Joe719 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 '03 Outback sedan. Have to replace the break all around, rotors, and calipers are sticking on the frount. Is this normal? It seems a little early to me. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 more details. why did you take the car in? were the brakes working? were they making any noises? any grinding noises? is this covered under warranty? any previous brake work done in the past? does this vehicle have 36,000 miles on it, or it's been 36,000 since the last brake job? sounds like a sham to me. i get calls about once a month from friends/family that say some place is telling them they need new rotors and calipers. this is very rarely the case, particularly on subarus. but shops make lots more money replacing all those parts. there is absolutely no way that both front calipers are sticking, that's like winning the lottery twice, very highly unrealistic. but i hear it all the time from people that take their car to the shop. they're just getting worked over. calipers just don't "happen" to fail at the same time. what is more likely is that the calipers only need the slides greased. the calipers have slides that allow both sides of the caliper to clamp onto the brake pad. over time these slides get dirty and need grease or else they "stick" and don't slide as easily as they should. wipe the slides off and regrease - this is standard procedure for a quality brake job. unfortunately most places pay BY THE JOB, so the quicker they get it done, the more money they make. that means they aint getting paid to do it right and don't get paid to grease your slides. so if you've had a brake job before, they probably didnt' grease your slides and they need it now. as for the caliper itself...if it was sticking there is a rebuild kit that most mechanics don't want to mess with. rebuilding a caliper only takes a couple minutes - there's ONE piston seal (or two if you have two pot calipers) per caliper and a snap ring and boot cover. three parts and a few minutes and the rebuild kits are cheap. i get mine for under $10 for older subaru's, don't know what the new ones cost. rotors, i doubt it. either way you've already taken the car in and there's no way to check or prove anything. but i'd bet much money that you're getting hosed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewd Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 My 03 OB needed new brakes all around at 42k and they started making noise at around 20k. I thought that was a little premature considering i don't drive like a slob. When i did my brake job i just got the rotors turned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 '03 Outback sedan. Have to replace the break all around, rotors, and calipers are sticking on the frount. Is this normal? It seems a little early to me.Joe Get a second opinion. Rotors maybe just on the front IF the front calipers were sticking so bad to warp the rotors. Unless you drove the brakes down to metal against meatl you dont need all 4. Brake pads, its not unusual. one persons light on the brakes is another persons heavy. I cant tell you wnats wnat without seeing them, so go to a regular shop. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manarius Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I've got 150k mile rotors and calipers and mine don't stick or clunk or the like. They work just fine. I think that your shop is running you around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic/se Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 All I can say I do 80% of driving on city and I'm almost at 87000km and haven't replaced any brake parts. I was told 6 star(oem brake pads) pads are too hard....they have another that cost about 3 times the price ( same as original equipment) ....so tell them to use the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 36,000 isn't that abnormal for brake pads, but for all the calipers and rotors all needing replaced at the same time, i know for a fact without looking at the car that it doesn't *need* all that money put into it. i'd probably finish the job without replacing any parts except pads if it was my vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 we are forgetting the obvious questions... was there any pulsing in the steering wheel or brake pedal was the brakes making noises when you took the car in did you actually bring the car in for brakes or something else nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 ...or had the brake light come on... indicating low fluid level usually caused by worn pads. we are forgetting the obvious questions... was there any pulsing in the steering wheel or brake pedal was the brakes making noises when you took the car in did you actually bring the car in for brakes or something else nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 ...or had the brake light come on... indicating low fluid level usually caused by worn pads. show off nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 show off nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Like the others here, I find it hard to believe that your calipers are all sticking. Even if more than one is sticking, it shouldn't be hard to free it up, no need to replace them. As for pads/rotors at 36k miles? Doesn't sound unreasonable to me, on the fronts. Rears should be in find shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon38iowa Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Get a second opinion. Rotors maybe just on the front IF the front calipers were sticking so bad to warp the rotors. Unless you drove the brakes down to metal against meatl you dont need all 4. Brake pads, its not unusual. one persons light on the brakes is another persons heavy. I cant tell you wnats wnat without seeing them, so go to a regular shop. nipper I agree: Most definately , get a second oppinion! I was told by a tire dealer that I needed four new struts, however I just replaced two of them six months before! Shop # two agreed that only two of them needed it! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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