Hey all,

 

I've got a problem with my '98 Legacy GT wagon, and a couple questions associated with said problem.

 

On the way home from work today, I began to notice an odd smell. I've smelled it before, but have noticed nothing wrong my car in the past, so I did nothing about it. Today, however, I noticed that my car felt a bit slower. This happened in and out of gear. It felt like the brake was very lightly pressed. The car would coast to a stop much quicker than normal.

 

By the time I got home, I began to have suspicions. Once I pulled into the driveway, I walked around and checked each wheel. The front left wheel was very hot, and had smoke coming from the wheel. I pulled it into the garage and pulled the wheel off. The wheel was extremely hot. After letting it cool down a few hours, I tried spinning the hub (the wheel wasn't attached). I could barely spin it... it definitely felt like the brake was stuck a little bit.

 

So... I think I have a seized brake caliper. Do you guys agree with my guess? To clarify, the car is ever so slightly slower. I can park it on my driveway (slight incline) and it still rolls down the hill a tiny bit, but enough to notice that something is gumming it up.

 

How safe is it to drive? Being that this is my only car, I have to take the day off work tomorrow and get it fixed. I'm planning on taking it to a local shop, but I want to know the liklihood of the caliper completely seizing up. What do you guys think? The brakes feel perfectly fine right now... so I don't know how likely a seizure is.

That certainly sounds like a sticking brake piston.

 

Often, you can just remove the pads and "jog" the offending piston back and forth a few times to loosen it up. You need a g-clamp for this. Regular use of the car wil stop it happening again. Fitting new pads is a good idea.

 

IF the piston is badly rusted it might scratch the cylinder and cause a slow leak of brake fluid. This means servicing or replacing BOTH calipers.

i had the same thing happen to my 94 legacy awhile back.i had the same thought as you have(sticking piston)

 

went an replaced the caliper(drivers side front) acouple days later,same prob came back.

 

just for the heck of it i disconnected the hill holder cable an to my surprise the prob went away.course i think it was to late to return the caliper

 

not sure if you have auto or 5spd but i'd check the h/h device before working on the caliper.

If you suspect the calipher, then all you need is a flat bladed screw driver to move the pads and calipher to check it out. There is a slot in the middle of the calipher. I use the screw driver inthis slot and leverage it against the pads/claipher to move the piston back in. It should move with a moderate amount of force all the way to put the piston into the calipher. If it does not move, well then it's stuck. Check that your fluid reservoir won't over flow when you do this.

Grr, and I dont even know if my car came with a Hill Holder (if it did, it's never worked).

No expert on brakes, but is it possible that it's only the brake caliper slide pin that's rusted, gummed up, etc., and preventing the caliper to slide back once it's pressed (with attached pad) against the rotor ? That would be much easier to fix. Check if one pad (the one not directly in front of the piston) is much more worn than the other. If so my hypotheses might prove right.

Syphon,

 

Flushing and replacing your brake fluid every 3 years prevents a sticking caliper. You may be able to resurrect it by removing the pads, removing the caliper from its mounts, and popping the piston out by pumping the brakes carefully. When it comes out, sometimes you can clean up the rust on the piston with 0000 steel wool. Check the inside of the caliper bore and do the same, flushing it out with clean brake fluid. IF...I repeat...IF the rust is minor, put everything back together and you should be fine, after flushing the system with new brake fluid. If you have any doubts as to your ability to do the job, or to know when you are in over your head... leave it to a professional who will want to replace both calipers. Be safe! Good luck.

....

 

just for the heck of it i disconnected the hill holder cable an to my surprise the prob went away.course i think it was to late to return the caliper

 

not sure if you have auto or 5spd but i'd check the h/h device before working on the caliper.

 

Does a 98 GT even have a hill holder?

The guy at the shop I called said that it did not have a hill holder.

 

I'm thinking it's a stuck slider, or something to that affect. The brakes feel just fine (no pulling, no reduced efficiency) which makes me believe that the caliper is working fine under braking... but when I release the brakes, is where the problem pops up.

 

I dropped it off at a shop and we'll see what they quote me to fix it. I called around a couple times, and shops never want to do brake work without replacing EVERYTHING.

 

"Well, if the caliper is broken, we'll have to do both sides... and new pads... and new rotors... you're looking at $750".

 

So, along those same lines... anyone in the Seattle area have a good brake caliper I can throw in my '98 Legacy GT wagon? (front left side).

On my 82 GL, I had the caliper seize up on me after I changed pads.

 

It was the exact same senario as you...only the rotor was glowing orange and the silicone was on fire!!!

 

I pulled the thing back apart and scraped the pads like you would with "burned toast". Put them back on and have never had a problem since.

 

Of course now days, I check my brakes around the neighborhood for a few days before I put the car "back in service".

 

Still have the same rotors up front and that happend 20 years ago!!!.

 

As long as your calipers will slowly move in and out, I think your ok.

 

Good Luck

Glenn

82 SubaruHummer--original rotors

01 Forester --me too

Just so you guys know... the shop called back. Turns out, one of the pistons on that caliper had seized. They wanted to replace calipers, rotors, and pads for both sides on the front. $700? No thank you.

 

I just bought a new caliper from Bow Wow for $80 and I'm going to swap it out tomorrow morning. Hopefully I won't run into any issues... either with having a brand new caliper on only 1 side, or with the slightly scored rotor and pad (from the heat).

 

I got a quick question about bleeding brakes (something I've helped on several times, but never done myself). Do you have to bleed all 4 corners when you replace a caliper, or do I only have to bleed the lines at the caliper I replaced? Just wondering if I have to get some more jack stands and remove all the tires or not

I would bleed all four to absolutely sure.

It dont hurt to replace just one caliper, You should only have to bleed the one you break loose. If you replace the master cyclinder you would have to bleed all four. But as Setright says it dont hurt to bleed all four.

i'd bleed all the way around but you can try bleeding just one and see how it feels. it's probably likely that the rotor on that side is fried, might want to replace that while everything is apart and off. or at least call and see how much one is.

 

definitely no need to replace both sides, that's rediculous. although if the new caliper is loaded (has new pads) you may want to get a new set of pads so they are the same on both sides.

 

on a side note, keep an eye on your wheel bearings on that side. all that heat can cause premature failure of the grease and wheel bearings.

 

caliper rebuild kits can usually be had for about 10 dollars and they include seals for both sides. tricky job if you don't do this kind of stuff alot.

Just a quick reply to say how things turned out...

 

After the shop quoted me $700 to fix my problem, I went to Bow Wow Autoparts, paid $90 for a new caliper, spent 30 minutes installing it and bleeding the brakes, and everything's just fine!

 

The rotor looked like it took a bit of damage, but the brakes feel perfectly fine. No pulling to either side, no warped rotor feel, no soft pedal, everything worked out. Thanks for the help guys