andy_rr

2003 WRX wagon.
Front nearside caliper is sticking - serious hot brake pad smell when driving to work yesterday and when I brake the car to a stop the brake is dragging, car doesn't roll when the h'brake is off. Front nearside is the culprit - feels hotter than the other side and having taken the wheel off last night I saw the problem. Caliper is a rusty mess, with this unbolted only 1 piston would emerge initially, clamping that I could persuade 1 of the other 3 to move but then getting that back in was a real struggle.
So, I'm thinking that a refurb kit is not worth the time and hassle - I could do it myself although I'm not a mechanical genius but I've replaced plenty of pads in my time.
Alternatives are s/h pair or new or refurbed.
A fairly local guy is selling a s/h set with disks and pads for £175 and from the pics they look fine although they're painted so it could be cosmetically they're nice but internally heading for seizure too ? If they're ok I could recoup some of the cash from the disks and pads as I don't need these.
Or refurbed ones
Or I've seen the ebay ones (pro sport or something ?) that are around £170 for the pair. Not seen any opinions from users of these.

Need to get these sorted fairly quick although I don't drive it every day so a few days without is not a tragedy.

andy_rr

Just adding in :
a quick Google found this
http://www.imprezasport.net/forums/i...howtopic=14094
which may be of interest to others also.
Calipers pictured on there were pretty grotty - mine are even worse ! Getting the pistons out I think will be a big, big struggle - as I'd mentioned 1 came out and went back in ok, 2nd came out with a fair bit of pedal pressure but took a lot of force to go in again to allow the caliper to fit back onto the disk and the other 2 have not shifted a fraction so are very well seized.

Godspeed Brakes

iTrader: (259)

HI
Buying second calipers can end up with the problems , these calipers are prone to seizing because the pistons rust and stick in the caliper bores.

I can supply you a pair of reconditioned calipers complete with new stainless steel pistons that will never rust again , we charge £195 + vat a pair for this , we also take a deposit that is refunded when you return your serviceable calipers back to us

See this thread for a selection of calipers we have already done

https://www.scoobynet.com/trader-ann...-calipers.html

Cheers Ian
01656 723060

andy_rr

Thanks for the reply Ian - so, to clarify, cost to supply me with a set of recon calipers it is £195 +vat (+ del ?) + deposit of ?

Hopefully mine would be ok for refurb by you - very grotty but main issue I guess could be ensuring the bolts don't strip on removal. Bit of heat to be applied methinks to get the banjos off.

Godspeed Brakes

iTrader: (259)

HI
The deposit is £125 , its not very often at all we don't refund the deposit , only when people decide to take lump hammers to their seized calipers to get the off !

Even if a thread is damaged we can generally fix them.

Inc VAT , the calipers are £235 a pair , the refundable deposit is £125 , and P&P is £15

Cheers Ian

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

I went down the DIY route and replaced all seals, pistons and fluid myself. Parts were supplied by big redd and an online company, Japanese import parts. £28 for two callipers kit. Got my pistons from Bigg Red. £8 odds each for oem pistons.
I removed and split the callipers and cleaned the bores for the new pistons to work with and less chance of more problems.

andy_rr

I think my initial plan is to source the s/h calipers IF they look ok as they will be better than waht I've got at the moment for sure.
That then gives me a set that either I can refurb or send off to Ian for more professional treatment.
Advantage with the s/h ones is that I should be able to swap over this weekend and I can flog the disks & pads they are being sold with.

Thanks for the replies.
Obviously if the s/h set are not in good nick then I'll be contacting Ian for his.
I remember doing a bit of a rebuild on a set of calipers on my old motorbike (KR1-S) so with a bit of time I might tackle the job again.

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

You can do a refurb on both callipers in a few hours, why risk and pay twice?

Godspeed Brakes

iTrader: (259)

yes its easy enough to do yourself if your handy with tools , I can also supply you the parts you need to recondition them , Can supply you the 8 stainless steel pistons , which are far better than the OEM mild steel ones as they will never rust , and a complete seal kit to do both calipers for £120

andy_rr

Doing the refurb myself raises the risk of laying out the money for the kit then finding there is something, like pistons totally seized in the bores, stopping me progressing ? And it might mean that the caliper is then unable to be reinstalled and car is off the road. Or are these calipers almost always ok for rebuild even though they are very grotty/rusty on the exterior ? As I'd said, only 1 piston emerged initially, 2nd was very reluctant to move and was very hard work to push back in once it did come out, 2 others are well stuck.

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

They will come out, remove one pad and reinsert it sideways so one of the stuck pistons is not touching the pad, fire up the engine and press away at the brake pedal, the fairly high pressure will force the stuck piston out, repeat this for each piston until you have all 4 virtually out. Do not reuse any of the pistons if there is any pitting on them. Ian sells good stainless pistons, I used new oem ones as stainless all round was out of my budget that month and the originals lasted pretty much ten years, I can't see the wrx lasting another ten under my ownership.
The actual caliper can be wire brushed back down to metal, I used a rotating one on a drill then repainted while apart, I also used a little autosol and cloth to clean the bores for the new pistons to slide unhindered by any old grime. took longer as it had to dry first but looks better when finished with cleaned up sliders etc.

andy_rr

Thanks for the advice guys, have now ordered, initially, just a seal kit and I *think* I've a set of calipers in a box (2-pot - same size pistons ?) off my old WRX so I am hoping I can salvage sufficient pistons for, initially anyway, doing 1 caliper with minimal expense.

BLU

iTrader: (27)

The two pot pistons aren't the same.

Godspeed Brakes

iTrader: (259)

As blu says , they are different , the 4 pot pistons are smaller , if you strip your calipers to see what's wrong with them , I can also sell you single pistons if you are trying to do it as cheaply as possible , so you can just change what you need to

andy_rr

Dash it !
What are the chances that the pistons are likely to just need a cleanup or are these quite prone to more serious corrision ?

Godspeed Brakes

iTrader: (259)

Hi
Yes they are prone to rusting , which is why we make them out of stainless steel , you will find some of them rusty , but not all of them

Cheers Ian

andy_rr

In the midst of the rebuild -
Few things I might have stumbled on - bleed nipple seized - nope, must have been bled at some not too distant point.
Banjo bolt - came away ok.
Pistons - as expected this was a faff, had to juggle a G-clamp to get them all moving and 1 came partially out then stuck but got that sorted and all the bores are ok.

Got a 2-caliper seal kit and 4 pistons awaiting (non-SS I'm afraid for skinflint me), 1 or 2 pistons probably to be replaced but the bores are fine and with some fine wet and dry lubed with WD40 the pistons now insert in and move pretty well.

Hopefully reassembly is fairly straightforward too.

Big-up for Biggred4u ebay seller - ordered the parts I needed (also extra red grease) and both times they arrived next day. <corrected the ebay seller>

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

WD40? I thought the ideal was to lube them with brake fluid?

andy_rr

All done now - getting the pistons back in with the seals in-place was a little bit of a struggled but all done eventually.
WD40 was just to 'wet' the wet and dry ememry paper for removing the traces of corrosion. I used brake cleaner to get rid of any dirt etc before using rubber grease during the install of the seals and pistons.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Ah....that's better.