won't turn. According to him I need new calipers in the back. He said it's because I'm in an automatic and don't use the e brake enough. Does this sound right? If so where's the cheapest place for replacements online? (07 v6)
10-26-2011, 07:23 PM
#2
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Virginia
Posts: 154
I believe advance auto online still has their sweet discount and rebate deal. but it may be the last day. Pick up in-store same or next day. You should be able to get your core charge back as long as the casts are good. If not check out Rockauto but then you run into shipping and core charge issues. Local pickup may be your best bet
10-27-2011, 07:04 AM
#3
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 338
Being an auto and not using the e-brake enough has nothing to do with it... Stupid question, but was your e-brake off when trying to do this? I tackled the brake pads myself for the first time and put the e-brake on and couldn't figure out why I couldn't remove the rear calipers. 
As for being seized, if they were seized in the open position you should have noticed a big loss in brake power. If closed, you would have noticed it was much harder to accelerate and move and probably a lot of constant noise from the rear when moving.
As for replacing the calipers... Maybe even try ford OEM parts (through the online site) I got taken when I did mine. I had a noise and dealer said one of the fronts were seized and they said the part was $350. Well, it's not.
Good luck!
As for being seized, if they were seized in the open position you should have noticed a big loss in brake power. If closed, you would have noticed it was much harder to accelerate and move and probably a lot of constant noise from the rear when moving.
As for replacing the calipers... Maybe even try ford OEM parts (through the online site) I got taken when I did mine. I had a noise and dealer said one of the fronts were seized and they said the part was $350. Well, it's not.
Good luck!
10-27-2011, 08:51 AM
#4
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Florida
Posts: 420
Well I was changing my brake pads at a friends shop and the fronts went on with no problems but we got to the rear brake pads and I couldn't
Figure it out so I had my friend do it and he said the brake callers appear to be seized up cause it won't turn. According to him I need new calipers in the back. He said it's because I'm in an automatic and don't use the e brake enough. Does this sound right? If so where's the cheapest place for replacements online? (07 v6)
Figure it out so I had my friend do it and he said the brake callers appear to be seized up cause it won't turn. According to him I need new calipers in the back. He said it's because I'm in an automatic and don't use the e brake enough. Does this sound right? If so where's the cheapest place for replacements online? (07 v6)
Isn't there a tool to put piston back into caliber... >_> if he didn't use this tool he could have
damaged your calibers and blamed it on that. Of course im judging this from the fact you didnt mention he used a tool or not.
Tool attaches sometimes to c-clamp so it turns piston in
10-27-2011, 10:35 AM
#5
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 338
Ahh, right. the rear calipers use a special tool to push in. They are screw pistons whereas the front at simply push pistons. So a C clamp or equivalent works well on the front, but you need to rent the correct screw-clamp tool for the rears from AutoZone (which turns out to be free)
10-27-2011, 05:04 PM
#7
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 338
Disc Brake Caliper Tool
AutoZone: Disk Brake Caliper Tool
I rented this when I did my brakes. Give a deposit, then get it back when you return the tool.
For future reference, do a little research before diving it. I hope you guys didn't put too much force on the clamp and pistons, cause that could damage the calipers. Go rent that tool and everything will be easy from there!
Also, time to go to a new shop if he doesn't know how to push in calipers...
AutoZone: Disk Brake Caliper Tool
I rented this when I did my brakes. Give a deposit, then get it back when you return the tool.
For future reference, do a little research before diving it. I hope you guys didn't put too much force on the clamp and pistons, cause that could damage the calipers. Go rent that tool and everything will be easy from there!
Also, time to go to a new shop if he doesn't know how to push in calipers...
10-28-2011, 02:39 AM
#8
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: CA
Posts: 1,670
Don't feel too bad maxshuty. I have to admit I made the same mistake the first time I did the brakes on my wife's mustang. Searched in the interwebs and found this site and found out I was just doing it wrong... Ya learn something new every day...
10-29-2011, 08:03 PM
#9
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: South FL
Posts: 8,540
You can also use needlenose pliers... you don't need to drop the $$ on the 'special' tool.
If you pressed them together too hard trying to push the piston back in, they might be damaged. Check them out very well.
And don't ever take your car to that guys shop. Not using the ebrake caused caliper failure? Really? Did he try to sell your muffler bearings as well?
If you pressed them together too hard trying to push the piston back in, they might be damaged. Check them out very well.
And don't ever take your car to that guys shop. Not using the ebrake caused caliper failure? Really? Did he try to sell your muffler bearings as well?
12-04-2011, 04:24 PM
#10
1st Gear Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Indiana
Posts: 104
I had the same problem on my son's car and was told the same thing about the automatic and E-brake. I was told that if you don't use your E-brake very often that portion of the caliper can sieze up and when you do use the E-brake the spring isn't strong enough to release the brake. This can cause the the pads to ride on the rotor wearing out the brake pads. This was only happening on the right caliper as he showed me how the left one would engage and disengage as he pulled on the E-brake handle, but the right side would only engage and he had to hit it with a hammer to get it to disengage. I ended up repalcing both rear calipers myself just for piece of mind and it runs great. Was what he told me wrong? Did I replace the calipers for nothing?