Front brake caliper ...

[muleskinner]

My right front brake caliper is locking up (will not release all the way). I have the stock ones for the festiva. I pounded and lubed the caliper the best I could and got it loose. I worked it back and forth for a while till I was satisfied with the release of the rotor.

Will I need to replace the caliper(s)?? and if so are they easy to find the stock ones?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

[WmWatt]

Did you clean the pin the pads slide on? A strip of emery cloth pulled back a forth will do it without removing anything. Then lube. Helps.
I bought calipers and rotors here in Canada no problem and that means you can get them a lot easier in the USA, and cheaper too..

[Bert]

If it's the piston itself that freezes or sticks then you are going to have to bite the bullet and get a new/rebuilt one. RockAuto? Lube and grease everything when you put it back to together. Up here oftentimes it is the two sliding pins (enclosed by rubber boots) that seize and those can be freed up with emory cloth/wire wheel and some brake lube. I regularly (40 years ago) used to rebuild brake parts on British cars but I've never tangled with rebuild kits (or know if they even exist) for our stuff.

[Movin]

Bert, you must have a special place in your heart for Lucas electrical

I 2nd the use of brake lube where it belongs and the extra special care taken to assure that it does not go where it doesn't belong!

[Bert]

Bert, you must have a special place in your heart for Lucas electrical

"Prince of Darkness" is how one of my esteemed colleagues described Lucas Electrics. I always figured the Cold War would have ended much sooner if we'd freely shared that technology with the Soviets.
And then speaking of 'assure that it does not go where it doesn't belong' you must be talking about the aftermath of a prisoner dropping his bar of soap in the shower.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

I just purchased a pair of rebuilt calipers ("unloaded") from Napa, along with new pads and spring kits. Before the core charge, I think it was about $50 per wheel. Napa no longer sells "loaded" caliper assemblies.

I also bought new rear pistons, rear spring kits, and shoes.

Everything except drums (which I've bought recently for about $20 each new) was under $300 including core charges.

[denguy]

Make sure you have good fluid flow through the rubber lines that run to the caliper. They can get plugged up.

[F3BZ]

here in rustburgh it seems that the slide pins seize up even though they are enclosed within rubber boots. sometimes the rubber gets a hole in it that allows the elements to enter but that's not always the cause. you might have to press out the seized pins mechanically. clean them up or get new ones. get new boots, install them in the caliper and really pack the brake grease into the accordian folds, insert the pins and burp the boots like a tupperware lid. repeat every year.

[Bert]

here in rustburgh it seems that the slide pins seize up even though they are enclosed within rubber boots. sometimes the rubber gets a hole in it that allows the elements to enter but that's not always the cause. you might have to press out the seized pins mechanically. clean them up or get new ones. get new boots, install them in the caliper and really pack the brake grease into the accordian folds, insert the pins and burp the boots like a tupperware lid. repeat every year.

You and I both learned the hard way. Second Festy I got initially required 2 men and a boy to stand on the brake pedal in order to halt the car. Upon caliper disassembly the boot-enclosed pins were so badly seized and corroded that they couldn't be saved. It was pretty exciting to have real brakes immediately after, and nearly have my head go through the front glass.

[muleskinner]

Hey, thanks everyone!
For what I did, it is working for now, but it looks like a little project for me in the next few weeks to take them apart and clean the pins!

[Bert]

Hey, thanks everyone!
For what I did, it is working for now, but it looks like a little project for me in the next few weeks to take them apart and clean the pins!

And what pray tell was that? The pin-held pads can always use some attention but by the time you decide to toy with new calipers (and rotor and pads I presume) the rest of that stuff is self-evident. Feels good to be self-sufficient and free of $125/hr advice/service doesn't it? Hooray!

[muleskinner]

And what pray tell was that? The pin-held pads can always use some attention but by the time you decide to toy with new calipers (and rotor and pads I presume) the rest of that stuff is self-evident. Feels good to be self-sufficient and free of $125/hr advice/service doesn't it? Hooray!

Yes it does!! Whoo Hoo!!

[muleskinner]

Well, I got myself a left & right front calipers yesturday. I had to drive 70 miles afterwards and the old caliper was locking up too much, so I pulled off in a driveway where nobody was living and changed out the right caliper. I had no brake fluid to do the bleeding and had to ask someone next door if they had any and luckly they did. I changed it out and bled the brakes (with the help of my g/f Geraldine) and was on my way .... free rolling again!

Turns out one of the pins was bent a little, probably keeping the pads fron retracting. The damaged was done on the caliper though, from too much heat. I may have to get new pads too, but for now I will use the ones that got a little over heated.

Should I return the other new caliper (left side) or put the other new one on the otherside????

I'm the type of person that "if it's not broken don't fix it" type! So I'm sort of back and forth on this.

Thanks,
Mike

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

Napa's caliper "spring kit" includes nice shiny new pins. Might be an inexpensive alternative to cleaning your corroded pins.