Before you chuck ya rear calipers...

[Laughingboy 0]

Had the rear brakes seize on me today and was all ready to ditch the things but found something interesting that might help a few folks.

 

On stripping them I found it was the pads that had seized into the carriers. after knocking them out and running the angle grinder gently over the running surfaces hey presto, unseized brakes and they work a treat!

 

Defiantly something to add to the routine maintenance list is to clean and grease these guides. just wonder how many folk have ditched they're rear calipers thinking they were seized and it was just this. something to bear in mind if it happens to you

 

Hope thats of some use to everyone.

 

Oh and as a plus side, while I was under there I found my C is fitted with konis!! bonus, considering the whole car cost me just under £300!!!

[Toad 0]

I was literally about to make a post about rear brakes.... Weird eh?

 

I'll just add my comments to this post.. save making too many threads.

 

Righty, My drivers side rear brake started to seize last weekend initially I stripped the pads out cleaned the carriers, checked the pins were ok, freed the knackered handbrake cable off a bit and thought I'd sorted it... However a night or two later and it's sticking again I got through the week by leaving the handbrake off and swearing at it... Swearing helps fix problems...

 

Anyway I got talking to a couple of people and decided I counldn't afford the Mk4 caliper upgrade, so I purchased a caliper repair kit from VW and attacked my caliper today.. Now I had a bit of a backup plan if it all went wrong in the form of another caliper on my spare car.

 

Anyhow the kit was £12 and contained seals for both calipers and 1 packet of lube, so you have to do both or weasel some new lube or something else clever.

 

I pulled the caliper off and found it had a fair bit of cack stuck to it, so after a bit of cleaning with brake cleaner and a wire brush it was far better. Next I found that the heat had melted the adhesive backing of the pad onto the piston quite badly so It couldn't rotate. Once I got the old pad off I noticed that the outer boot was pretty rooted, and when I got the piston out it turns out that there was quite a lot of rust around the piston and between the main piston seal and the outer boot in the caliper itself...

 

I cleaned all of this off and smoothed the surfaces back with emery cloth. The outer boot was also very stubborn to remove as it was stuck in with rust. Having cleaned the components very well I checked the handbrake mech and thoroughly greased the spindle (it pulls out about a centimeter once the spring is removed.)

 

Anway I put it all back together and used a syringe to fill the caliper up with brake fluid by injecting it in through the bleed nipple and waiting for the air bubbles to stop appearing out the end of the flexi pipe. I've put the caliper back on and it seems to work fine.

 

The pads were nearly worn out and I think that the rusty ring that had formed was stopping the piston from moving back correctly, this area is now back withing the caliper and is nice and smooth once more so hopefully it won't be a problem again, or if it is it should be in 2 years time when these pads wear out...

 

Next I will be changing the handbrake cable, as that is a bit rusty and the added friction doesn't help the caliper release.

 

I think that it is well worth looking at repairing the calipers before just throwing them away and buying new ones...

[coolrado 0]

Next I found that the heat had melted the adhesive backing of the pad onto the piston quite badly so It couldn't rotate

the piston shouldnt rotate during operation, it only needs to rotate when winding back in to fit new pads, in nomal operation it has a ratchet mechanism that allows it to move out as the pad wears but not back again, the adhesive on the back of the pads is meant to stick to the piston as it stops squeeling.

[Yandards 0]

I was literally about to make a post about rear brakes.... Weird eh?

 

I'll just add my comments to this post.. save making too many threads.

 

Righty, My drivers side rear brake started to seize last weekend initially I stripped the pads out cleaned the carriers, checked the pins were ok, freed the knackered handbrake cable off a bit and thought I'd sorted it... However a night or two later and it's sticking again I got through the week by leaving the handbrake off and swearing at it... Swearing helps fix problems...

 

Anyway I got talking to a couple of people and decided I counldn't afford the Mk4 caliper upgrade, so I purchased a caliper repair kit from VW and attacked my caliper today.. Now I had a bit of a backup plan if it all went wrong in the form of another caliper on my spare car.

 

Anyhow the kit was £12 and contained seals for both calipers and 1 packet of lube, so you have to do both or weasel some new lube or something else clever.

 

I pulled the caliper off and found it had a fair bit of cack stuck to it, so after a bit of cleaning with brake cleaner and a wire brush it was far better. Next I found that the heat had melted the adhesive backing of the pad onto the piston quite badly so It couldn't rotate. Once I got the old pad off I noticed that the outer boot was pretty rooted, and when I got the piston out it turns out that there was quite a lot of rust around the piston and between the main piston seal and the outer boot in the caliper itself...

 

I cleaned all of this off and smoothed the surfaces back with emery cloth. The outer boot was also very stubborn to remove as it was stuck in with rust. Having cleaned the components very well I checked the handbrake mech and thoroughly greased the spindle (it pulls out about a centimeter once the spring is removed.)

 

Anway I put it all back together and used a syringe to fill the caliper up with brake fluid by injecting it in through the bleed nipple and waiting for the air bubbles to stop appearing out the end of the flexi pipe. I've put the caliper back on and it seems to work fine.

 

The pads were nearly worn out and I think that the rusty ring that had formed was stopping the piston from moving back correctly, this area is now back withing the caliper and is nice and smooth once more so hopefully it won't be a problem again, or if it is it should be in 2 years time when these pads wear out...

 

Next I will be changing the handbrake cable, as that is a bit rusty and the added friction doesn't help the caliper release.

 

I think that it is well worth looking at repairing the calipers before just throwing them away and buying new ones...

 

Got a repair kit and a pair of calipers in the roof.

 

I think that it is worth the effort of cleaning them up and doing what both you and laughingboy have suggested, espcially if you are on a budget. The mk. iv items are very nice but well maintained mk II calipers work just as well. (most of the tiume..)

[Toad 0]

Got a repair kit and a pair of calipers in the roof.

 

I think that it is worth the effort of cleaning them up and doing what both you and laughingboy have suggested, espcially if you are on a budget. The mk. iv items are very nice but well maintained mk II calipers work just as well. (most of the tiume..)

 

I think it's a shame that every time someone says they've got a problem with a rear caliper that they're told to replace it with a new one or swap to mk4s. There are several reasons why they fail sometimes they are rooted, but I suspect that they are quite servicable. With a bit of preventative maintainence and looking after the calipers should last a while. I'm quite happy to refurb a few calipers in the future if people are interested, I've got a couple of spares knocking about to do on an exchange basis.

[dr_mat 0]

They are almost always serviceable, this is absolutely true. It's just that for most people they don't have the time/know-how to service them themselves.

After all, a brake caliper is essentially very very simple, there's not a lot to go wrong and therefore there's not a lot to fix ..

[Yandards 0]

They are almost always serviceable, this is absolutely true. It's just that for most people they don't have the time/know-how to service them themselves.

After all, a brake caliper is essentially very very simple, there's not a lot to go wrong and therefore there's not a lot to fix ..

 

Exactly, in fact the rears are even easier given that they screw out. Seal kits are dirt cheap and you can even get someone to shotblast them, then a few coats of hamerite works wonders.

[Laughingboy 0]

Never understood this whole "black art" surround brake calipers! Given the right tools and parts a child of three could rebuild the calipers on a vw's.

 

Think maybe I'll have to get the camera out and do a nice photo rebuild thread to help everyone out... most folk would kick themselves if they knew just how simple it is.

[dukest 0]

Never understood this whole "black art" surround brake calipers! Given the right tools and parts a child of three could rebuild the calipers on a vw's.

 

Think maybe I'll have to get the camera out and do a nice photo rebuild thread to help everyone out... most folk would kick themselves if they knew just how simple it is.

 

Did you ever get anywhere with this?! :D

[Jim 1]

Would be interesting in such a guide myself! Would prefer to rebuild mine (they're a bit knacked!) than fork out the amount for MK4's and the Goodridge kit!

[davidwort 0]

I was under the impression that once corrosion got into the handbrake release mechanism of the old style mk2 calipers (and possibly the mk3 style alter ones) that they will continue to sieze, sometimes they'll last a while and sometimes not, for the sake of 40 quid or so for a completely new/refurbed caliper I'm glad I made the choice just to swap them out, been trouble free for over 6 years now.

The mk3 ones are less prone to siezing the handbrake mech so it made sense to go for those, no different hoses or pads to mess with either unlike the mk4 ones.

[dinkus 10]

I think it's worth pointing out here that the handbrake mech is actually the carrier, not the calliper.

 

So even though my C has new Mk4 callipers on it that work fine, the handbrake mech still locked up solid because it's on the old manky carrier.

 

But new handbrake cables and a carrier rebuild kit (for the princely sum of £55 with no bastid discount from the local stealers) and it should all be good as new.

 

A large can of penetrating oil and another of brake cleaner is also a worthwhile investment. And if it's proper ceased, a drift and a large hammer.

[Supercharged 2]

Dom what are you on about - the handbrake works on the caliper itself, the only problem I can see you having is the carrier pins are seized...

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Seems this strip down and clean up at the back there is required quite frequently! I do it every time I change the pads, but it's not enough.

 

Last night I decided to do it again as the discs weren't as shiney as they should be, indicating the pads aren't receiving the full pressure.

 

Sure enough, the pads had rusted onto the carriers again, and I filed them (and the pads) and copper slipped them last year, aswell as greasing the slide pins and making sure the pads were loose in the carriers :roll:

 

It's just a schitt design.....period.

[davidwort 0]

Dom what are you on about - the handbrake works on the caliper itself, the only problem I can see you having is the carrier pins are seized...

:lol: deja vous?

[dinkus 10]

Ok, so I may have been talking crap.

 

The handbrake mech is on the calliper, but the bit that ceased on mine was the pins, which are part of the carrier.

 

It is a schitt design tho.

[Jim Bowen 1]

i should be servicing some front and rear calipers soon with the rebuild kits, i'll try and get a list of part numbers, costs and some piccys

[Critical_Mass 10]

i should be servicing some front and rear calipers soon with the rebuild kits, i'll try and get a list of part numbers, costs and some piccys

 

If you could mate that would be great. Recently found my o/s rear caliper has a ripped piston seal - Brake fluid leaked over the driver.

 

How much are these seal kits, and can you only buy them from VW? How do you get the piston out?

[Jim Bowen 1]

i don't know anything about it yet :lol:

 

am just going to buy everything and get it done, got someone who can help if i get stuck but should be qutie straight forward i hope

[Jim Bowen 1]

i should be servicing some front and rear calipers soon with the rebuild kits, i'll try and get a list of part numbers, costs and some piccys

 

If you could mate that would be great. Recently found my o/s rear caliper has a ripped piston seal - Brake fluid leaked over the driver.

 

How much are these seal kits, and can you only buy them from VW? How do you get the piston out?

 

finally done something on this.

 

Front Brake Caliper rebuild kits for the Golf 1997/1998 VR6.

 

Part no: 3A0698471 - Set of seals = £12.51 inc vat, each side

 

you get the seals to the piston and the dust covers for the piston

[Critical_Mass 10]

Nice one, and how did you get the piston out?

[Toad 0]

You can wind it out or use the handbrake mech to pump it out.

[Jim Bowen 1]

i just stuck the end of the foot pump into the bit of hose, (hose was jut cut off on mine)

 

and pumped it out, put some rag underneath it though as it suddenly flops out

[Critical_Mass 10]

As simple as that is it, so theres nothing actually holding it in?

[Toad 0]

The rear caliper piston is on a screw threaded rod, so you can't just pull it out. it can be pumped either hydraulically or via the handbrake though as well as unwound.