Niccoli

Hi All-

I have had some minor break pulsating going on for a while in my car, but it seemed to be getting worse as time went on. I had at one point decided this was in my head and I was just going to deal with it. My car sat for a few weeks (outside) recently. I went to drive it to work yesterday (16 miles), and noticed it was driving "funny". it was shaking and lacking power etc... When I got to work i decided to take a look around the car to see if there was an obvious problem.

I got near (a few feet from) the drivers side front wheel and i could feel the heat radiating off of the wheel. Later in the day I jacked the car up to take the wheel off. First thing I noticed was i could not turn the wheel *at all*. I took the wheel off and removed the caliper thinking there was something wrong with the rotors and the break was ceased in that specific spot. I examined the rotor and didn't see any glaringly obvious issues.

I did notice the caliper was still "out" (I'm not a mechanic, so I didn't know if this was right or not). I pressed it back in with a clamp after opening the bleed valve (it was difficult even with the valve open), reassembled the brakes, and put the wheel back on. At this point i was able to freely turn the wheel. I pressed the brakes a few times and tried to turn the wheel again... no go. I examined the other parts around the caliper (I have no clue what they would be called), and everything seemed to move smoothly.

I did some searches on the forum and didn't read of anyone else experiencing this. I'm trying to avoid buying a whole new caliper ($542 from Mazda) if possible. I randomly see people talking about having "refurbished" their calipers... but no one ever talks about what is in involved in that... or what is needed to do it etc... Obviously it is important to me that the fix for this be reliable...

Anyone able to offer suggestions / comments / help? I've searched online for cheaper calipers and have come up with some in the range of $325, but I think they are aftermarket?? (http://www.car-stuff.com/mmparts/maz...e_caliper.html). They also don't list them as Left/right and I believe the stock ones are wheel specific (??).

I really don't want to buy a new caliper from anywhere if I am not completely sure that is the problem... or without being sure there isn't some simple "refurbishing" kit that will let me replace the seals etc... for significantly cheaper.

My car is a 2004 GT 6 speed with no mods involving the brakes.

I live at the very bottom of New Jersey (North Wildwood) and it's quite a long drive to a Mazda dealership (more so with one brake on the whole way)! I had gone to Holman Mazda for a long time (with varied results), but they closed within the past year or so, and I have not had many dealings with the new place (Chapman Mazda in Egg Harbor) other than a few oil changes and new tires.

Any help or suggestions are much appreciated!
Jeff

G3tR3DDY2GR3DDY

iTrader: (8)

well i have a brake caliper from a parts car.. you said you need drivers side?

let me go check..

G3tR3DDY2GR3DDY

iTrader: (8)

im not 100% sure but i think its passenger side

lmk if you need any help

Niccoli

I appreciate you taking a look for me! And yea, it is the drivers side front.

pdxhak

iTrader: (2)

Does the caliper move freely? Issues with your slide bolt?

G3tR3DDY2GR3DDY

iTrader: (8)

let me look around and make sure i dont have another one...

Niccoli

@pdxhak

The caliper moves... i don't know if I would describe it as moving freely. I have never played with a caliper before, let alone one from an 8, so I don't know how it should feel. With the bleed valve open I was not able to move it by hand. I had to put a clamp in there to move it. I don't know what the slide bolt is?? Is it the part that moves with the caliper but isn't necessarily part of it? Has a rubber cover over it? I did inspect something of that nature and it seemed to move very freely - I could move it with my hand with ease.

dmak_el

iTrader: (1)

sounds like u need to rebuild the caliper.

pdxhak

iTrader: (2)

That is the slide bolt. If it moves then you are ok with what I was referring to.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

Likely the sliders are seized..you can try and remove them to clean and lube

If they are really bad you can't get them to move at all....

Look for a used caliper..I think you can swap the slider part on either side?? caliper is side specific though

pdxhak

iTrader: (2)

Dan that is what I thought but he describes the slide bolt moving freely.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

Well...he said the piston moved in....and the slide is the most likely problem

Hell it could be an ABS problem

justjim

There are 2 moving parts on the caliper, the piston which is the big roung puck looking thing. Its hard to move with your fingers and usually requires a clamp to move it. Whether its is sticking more than usual is hard to say. If you bleed the brakes and the fluid is reasonably clean its probably OK. If the fluid is really gross you may need to rebuild the caliper piston which I have never done but is basically a set of new O rings and some cleaning.

The other moving part is the pair of sliders which are basically long bolts (with the little rubber bellows on them) that allow the inboard and outboard parts of the caliper to slide on the caliper mounting bracket which keeps an even pressure on the inboard and outboard pads. These slider bolts can get rusty and gunked up which will put more pressure on one pad than the other and can cause the brake to stick. The is the most likely problem and is probably the easiest to check and fix. See if you can move both of the sliders, one could be sticking even if the other is not. If its sticking pry it out of its hole and clean it and lubricate it with high temperature brake grease or replace it with a new lubed one.

Niccoli

@dmak_el-
I would like to try to do this... any info on what needs to be done to accomplish this?

@pdxhak and dannobre-
I believe the slider is what I was playing with after justjim described it. The slider did not bind at all and was able to move in and out with almost no effort. Assuming I understand how it works, I am confident the slider is in acceptable condition. However, this weekend I will pop it off and check it over more carefully now that I understand what it is.

@dannobre-
I am not sure, but i would think if it's an ABS problem that the brake would release when the car is off as ABS is off? That was not the case. And the piston did move in on the caliper, though it was not easy to move and I had the bleed valve open. It took me a few trys with a lot of effort to move it in.

@justjim-
Thanks for the detailed explanation. I appreciate that. I think per your suggestion I am going to check the sliders out more carefully. Maybe they moved under my hand but the caliper is applying pressure on it at an angle or something, causing it to bind.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts. If anyone else has any suggestions, or knows someone with a spare drivers front caliper, please post more!

Jeff

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

I was kidding......but really the brake system is relatively simple to diagnose

You only have 2 moving parts in the front caliper..the piston and the slides.

The slides are easy..if they let the caliper body slide back and forth freely..they are good

The piston can be a bit harder..it can be dirty..or have a buggered seal..and be sticky.....but still seem to move.

If the slides are free...clean and lube them..and buy new rebuild kit and replace the caliper seals on the piston. \the parts are cheap...and it is easy to do

dmak_el

iTrader: (1)

http://www.popularmechanics.com/auto...27.html?page=1

You can try, but i would recommend just bring it to a shop or dealer and let them do it, if u don't have any experience since brake is a safety item. you will need a caliper rebuild kit, and i don't know where you can get it, maybe a mazda dealer?