brake caliper problems???

[danny ferreira]

while changing over to the winter tires, i noticed that my front brakes needed a change so i purchased new pads and rotors.



after installing both sides i noticed the wheels are hard to turn on both sides. they dont free spin like on wheel of fortune. lol



normal?



ive driven around a bit and still the same. are the calipers seized? i do smell something which i think might be the brakes but i was thinking maybe because its new and breaking in.



any help or advice?

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

You should take the calipers off and grease the sliders, they probably have rust and build up in them seizing them up. Had the same problem on my '03. Also beed the brakes.

:banana:

 

[Makin Trax]

be sure to check the caliper bracket slide pins ... the bottoms are known to seize from lack of lubrication. I ended up having to buy a new caliper bracket for one side( like 15 bucks from rock auto) and I went ahead and bought new pins as well. when I replaced them I packed them with anti-seize and they have been great every since.

 

[Brad Schultz 2]

Only having ever looked at my brakes once while rotating the tires(just recently got her and had new brakes all around) are our pins sorta encased in a rubber grommet type thingy as on the bigger Ford products? If so, don not use neversieze on these pins. I've been told this swells the rubber and seizes the pins so only the inside pad is working. Silicon lube is the way to go here.

 

[Robert Caffyn]

Yeah, its inside that "rubber thingy", as long as its greased properly(high temp caliper lube) you'll be good for a long time. Bob

 

[EddieS'04]

Silicon lube is the way to go here..

I use the grease packets designed for this purpose. As the silicone oils dry the silcone turns solid and gummy.



If you open the bleeders? Did the pistons slide in easeasly? If not they are sticking and draging the pads too tight on the rotors.



Or if you are 2x4. The front bearings are too thight.



All this info is possibilities.

"This will be my diclaimer from now on" To stop the stupid agruments that make me exlain myself over and over.

 

[Richard L]

Eddie,

About "The stupid arguments"??? Please read my post to you about the Transmission Flush and external filter post.



Dan95,

Lubricating the pins and sliders is definetly the first thing you should do to see if that gets the pads unstuck.



The other possibility is that your caliper pistons are sticking if you have never "Flushed" the old brake fluid out of your 2004 Sport Trac.



Brake fluid absorbs moisture and that moisture will settle into the lowest part of the brake system which is the calipers. It will slowly begin to corrode the piston bores behind the pistons. The reason you might not have noticed a sticking problem with the old pads is because as the pads wear and the piston keeps moving outward, it moves outward over undamaged areas of the piston bore. When you put new pads in and push the pistons back into the caliper, the pistons are now positioned right over the corroded area of the bores and that prevents the pistons from moving freely and will often damage the piston and O-ring seals.



I always recommend flushing the old brake fluid out of the system every 2 years or with every brake job. I also recommend that people not just push the pistons back into the calipers without opening the bleed screw as that pushes old contaminated brake fluid back up into the ABS servos where it can do expensive damage. It is better to open the bleed nuts so that the old fluid will get pushed out of the calipers as the pistons are pushed back.



Another nice feature of opening the bleed screws when pushing the pistons back is that you can do it by hand, which allows you to actually feel if there is any corrosion that will cause the pistons to stick. If you feel sticking, dragging, grinding, etc., you know that the calipers need to be rebuilt or replaced. After completing the brake pad installation, flush out the old brake fluid by bleeding all 4 brakes until the fluid coming out is clean and clear.



...Rich

 

[danny ferreira]

ok a little update. i greased up the sliders like mentioned and it seemed to help. i took it for a drive and it felt ok. parked it in the garage and jacked it up, i can spin the tires by hand but its snug and wont free spin. if i apply the brakes and release, the calipers should release the pads from the rotors instantly correct? if the truck sits over time it does release from the rotors and spins.



im going to try and bleed the brakes. I'm a little worried because i know im just going to break the stupid bleeders right off

 

[Bob McDonald]

Dan, One thing to keep on mind is, unlike drum braked that have springs that pull the brake pads away from the drum when you release the pedal, disc brakes do not have anything to retract the pad away from the rotor. They just release the pressure. Therefore the clearance is very small and there is ofter a little drag when you try to test for free spinning when up on jack stands. I suspect that under normal operation, the designers expect the airflow of the moving car to help just a little bit in providing an air gap to prevent dragging wear. At least that is IMHO.

 

[Richard L]

A good test for excessive brake drag is to take it out for a slow drive and avoid using the brakes as much as possible. Drive slow to coast to any stops before using the brakes. At the end of the drive, check the front brakes and see if they very hot. Excessive heat would indicate excessive drag, and you probably have one or both calipers sticking. If the calipers are sticking you will probably see some really funky fluid come out when you bleed them.



Have you ever flushed the fluid on your 2004 Sport Trac. If not, you can almost count on some corrosion in the piston bores.



...Rich

 

[danny ferreira]

i've only owned it for about a year now. the fluid does look a little dark in the reservior. it strange because the truck doesnt pull to any side which i would think they would.



i'm going to inspect the pistons and see how much resistance there is when there applied and released and bleed the fronts. if one caliper is bad im going to do both anyways and do a full bleed job.



why me????

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

If you're gonna bleed the brakes then do it in this order (RR, LR, RF, LF) if you just bleed the fronts by themselves and there is air in the system you're just gonna push it back to the rear. Just a heads up to save time and trouble. :banana:

 

[Richard L]

Dan, as Jerry said, you should always bleed the brakes in the proper sequence which is to always do the furthers wheel from the master cylinder and move to the next closest which would ususally be RR, LR, RF, LF. (Of course this assumes you are not driving a right hand drive vehicle) :grin:



If the fluid in your master cylinder reservoir looks bad, you will be shocked as to just how bad the fluid is in your calipers !!:throwup: When you pushed the pistons back to install the new brake pads, you pushed that crud back up through the ABS servos and into the Master Cylinder reservoir, so that's why it looks dark.



When you bleed your brakes flush them until the fluid is clear which will probably take the better part of a quart of brake fluid for all 4 wheels Also, you must always keep the reservoir full while bleeding to prevent sucking air into the master cylinder, or you will have to bleed the master cylinder and start the bleeding all over again.



One more tip: Never use fluid from an open can/bottle of brake fluid because once it's opened it will begin to absorb moisture from the air in the bottle. It's cheap insurance to buy a new (small) can of fluid when every you need to add brake fluid. This is not an issue at dealers or busy shops because the open bottle of fluid is used within a few days or a week or two, and its not sitting on the shelf for months or years.



...Rich

 

[danny ferreira]

when i bleed my brakes, should i do anything special about the ABS? should it be running or off? how about brake pedal procedure?

 

[scott degroot]

If the vehicle is on jackstands adn you push and release the brakes they won't "free" up until after a coouple of revolutions, being that your vehicle is a 4x4 chances are that teh front tires onec given a spin will not continue to spin due to the drag and weight created by the front axles, As long as the wheel spins relatively easily I don't think you have anything to worry about. Also no need to do anything special with the abs on your vehicle when bleeding the brakes

 

[Richard L]

Ditto what L1Tech said.



...Rich

 

[danny ferreira]

thanks fellas. i installed new calipers today and i'm going to flush and bleed in the morning. the fluid was green in the lines. not good.