bicycle_ben Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 i have an 81 GL wagon and my right brake caliper leaked a little. guess its tired of that because now its sticking, causing the brakes to drag. its chewed up the pads and now im sitting a few thousand miles from home and no one can find my brake calipers! i can get pads and drive it but its just going to keep eating them. should i look in junk yards to find less trashed calipers or what? -ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I don't see how being a little low on brake fluid could make your caliper not to return fully. Have you checked/greased the pin(s) which the caliper slids on? if those get dry and start to rust that can casue sticking. What side is the brake sticking on? Drvier/passenger? -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Also, I would check the piston for extream rust. Use a C-clamp to push the piston back in and see how it feels while its sliding back into the caliper. -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicycle_ben Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 passenger side is the one that is sticking. my thought was that the leaking means the seal is broken which might cause the piston to jam against it somewhere. ill check and see if the pins are sticky too. the E brake on both sides will stick if you pull it. they dont return when the E brake is released so if i use the E brake i have to manually return each caliper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Hmm, thats a good thought. To me I think the piston should still be able to return somewhat/mostly even if the seal was jaming it. I mean if its sticking hard enough to chew up the pad(s) then thats alot of force. My dads '93 Ranger had the drivers side get stuck and you could feel it alot if you put the clutch in (No need to apply brakes) Hehe. BUt it got that stuck due to lack of grease. You could fry a steak on that wheel Wow! -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Heres an idea. Can you just remove the caliper from the brake. Now granted you would only have 3 brakes but you could still mosy down the road until you can find a replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Oh and tom i know youve never done brakes on these vehicles. Want to know why. Because these calipers are stupid. You need a special tool or pliers to spil the caliper back. A c clamp wont work on these brakes. It really stinks, i know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicycle_ben Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 i put pads in this thing when i got it and just stuffed the pistons back in there by hand somehow. isnt there that weird thing that fits inside the piston like a spread pair of pliers and helps you twist or somehow push the piston back in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 right. the piston should spin back in. good luck finding anything 80-82 in the yards up there... I have a pair that would work for you. they came off my red brat last fall.... are you hanging out there until you get it fixed? I can ship them up there priority mail.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Ben I thought the pistons just pressed back into the caliper? I havn't done brakes on my car yet (My dad did back in '06) so I thought he used a c-clamp. But I do remember him saying something about having to turn it. OK, thanks for the refresher! -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicycle_ben Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 i dont remember exactly how i got my pads in there when i did it but i know for a fact that i dont own any special tools and yeah we are kinda stuck here for a few days till we get this dealt with. Napa claims they can order some rebuilt ones or whatever but given NO ONE else even pretends to be able to order them im going to bet Napa is going to have trouble actually getting them for me. id totally have you send a set up but i dont have an address out here in the mid west, we are driving across the US from Oregon to NY and back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 To bad its not a ea car. Numb is in that area and im sure he might of helped you if he could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yo'J Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 (edited) I use a tool I made from a worn out hole saw and attached it to a drill motor. I just ground the teeth off and made tangs to fit the slots. Just don't kill the rubber, go slow. Ask me how I know. If you had your discs resurfaced to much that can be a cause. No pads, thin disc.......trouble. There is not a lot of throw in a brake caliper. I'm sure you could make a tool out of what you got if you could get to a grinder, a socket, possibly a sturdy set of needle nose or vise grips but that would be a pita. The factory tool looks like this.... >-l but bigger obviously. Its rather obnoxious to use too but better than a set of plyers. Old brake fluid will absorb water too causing rust and binding the brake, so bleed that good. You might be able to free it up. Edited September 23, 2009 by Yo'J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicycle_ben Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 To bad its not a ea car. Numb is in that area and im sure he might of helped you if he could. by ea you mean like EA81 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 sorry ea82, i dont know if the brakes interchange though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 To bad its not a ea car. Numb is in that area and im sure he might of helped you if he could. not quite, I'm a few hours north. my parents live in the cities....but nobody home this week. I don't know of anybody who might have something. Whereabouts in town are you at? I'll see if I can't find someone who would be willing to have them shipped to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicycle_ben Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 we are in more or less down town Minneapolis but we are going to see if we can work something out that lets us limp the car out to Shakopee, MN which is a few miles south and west of down town. can things get shipped to a USPS or FedEx / UPS office care of "ben howard" ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicycle_ben Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 we are going to leave the coffee shop where we are getting internet and play with the car some. if someone figures something out could you guys call me in case i cant get internet? 503 538 1571 thanks so much for trying to help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Did anyone think of what i said. Remove the caliper from the disc and have it hang on the suspension with a ziptie until you can get to someone who can help you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinthe202 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 (edited) 80% of the braking happens up front, running with one would be pretty dangerous, especially on the freeway or highway. Not even sure if that would work since every time you hit the brakes, the loose caliper would travel unrestricted robbing the force from the other calipers the same as if you had a leak. If he's in a town already, she should be able to have something shipped to a local post office which should hold it for pickup. Edited September 23, 2009 by lostinthe202 ad info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Whats even worse is its the passenger side wheel "The Power wheel" So not having any braking on the side is 2 x as worse as just having one brake in front. Plus, then you have to worry about breaking the brake line since they are old. Also, whats keeping the piston from completly coming out? Nothing, so the moment you hit the brakes that piston is going to push all the way out and I just hope your not driving when it does.. Those are the bad ideas with this idea. -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Yea never had a problem like this before on brakes. My brother had a problem but he was in town. We ended up having to change out a caliper because his brakes and rotors were litlerly gone and it overextended and blue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niku-Sama Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 i'd imagine theres a schucks/kreger/checker/o-riley part store up there: part number 19494 for a 1981 subaru GL, unloaded caliper....basicly the hydralluic parts http://shop.oreillyauto.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=A1C&MfrPartNumber=19494&PartType=5003&PTSet=A pull the pins undo the hose, swap re attach everything, bleed a bit. working Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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