Stuck caliper on 1996 Paseo

My son's Paseo has a stuck left front brake caliper from what he
describes, wheel pulling, very hot to the touch, smell. Anyway, we're
gonna pull the wheel and take a look at it tonight. Been awhile since
I worked on brakes (1963 Austin Healey), but I assume the basics are
the same (yes, the Healey has disks). Also, this is front wheel drive,
so if I jack it up and put it in neutral, do I need to get both wheels
off the ground to see if one turns freely? Second, if I pull the
caliper off and pull the piston out is the fluid sealed beyond that or
is fluid going to come out?

And recommendations welcomed.

Thank you,
-Jim

Rebuilt ones (at least for 22RE PU) are like $40 with core at FAPS - I'd
just replace it (or even both sides). Check the rubber hose too - if it is
colapsing then it too could be bad. I'd remove the brake fuid in reservoir,
refill and then bleed entire system starting in back until clear new fluid
comes out.

"jtpryan" <jtpryan@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1167742928.690376.301300@s34g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> My son's Paseo has a stuck left front brake caliper from what he
> describes, wheel pulling, very hot to the touch, smell. Anyway, we're
> gonna pull the wheel and take a look at it tonight. Been awhile since
> I worked on brakes (1963 Austin Healey), but I assume the basics are
> the same (yes, the Healey has disks). Also, this is front wheel drive,
> so if I jack it up and put it in neutral, do I need to get both wheels
> off the ground to see if one turns freely? Second, if I pull the
> caliper off and pull the piston out is the fluid sealed beyond that or
> is fluid going to come out?
>
> And recommendations welcomed.
>
> Thank you,
> -Jim
>[/color]

On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 05:02:08 -0800, jtpryan wrote:
[color=blue]
> My son's Paseo has a stuck left front brake caliper from what he
> describes, wheel pulling, very hot to the touch, smell. Anyway, we're
> gonna pull the wheel and take a look at it tonight. Been awhile since I
> worked on brakes (1963 Austin Healey), but I assume the basics are the
> same (yes, the Healey has disks). Also, this is front wheel drive, so if
> I jack it up and put it in neutral, do I need to get both wheels off the
> ground to see if one turns freely? Second, if I pull the caliper off and
> pull the piston out is the fluid sealed beyond that or is fluid going to
> come out?
>
> And recommendations welcomed.
>
> Thank you,
> -Jim[/color]


Loosen the lug nuts and jack it up, with the car in neutral. Chances are
the slide is stuck. You can try and rework the slide. What I do is take
some emery cloth and run it over the pin, and then take a Dremel tool and
remove the rust from inside the caliper. This usually works, however, I
did have to replace one of the calipers on my Supra.

It's pretty easy, all in all...

"jtpryan" <jtpryan@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1167742928.690376.301300@s34g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> My son's Paseo has a stuck left front brake caliper from what he
> describes, wheel pulling, very hot to the touch, smell. Anyway, we're
> gonna pull the wheel and take a look at it tonight. Been awhile since
> I worked on brakes (1963 Austin Healey), but I assume the basics are
> the same (yes, the Healey has disks). Also, this is front wheel drive,
> so if I jack it up and put it in neutral, do I need to get both wheels
> off the ground to see if one turns freely? Second, if I pull the
> caliper off and pull the piston out is the fluid sealed beyond that or
> is fluid going to come out?
>
> And recommendations welcomed.
>
> Thank you,
> -Jim
>[/color]

To answer your first question, both front wheels do not have to be off the
ground to see if one turns freely. Before jacking, set the parking brake
and chock the rear wheels. Use a jack stand to support the car while
working on the brakes and never work under the car with it supported only by
the jack.

If you pull the piston out of the caliper, the fluid will come out, although
there should not be any need to pull the piston. Just push it back with a
C-clamp or piston tool. As Hachiroku mentioned, a stuck caliper pin is the
likely cause of the problem. Use a fine emery cloth to clean up the bolts
that hold the caliper in place. The bolts pass through a sleeve that is
held in place with rubber boots, and the sleeve should move in and out to
the limit of the boots. If the sleeve is stuck, carefully peel back the
boots and clean up the sleeve.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

Ray O wrote:[color=blue]
> "jtpryan" <jtpryan@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1167742928.690376.301300@s34g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=green]
> > My son's Paseo has a stuck left front brake caliper from what he
> > describes, wheel pulling, very hot to the touch, smell. Anyway, we're
> > gonna pull the wheel and take a look at it tonight. Been awhile since
> > I worked on brakes (1963 Austin Healey), but I assume the basics are
> > the same (yes, the Healey has disks). Also, this is front wheel drive,
> > so if I jack it up and put it in neutral, do I need to get both wheels
> > off the ground to see if one turns freely? Second, if I pull the
> > caliper off and pull the piston out is the fluid sealed beyond that or
> > is fluid going to come out?
> >
> > And recommendations welcomed.
> >
> > Thank you,
> > -Jim
> >[/color]
>
> To answer your first question, both front wheels do not have to be off the
> ground to see if one turns freely. Before jacking, set the parking brake
> and chock the rear wheels. Use a jack stand to support the car while
> working on the brakes and never work under the car with it supported only by
> the jack.
>
> If you pull the piston out of the caliper, the fluid will come out, although
> there should not be any need to pull the piston. Just push it back with a
> C-clamp or piston tool. As Hachiroku mentioned, a stuck caliper pin is the
> likely cause of the problem. Use a fine emery cloth to clean up the bolts
> that hold the caliper in place. The bolts pass through a sleeve that is
> held in place with rubber boots, and the sleeve should move in and out to
> the limit of the boots. If the sleeve is stuck, carefully peel back the
> boots and clean up the sleeve.
> --
>
> Ray O
> (correct punctuation to reply)[/color]

Thank you all for the help.. I found this picture of a Miata brake
setup:

[url]http://www.miata.net/garage/ebrake/FigureC.jpg[/url]

I see what you're talking about now. If I look at this pic correctly
it appears the slider pins are on either end of the caliper assembly.
Are they lubed with anything or just need to be smooth?

-Jim

On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:11:41 -0800, jtpryan wrote:
[color=blue]
>
> Ray O wrote:[color=green]
>> "jtpryan" <jtpryan@gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:1167742928.690376.301300@s34g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=darkred]
>> > My son's Paseo has a stuck left front brake caliper from what he
>> > describes, wheel pulling, very hot to the touch, smell. Anyway,
>> > we're gonna pull the wheel and take a look at it tonight. Been awhile
>> > since I worked on brakes (1963 Austin Healey), but I assume the basics
>> > are the same (yes, the Healey has disks). Also, this is front wheel
>> > drive, so if I jack it up and put it in neutral, do I need to get both
>> > wheels off the ground to see if one turns freely? Second, if I pull
>> > the caliper off and pull the piston out is the fluid sealed beyond
>> > that or is fluid going to come out?
>> >
>> > And recommendations welcomed.
>> >
>> > Thank you,
>> > -Jim
>> >
>> >[/color]
>> To answer your first question, both front wheels do not have to be off
>> the ground to see if one turns freely. Before jacking, set the parking
>> brake and chock the rear wheels. Use a jack stand to support the car
>> while working on the brakes and never work under the car with it
>> supported only by the jack.
>>
>> If you pull the piston out of the caliper, the fluid will come out,
>> although there should not be any need to pull the piston. Just push it
>> back with a C-clamp or piston tool. As Hachiroku mentioned, a stuck
>> caliper pin is the likely cause of the problem. Use a fine emery cloth
>> to clean up the bolts that hold the caliper in place. The bolts pass
>> through a sleeve that is held in place with rubber boots, and the sleeve
>> should move in and out to the limit of the boots. If the sleeve is
>> stuck, carefully peel back the boots and clean up the sleeve.
>> --
>>
>> Ray O
>> (correct punctuation to reply)[/color]
>
> Thank you all for the help.. I found this picture of a Miata brake setup:
>
> [url]http://www.miata.net/garage/ebrake/FigureC.jpg[/url]
>
> I see what you're talking about now. If I look at this pic correctly it
> appears the slider pins are on either end of the caliper assembly. Are
> they lubed with anything or just need to be smooth?
>
> -Jim[/color]


Yeah... ;)

You can get Caliper grease anywhere. Grease the pins after cleang them up.
I hit them with the emery cloth, and then sand with fine, fine grit
(1000-1500) sandpaper so they're good and smooth. I use brake grease, but
that's just me...

Or Anti-Seize...