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1988 Toyota Camry LE (mfg date Sep 1987).
AT Transmission, 4cyl 3S-FE
I cannot seem to get any aftermarket or factory brake pads to clear the front brake calipers.
I have pressed in the caliper brake piston as far as it can go. Inner brake pad clearance is NOT an issue. I have about 3/4" clearance. The problem is with the outer brake pad not clearing the caliper. The caliper appears to hit the plate to which the brake material is bonded on. It seems that if I shave off about 4mm of brake material, it will clear flush to the caliper. As that may be a quick fix, I don't want to have to do this everytime I change the front brake pads.
I have the caliper flipped in this pic. As mentioned in the following posts, this tube through which the slide pin/bolt goes will NOT move or is frozen in place. I have my finger on one of them. The opposite side, too, shares this same problem.
Last edited by wannawangan; 09-03-2005 at 01:53 PM.
Reason: New pic and information
I've done that already. I put in the top slide pin/bolt so that I can swing the caliper freely w/o having to hold it by hand.
In the pic above, I am not holding the caliper. My finger just got in the way.
Toyteq meant moving it side to side. Even w/ the top bolt fastened, you should still be able to move the caliper laterally. If not then I agree w/ Gary, something is amiss. Most likely a seized sliding pin. Possibly seized inside the torque plate(caliper bracket) from lack of lubrication.
My recollection is that the sliding pins each fit into a tube with rubber boots on each end. Those tubes should also push inboard and outboard (you can squeeze them back & forth when the sliding pins are removed). They are often stiff, maybe yours is frozen. I've never disassembled the boots to see if there is a lubricating point. You might look.
My recollection is that the sliding pins each fit into a tube with rubber boots on each end. Those tubes should also push inboard and outboard (you can squeeze them back & forth when the sliding pins are removed). They are often stiff, maybe yours is frozen. I've never disassembled the boots to see if there is a lubricating point. You might look.
Kep
I just came back from checking the brakes and yes I've noticed that they are frozen. What is a good way to "unfreeze" them? Should I use Liquid Wrench or some type of lube to loosen them up? I have some similar stuff so I will go ahead and try it.
As far as the boots are concerned, I can't seem to take them off. They seem caught on the tube and the caliper hole. I tried pulling them but got worried that I may tear them.
Last edited by wannawangan; 09-03-2005 at 01:47 PM.
Reason: Additional info needed.
Pull the rubber seals off and spray PB blaster or liquid wrench in there and work with them till they come out. At least 1 should have a small o-ring on the inner tip that keeps them from rattling.
I just came back from checking the brakes and yes I've noticed that they are frozen. What is a good way to "unfreeze" them? Should I use Liquid Wrench or some type of lube to loosen them up? I have some similar stuff so I will go ahead and try it.
As far as the boots are concerned, I can't seem to take them off. They seem caught on the tube and the caliper hole. I tried pulling them but got worried that I may tear them.
You will probably have to cut the boots and replace them later along with a new slide pin or pins if both are frozen. There is a metal ring attached to the bottom of those rubber boots that goes in to the caliper. This will have to be removed after the rubber part is cut away. You should be able to do it with a needle nose pliers and a slotted screw driver. You will see what I mean once the rubber boot is removed. I couldn't find any way to save them for reuse. After removal you will have to clean out the hole the boot and pin go into inside the torque plate (caliper mounting bracket). The pin is probably rusted solid inside of there. I found taking the torque plate to a sand blaster and blasting inside that hole for a few seconds cleans it up nicely. You can probably do the same thing with some sand paper wrapped around a pencil. Just be sure to blow everything out thoroughly either way you clean it out. Compresed air works really well. When done you will have to insert and tap in the new boot/ring. It will be obvious when you see the new boot. Then put some high temperature silicone disc brake grease down inside the hole and on the new slide pin. Now insert the new slide pin and push it all the way down. Now it should move freely in and out. These parts really aren't that expensive. I had to do this on my wife's 98 Camry, so don't feel bad. You will also be amazed at how much better the car brakes since you were probably braking on only one pad on the side of the car where this problem exists.
That actually sounds like the plan of action I will take. The tubes are totally seized. As an act of desperation, I started banging on the tubes with my socket wrench in hopes of releasing it. But, to no avail. Looks like I will be making a trip to the Toyota dealership sometime this week. Never have I taken this long to change brake pads! Thank you all for your responses and suggestions.
As the post title states, the front brakes are complete! I used a can of PB Blaster with a tube and sprayed the frozen parts. I let the lube work its way through the parts and caliper before taking a hammer to it. I knocked both parts through the caliper, giving me enough clearance to place it back onto the torque plate/bracket.
Thank you all for your responses. You're help was much appreciated!
As the post title states, the front brakes are complete! I used a can of PB Blaster with a tube and sprayed the frozen parts. I let the lube work its way through the parts and caliper before taking a hammer to it. I knocked both parts through the caliper, giving me enough clearance to place it back onto the torque plate/bracket.
Thank you all for your responses. You're help was much appreciated!
**
David
Sorry to give you the bad news, but you may not be done. Not unless you can move those pins in and out easily. The fact that you were able to hammer the pins in only means that the caliper is back on, but it is not slidling properly. If that's the case you are stopping on only one pad on that side (the pad on the piston side of that caliper) and that pad will wear out very quickly. You will be back in the same situtation shortly. You have to remove the pins and clean or replace them as I stated in my previous post, and clean out the corresponnding holes in the caliper mounting bracket of all rust and dirt and then relube those holes and the new or cleaned up pins. You will probably have to cut and replace the little rubber boots too.
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Brake Pads will not clear Caliper
You should not have 3/4" clearance on the inner pad. Double check everything again!
Linear Mode
