fflint_18

Yes, it just happened to me. The dreaded seized rear caliper. I rotated the tires last month and checked the brakes. Everything looked great.

My Hawk pads had plenty of life left and the Hawk slotted rotors were smooth as could be.

Then yesterday on the way home I hear a grinding at low speeds as I was coming to a stop.

When I looked there was the big cut right into the rotor.

I pulled things apart and the inner pad with the indicator on it is like new and the outer is gone.

Also, the rubber seal/dust cover on the caliper was really twisted pretty bad.

Now I have to figure out what to do while the car sits in the driveway.

I guess order (2) new calipers and get the rotors cut and new pads. The question is do I stay with Hawks (which I really like) or just go with Wagner Thermo Quiets which a buddy of mine can get me for free.

Just ticks me off since everything looked great less than a month ago.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised since I have less than 300 miles before I hit 100k.

Mr. Brett

iTrader: (7)

If you're a bit of a handy-man and want to save some (a lot of) money, you can buy a Beck-Arnley rebuild kit that comes with all the seals and clips, and will rebuild both rear calipers for about $25 on eBay.

Most of the time, the damage only extends as far as maybe the inner cylinder seal. You don't necessarily have to rebuild all the internals. Just get the corrosion off so that the caliper can move.

I did it about a week and a half ago. No problems with my calipers whatsoever now.

vinco

iTrader: (3)

Try just cleaning and lubing the slider pins and the stainless pad clips first before you tear down the caliper. If that doesn't fix it, then I'd say just buy reman calipers and install. Success with the rebuild kits is spotty for us shadetree mechanics. SLCPunk267 had success with his, but I didn't have success with mine - it still leaked, and I ended up buying a reman caliper anyway. My time is worth more to me than the cost of reman vs. trying to cobble up a home rebuild job.

You may have a VERY hard time getting anyone to cut drilled or slotted rotors. (?)

Hawks are nice, but the Wagners are the right price!!! The rear only does what - 30% of the braking anyway? As long as they're decent pads, i.e., NOT Autozone store-brand specials, you'll probably find them to work just fine. I'd say take the money you'd spend on the Hawks and get reman calipers or new rotors. Brembo blanks are pretty much completely overrated. Drilled or slotted helps some.

Mr. Brett

iTrader: (7)

This is true. But honestly, if the seals around the piston are torn, it's pretty certain that the calipers themselves are gone. Mine had all kinds of lovely dirt and nasty crap around the original dust boots them when I pulled them off. They were actually corroded to the caliper!

The brake fluid inside the calipers was pretty nasty as well (the smell was bad enough that I had to step back while the fluid ran out.. ).

vinco, were your pistons pitted badly when you attempted to rebuild them? Mine had small pits, but when I put the new inner seal in the cylinder after I cleaned up my calipers, it stopped the leaking that was going on.

I'd say for $25 (so long as you have the right tools), trying a rebuild is worth it. It only takes about an hour per caliper.

Just my $0.02, though. Some people prefer to just drop the money and be done. On the upside, the remans do come with a 2-year warranty.

djblackout

is this a pretty common problem?

HomerMAC

iTrader: (5)

major common problem from the a32 days...

fflint_18

Got pretty lucky.

My buddy who works for Wagner is getting me new Wagner pre-loaded calipers (the whole caliper (including mount, Thermo Quite pads, pins, shims, etc) along with the best rotors they have (Friction?) for $100 for both rears.

Can't get any better than that.

But it will take until Wednesday for them to come in.

I might just buy a set of $20 pads so I can drive the car for the weekend.

Amave

gah i hate that!! my driver reear caliper locked up right when i was about to get on the freeway...my brake pedal felt strange and my Max felt like i wa towing a boat..

i pulled over and got out to see my left rear rotor smoking!!!


dammit!!!!!!!!


so i took it home and i found a loaded caliper on Rockauto.com on clearance ( yes!!!!! ) for $54 loaded with no core!!!

ha! awsome...so i changed it and have had zero problems with my rears locking up since.... i got lucky with Rockauto.com


knock on wood

HotshotVQ35

iTrader: (5)

whats the mileage on your cars with this problem. i did new pads and rotors a few weeks ago and mine seemed fine. turning that piston was a ****ing b1tch though, even with that stupid tool!

Amave

it's easier if you tighten the tool to the piston then turn, the tightening will help turn the piston...


my Maxima had 136,xxx when the rear caliper locked ( bought the car used from a negligent owner )

fflint_18

I'll probably turn 100k next week. Freaking things look like new. Except for the twisted boot. Can't believe it's bad.

Here was my trick for turning the caliper in. The problem was holding the caliper while trying to turn it.

To get the caliper off I had to remove the parking brake cable. Where the cable was clipped made a nice mounting plate. I loosened the top caliper mounting bracket bolt enough for that bracket on the caliper to slip in. Then tightened it.

It left the caliper piston facing straight up. I was able to push down on the tool and socket to be able to easily screw the caliper back in.

HotshotVQ35

iTrader: (5)

i bled all over my buds driveway because there was no real way to hold the caliper..lost my nail on my middle finger so i cant flip people off for a while..nail is growing back though..lol

i ended up wedging the caliper between the rotor and some other part of the car, what a pain in the butt!

fflint_18

When I get the new calipers I need a way to do a one man bleed. Asking my wife to pump the brakes is a pain.

Anyone ever used the one way checkvalves on the bleeders?

If so did they work and where can I get them?

Amave

one man bleed is easy...just maintain brake fluid in the master cylinder while creating a vacuum from the bleeder valve on the caliper.....as long as you suck out fluid from the valve, there whouldnt be any air in the system ...


just make sure you keep adding fluid into the MC as you suck it out of the caliper

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

Well - i found-out the Hard Way today, that I am NOT qualified to rebuild Calipers!!
Had I been smarter -- i would have looked at the Nissan Service Manual (did this later) to find the parts diagram for the caliper/piston all laid-out.

I had NO IDEA these things had SO MANY little intricate bits and pieces inside them!?!?!? Dang!
What it really boiled-down to, was that I didn't have the proper TOOLS to do this job right, and that's what killed me.
I tore a piston boot trying to re-seat the piston into the housing, and THAT was the end.
I quickly called around town to see who stocked Reman'd Calp's, and Advance won-out.
$73 + core, no mount bracket included -- but ALL of the hardware, including pins, bolts, shims, even crush washers were all there. Sweet.
After I looked at those sweet, beautiful, perfectly painted calipers -- suddenly, the $150 wasn't TOO much to spend.
Oh, and the Calps and Rotors have a LIFETIME WARRANTY.
Yes LIFETIME.

So, Yes - if you're more inclined, and have that "awesome set of tools" you CAN rebuild your calp's.
But like SLC Punk said -- the corrosion, pitting, and general nastiness that happens to those calipers over time REALLY warrants a total replacement....if for nothing other than just good piece of mind.
I'm actually quite HAPPY that my rebuild attempt failed...because now I've got a FULL set of new brakes out back, that will last for the rest of the life of this car.

The OP got a smokin' deal!!
I ended-up paying $150 for the calp's (minus core), $40 for the rotors, $60 for Hawk HPS pads, and $10 for fluid and brake cleaner. (i had the brake pin lube, and anti-seize). Never you MIND how many pairs of cheapo Latex gloves I ripped in the process!!

Anyway -- I'm just here to say: Buy the Reman'd Calp's from WHEREVER.
It's easier, looks better, works better, and in the end will give you better performance, and piece of mind!

gr

Mr. Brett

iTrader: (7)

Did you take the lid off your brake fluid reservoir? Makes resetting the pistons a whoooole lot easier.

I found this out after I spent 20 minutes struggling with one of my front calipers the other day...

Mr. Brett

iTrader: (7)

Oh, by the way...anyone that actually wants to take a shot at rebuilding their calipers and isn't sure how, give me a shout. I can get the step-by-step tear down and rebuild guide from my buddy. It shows exactly what tools you need, as well as what goes where and how.

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

BAH!
I wish I would've had that meself before I started that process!!
I've done the Brembo brakes on my motorcycle, and everything else....but dang, the brakes on the Max were WAY different.
Musta been that E-brake setup.
Damn that thing!!! It prevents us from upgrading the rear brakes as well.

thanks for the offer SLC....good info.

I wouldn't recommend a rebuild for those in the Rustbelt, however!
Southern / West Coast States would probably be alot easier.

gr

knight_yyz

iTrader: (40)

buy speed bleeders from russell. I have them on my car. So much easier to bleed the brakes.

I just replaced my rear calipers one month ago. All my pads had tons of life on them. During this week I heard the dreaded grinding noise. My pads are gone on the driver's side. I did not feel anything strange like a locked up caliper. I'm starting to wonder if the e-brake cable is sticking.

Mr. Brett

iTrader: (7)

Actually, there is one BBK available for the rear of our car. Blehmco makes them. It isn't a cheap kit at all, though.

This is one of the reasons I'm thankful my car is a southern vehicle. Even though the calipers were seized, they were still in great shape when I pulled them apart, minus the minor corrosion.

Mr. Brett

iTrader: (7)

If the e-brake cable was sticking, though, wouldn't you think the handle would feel slack when you released it?

The best way to check if the e-brake is sticking is to just poke your head behind the caliper and take a looksie. If the mechanism is reset all the way back to the stopping pin, it's not an issue with the e-brake or cable. Unless it's something jamming internally in the caliper...

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

Yeah - but no offense to Matt --- $1k is too much for ME.
He freely admits, it simply due to the cost of the internal e-brake conversion.
--an impressive build on his part, though--

My rears weren't in too bad shape, but they spent MOST of their time in the south too.
Only just the past few years had they been exposed to salt and winter.
I COULD have rebuilt 'em....but as I said, it's nice to have them shiny and new for the duration. i won't worry about anything now.

gr

Mr. Brett

iTrader: (7)

I wonder if the 300Z calipers he uses are twist-in or push-in pistons. The only benefit I could see, considering the excessive front bias in our brakes, is if the kit also got rid of our awful twist-in pistons.

knight_yyz

iTrader: (40)

I'll have to test for that when the new rotors and pads show up. Been waiting a month for my DBA's to show up.
This has happened to me before on the drivers side so I am wondering if only the one cable is sticking inside the sleeve. if the passenger side is working I wouldn't be able to tell from the ebrake handle. I was hoping with the new calipers this problem would not show itself again

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

It stands to reason that the Z-brakes eliminates this, as I believe the screw-in piston is necessitated by the external e-brake design on the Max.

gr

Mr. Brett

iTrader: (7)

Oh right. The Z does have drum-style e-brakes. I completely forgot...and I own a Z.

It just sounds to me like Nissan cut corners on the rear brakes of our car to save money. Which...doesn't surprise me, considering our solid rear beam.

Unclejunebug

Hey Hey, sorry for the resurrection but I tried sending you a PM but it wouldn't go through. Can you still get this step by step tear down and rebuild info? I replaced my rear brakes about a week ago and the dust boots are way twisted so I want to try and do a rebuild before I go out and buy remans. Let me know if you have the info. I'd greatly appreciate it!

ImStricken

i discovered that both my rear calipers seized, by trying to slow down from 70mph on a major highway, and realizing that the peddle went to the floor, and NOTHING. no brake power whats so ever..... then after pumping the pedal- that car started to slow down.

came home tore my brakes apart and both rear's siezed. replaced everything = all 4 slotted & drilled rotors, two new rear calipers, and all pads for front & rear. flushed all the fluid out, and its back to normal now.