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Hey guys it’s 3:40 a.m. I can’t sleep and I thought “when’s a better time to ask a question thats been on my mind all night?” I have a 1999 Subaru Legacy, and my car was making some low grinding noise from the front right wheel at below 5ish mph, and I thought it was a wheel bearing because the noise was there below 5mph without touching the breaks but got worse when I applied the brakes, however it didn’t exist after 5mph (or the exhaust leak drowns it out). Since I diagnosed it as a wheel bearing I drove on it for about 4 days, I figured I could borrow some time and fix it later once it got bad. The noise got much worse today so I knew it was brakes and bought some pads. I pulled the passenger side apart and one pad is worn on a serious angle, and the other is 100% destroyed down to the backing plate. The driver side pads look great, but obviously I still gotta replace em. The passenger side caliper is sticking, and the rotor is trashed due to metal on metal scraping. I believe one of the Pistons is seized (2 piston) because it was very difficult to pry the pads away from the rotor and one of the guide pins was really stuck. No matter how much I clean and grease the guide pins, they still are quite hard to move. Can I replace JUST the passenger side rotor and caliper? I’ll change pads on both sides, but this is my first car and I’m a 15 year old on a budget. A rebuilt caliper is about $60, and a rotor is another $35 so this would be one expensive front brake job if I gotta do both sides. If Money was no object I’d replace both calipers and rotors, but it is, and this rusty, oil burning, turd that I love so much is starting to cost my parents with all these parts, it’s one thing after another. Thoughts on what I should do? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
-Brad
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You can replace one caliper no problem. It is always recommended to replace rotors at the same time to avoid any pulling to one side.
I understand budget issues, but hopefully your parents understand the importance of good brakes… I would never allow a child of mine to drive a car that had a brake issue… Brakes are not something to do halfway…
Good luck
-Karl
[quote=”ToyotaKarl” post=132851]You can replace one caliper no problem. It is always recommended to replace rotors at the same time to avoid any pulling to one side.
I understand budget issues, but hopefully your parents understand the importance of good brakes… I would never allow a child of mine to drive a car that had a brake issue… Brakes are not something to do halfway…
Good luck
-Karl[/quote]
Ok thank you, the rotors aren’t that big of a deal because they’re only 30 something dollars a piece. I’ll go to the parts store after school.
Can I just say how awesome it is to see someone as young as you are caring for your vehicle? So many people are clueless when it comes to their cars, that this thread is very encouraging!
As Toyota Carl said above – Definitely when you are able to, get the brakes all done as you can.
Let us know what other issues you’re having, maybe we can help!
[quote=”Koinonia” post=132888]Can I just say how awesome it is to see someone as young as you are caring for your vehicle? So many people are clueless when it comes to their cars, that this thread is very encouraging!
As Toyota Carl said above – Definitely when you are able to, get the brakes all done as you can.
Let us know what other issues you’re having, maybe we can help![/quote]
Haha I’m only 17 but I am already helping others on their vehicle problems! anyways about the brake thing, I second that motion about the one caliper, just when you get around to doing it get a pair of needle nose vice grips preferably with some sort of cushioning to clamp on the line before you even remove it. That will help prevent the draining of your master cylinder and also prevent spillage. The cushioning with prevent the tearing up of the brake line. Let me know how it goes.
Haha yes you can say how awesome It is. I take great pride in maintaining and working on my own vehicles. I know that I did it right, and not half ass. You’re right about people being clueless, all my friends (and most kids at my school) could probably be convinced they need a blinker fluid change, and the muffler bearings need to be re packed with grease. Anyways the brake job is DONE. Got it all bled (took 1/3 of the master cyl fluid on the new caliper). I have a much firmer pedal feel, and it stops with less effort. To recap I replaced both rotors, pads on both sides, and the caliper on the passenger side. Anybody know how to get grease and dirt stains out of a white cast? Lol I broke my arm a few weeks back, so I did the whole job with only 1 good hand! Thanks again for any advice given.
[quote=”barneyb” post=132962]I put a new door latch in my car tonight and I was wishing I had three hands.[/quote]
Sometimes you need four.I put new pads on both front wheels but had just one rotor resurfaced. The other rotor was pretty scratched up (90,000 miles). Yet when I made some stops with my hands off the steering wheel, the truck stopped straight, even from up to 30 MPH. So I didn’t bother getting the other rotor turned. Did I simply get lucky, or is this the norm?
Sounds like you’ve got this solved. The pad wear you described may have been fixed by a good servicing. To me it sounded like the slide pins or brake pads were hanging up. Both can be repaired fairly easily with a little time and effort. Should you run into that issue again, I would start there. More info here. BTW there’s a video in there showing the procedure I’m talking about.
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