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I have a 1999 4 cyl Camry. I replaced the front brake pads about a month ago and noticed that the driver side bottom caliper bolt does not slide in/out unlike the top bolt. I can use a rachet to turn it counter or clockwise but it does to slide out or in. I tried to use a screwdriver and a hammer to "loosen it up." Even with this issue, I was able to install the pads. I have noticed that I have an intermittent high pitch whine coming from the brakes. What is weird is that is whines when I am NOT stepping on the brake. If it is whining, stepping on the brakes will quite it. The whining sound is not constant. It comes and goes. I also noticed that there is more brake dust on driver side than on the passenger side.
Today, I checked and cleaned the pads and the related hardware today and they look ok.
Any ideas on how to make that bolt slide? How do you replace it?
em_ is correct, but if the bolt is rusted you will be better off getting a new one at the Toyota dealer. They are only $10-$15. I had to replace one on my 98 Camry this past Spring. Also, thoroughly sand the inside of where that caliper slide bolt goes in to and then blow it out with compressed air. Then put some high temperature silicone disk brake grease down in the hole and also liberally on the new slide pin before reinserting it. Was the inboard pad that you replaced (the one on the side of the piston on that wheel) noticably worn more than the one on the other wheel? If it was, you probably have a sliding problem and these new pads will wear out quickly too on that side. What will be happening if it's not sliding properly, is that when you step on the brake pedal the piston pushes the pad on the inboard side up against the rotor. In normal operation the caliper then slides slightly on these pins and the outboard pad is also brought into contact with the other side of the rotor. This happens in miliseconds. The pads and caliper retract slightly when you release the pedal. This is how single piston calipers work. If it is not sliding properly because of a bad (rusted) slide pin, one of the pads will remain in constant contact with the rotor and not retrack. This generally means that caliper is also stoping only on that one pad. It will wear out very quickly from heat and overuse.
If you can't get a new slide pin right away you can temporarily sand it down and grease it throughly and reinsert it. This will work in a pinch, but you then should replace that pin as soon as you can. Once they rust, the plating is worn off the pin and it will rust again in a short period of time causing the same problem.
As far as the noise you are hearing, it is usually caused by not putting any disk brake grease or spray disk brake quiet on the back of the pads before installing them. The pads are actually vibrating while the car is in motion causing this high pitched squeal you hear at various temperatures. When you step on the brake pedal they are brought into contact with the rotor and the noise stops only to reoccur shortly. This is a benign noise. It doesn't really hurt anything; it's just anoying. Toyota recommends high temperature disk brake grease be applied to the backs of the pads and the backs of the antisqueal shims. Personally, I have had better luck disposing of the antisqueal shims and just spraying "Disk Brake Quiet" on the backs of the pads themselves before reinstalling. This makes the backs of the pads stick to the piston and to the other side of the caliper. Since it sticks there, it doesn't vibrate when it is not in contact with the rotor and hence you don't get that high pitched squeal. Either way should eliminate that noise.
Good luck with the problem.
Mike
Last edited by Mike Gerber; 12-24-2004 at 03:02 PM.
Thanks for the replies. Not only does the bolt not slide, I can't take it off. I can use a ratchet to spin it but it does not slide at all fo me to take it off. I tried to hammer it out using a mallet and a screw driver. Moderate force only. No movement. The Raybestos pads I bought has what looks like shims glued to the pad metal backing. I should probably remove the OEM shims and use the "built in shims" that came with the new pads.
Any suggestions on removing the stubborn sliding bolt?
Use a vicegrip to turn and pull at the same time. You can also try wedging a straw from a spray can past the rubber dust boot and spray some penetrating oil in there. Be careful not to rip the dust boot.
The bottom slide pin has a little rubber bushing on the end of the pin. Make sure that comes out with the pin. If not, use a hook-like device (or a dental pick) to remove it. If it rips, don't worry. They come on the new pin if you get the pin from the dealer. The top pin doesn't have this rubber bushing on it.
By the way, I also used Raybestos pads on my 98. I had to go back in again and change them out to the Raybestos full ceramic pads to get all of my grinding noises to stop. This was not the high pitched noise that you are hearing, but rather a grinding noise when the brakes were applied.
Mike - thanks for vicegrip suggestion. That worked! I was able to pull it off. It was very rusty. Unfortunately, the local Toyota dealer does not have the pin in stock. As a temporary measure, I sanded the rust off, cleaned the receptacle then applied grease. It is moving freely now. When I reassembled the pads, I did not install the OEM shims anymore. The Raybestos pad had a shim glued to the back. I drove a round the block, so far so good. No high pitch noise.
I will still order, or check somewhere else for the pin and replace it. BTW, both top and bottom pins have the rubber bushing.
Glad it worked for you. Glad you were also able to get the pin out without ripping the rubber bushing. I thought only the bottom one on each side had the rubber bushing, but I could be wrong. I have the Toyota Technical Service Manual for my 98 (it should be the same as your 99) and the picture of the front brake caliper shows only the bottom pin as having the bushing. The manual could be wrong. It's been wrong before. You might want to call the Toyota dealer near you and talk to the parts person there. Ask them if there are 2 different part numbers for the top and bottom slide pins. That should clear up the confusion. Perhaps someone who worked on the brakes before you didn't notice the difference in the pins and put both of the ones with the rubber bushing on the same side and the 2 without it on the other side. Just a guess here. I could be totally wrong and as you say, they may all have the bushing.
When I had to look for the pin and bushing, only the dealer sold the pin with the bushing already on it. The dealer at first told me they don't come with the bushing on them. I had to purchase a whole aftermarket caliper rebuilding kit at around $40 to get that one rubber bushing and that kit didn't even include the slide pin. When I went back to the dealer to purchase the slide pin, it was then the parts guy (who previuosly said they don't come with the bushing and the bushing alone was out of stock) noticed the pin already had the bushing on it. I went back and returned the $40 rebuilding kit. If you think you can get the bushing off and transfer it to the new pin you might be able to purchase the slide pin aftermarket.
If the brakes start whinning again, then get some spray Permatex Disk Brake Quiet, take the pads off again and spray the stuff on the backs on the pads/shims. Let it set up about 5-10 minutes and reinstall everything makeing sure you put the pads back on the sides they came from. That is, the same ones on the same sides of each caliper.
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