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Eric – sorry to bother u with another brake issue that you have covered so well in ur videos. I’m trying to diagnose my situation before buying parts. Had front brake pads changed a couple months ago – in the process the mechanic had difficulty compressing the caliper piston on passenger side – i mean it was really stuck – we used a c-clamp and it took all our might to get it to compress. I guess I should have known then that it was an issue but the mechanic didn’t say anything and went ahead with the new pad installation. As I drove the truck afterward, it was pulling slightly to right on braking but wasnt anything dramatic. Now a couple months later, the truck is shaking when I go down the road, not all the time but sometimes – the right side is heating up and I can smell it when I park the truck. Also the right front wheel is discolored, like dirty when the other 3 wheels are clean – brake dust, I presume? I apologize for asking because you have covered this plenty of times but I’ve looked at so many videos my head is spinning. How can I tell it the caliper piston is sticking vs a bleeder valve issue vs a brake line issue vs a stuck pin issue? Thank you very much.
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Hey. I have had this issue before. If you had trouble pushing the piston back in 9 times out of 10 your caliper piston is seized.
The heavy caliper dust and heat indicates “pad drag” from being seized up. You may have to replace the rotor as well as the calipers and pads. I had a similar issue with my rear disc brakes. After replacing both rear caliper’s, braking improved very noticeably. Good luck with your project.
Eric was talking about this a few weeks ago…
Sometimes….The flexible brake line, collapses on the inside and causes the brake fluid not return to the master cylinder, when the brake pedal is released…so when I checked the caliper piston for retraction and it wouldn’t move I condemned the caliper which turned out to be a brake line issue.
I think the second and fourth post…
If you are going to go through the hassle of changing the calipers go ahead and change the brake lines if they are showing signs of age (cracking or dry rot). They are not that expensive and only require a few mins extra. Make sure that you have some flare nut wrenches so you don’t strip the nut. When I changed my Calipers I changed both left and right sides. In Erics video mentioned in JTF’s post he stated you can replace just one if your budget doesn’t allow for both. I just have always replaced both.
Yes I am planning to replace the rubber part of the brake line – thx v much. I think the big clue in my case is the intermittent aspect – I can take off and drive all around without a problem. Then another time I’m out and the caliper is not releasing – and when it is bad the truck will hop pretty bad when I get over 40mph. Today I had to pull over several times and let cars go around while I crept down the road at 30mph. When I get out at such times to look at the wheel – i hear it clicking like the piston is bumping back in a mm at a time as it starts to cool. If it were a collapsed break line I think the problem would be evident constantly. If a corroded bleeder valve etc, it would be constant. Since it is intermittent I feel confident from Eric’s videos that it is the square o-ring that makes the piston operate… mine must be broken or messing up in some way. I may be wrong but it seems to me that it must be the piston inside the caliper or the gasket.
I do have a question – I am finding replacement calipers for my truck that have 2 smaller pistons instead of one larger piston – I dont remember positively but think my calipers have one piston – is it ok to replace a single piston caliper with a 2 piston caliper? According to the suppliers, the 2 piston calipers are replacements from my truck.
Yes IMO that is ok. I think that you will get better performace out of a dual piston setup. I would think that your brakes should be dual piston already. If they are not I higly recommend changing both sides at the same time so braking preformace will be equal.
I just saw another video on youtube that raises a concern in my situation with the front right brake not releasing. The guy claimed (in comment below a video) that it is not good to force a caliper piston in on an 2004 F-150 because Ford put a back pressure valve in the brake line – forcing the caliper piston in with a clamp etc will “blow the valve” Mechanic who replaced my brake pads in March definitely forced the right caliper piston back in with extreme force required using a large C-clamp – in fact it was so hard to move that he ran out of energy and handed it to me and I was able to get a couple turns on the C-clamp and push the piston in. Is there validity to this claim about a back pressure valve on the brake line and pushing the piston in destroying that valve? I wonder about this in addition to the sticking caliper because I ran my finger tip over the rotor on this side today and it’s heavily scored – this since March when the brake pads were replaced – the rotor wasn’t scored at that time. I’m also concerned that the mechanic might have gotten the brake pads on backwards. I guess I’ll find out about that when I open the thing up and look.
Also – I have done my own brakes before but am not a trained auto mechanic. I think I can handle changing the caliper but am concerned about air getting into the brake line and bleeding the line afterward. I have no handy bottle with tube to keep air from getting into the line.
I do agree that you likely need a caliper. It wouldn’t hurt to replace the brake line as well. Actually, all of your other questions can be answered here I believe, including videos on how to diagnose and repair this issue.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-brake-problems
Good luck and keep us posted.
thx Eric and everyone. i’ll report back and if i have the extra time will try to shoot a video showing my repair and if so, will post the link back here. thx again.
Well Eric and guys, I may be the newest buffoon. Long story short I replaced the brake caliper today – pads looked ok to me, rotor was scored but not as bad as I had thought. With storms rolling into my area and working outside I had to forego some of the diagnostics (full video later) and put on the new caliper. I did notice the old caliper pins would not come back out after depressing them. They were not stuck hard but would stay in. I did not see rust on them on removal but they were dark colored. I was not able to get the orignal bracket off so I left it and put the new caliper on it.
I found lug nuts barely snug on the wheel to start things off. Caliper Pin nuts were not real tight either. On getting the line bled there was no problem getting fluid thru the line, it came out very easily and squirted me once when I cracked the bleeder valve too quickly. So I don’t think there is any brakeline issue. On test driving the truck about 8 miles, braking along the way, brakes were fine but the 40-45 mile vibration was still evident and worst yet, the wheel was smoking hot on return home – please see short video here. I could feel heat radiating and see smoke. You can hear the wheel clicking and cracking from the heat. What is going on? I value your thoughts.
I drove the truck again about 15 miles to return core and no real issues – no vibration – no smoking when i was back – all wheels felt similar heat when I held back of hand up to openings in the wheels. Wonder if the smoke was from grease getting onto the rotor? Anyway, still not sure I have found the actual problem. I’ll post a full length video of my handiwork for critique and laughs. I value your thoughts Eric – wonder if my wheel bearings are gone or something like that generating heat and vibration? I do not hear any grinding etc.
Looks like something is still hanging up. Perhaps the brake hose is an issue or something with the new caliper. I don’t think it has anything to do with the grease. That looks like an overheat condition to me. The vibration is due to a warped rotor as you suggest. You’ll need to get the caliper bracket off to replace it. Wheel alignment will not cause a vibration. More info here.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-brake-problems
Keep us posted.
Thx Eric – much appreciate your time and thoughts. Here is the full length video of my failed repair – going public to help others do a better job than my first go around. Let me know what you think of the video Eric – thx again!
Ok Eric and Comany – some revealing analysis following suggestion from youtuber who watched my video. He suggested I jack the truck up again until the tire clears the ground and attempt to rotate the wheel. He said if it was dragging or hard to rotate the caliper job was poor and/or brake line is an issue.
I jacked the truck up and found the following:
1. The wheel rotated without any sound – no squeak or squeal, no dragging sound
2. It required some effort to turn but I noticed it was easier to turn on one half of the rotor and harder to turn on the other half – so Eric – you were right about the rotor being warped – probably explains the bumping at 40mph
3. I then started the truck and pumped the brake… could not rotate the wheel afterward, caliper not releasing at all.Then I got smart and let the truck down, jacked up the drivers side. The wheel rotated easily and smoothly, with no sounds at all.
My questions are:
1. Do I have to replace the rotor of is there a chance it can be turned down?
2. How can the brakeline be the problem when the bleeder valve squirted brakefluid very easily when I was bleeding the line after the caliper replacement?
3. Can I run a wire into the brakeline to test it for blockage?
4. This could be a big question – the replacement caliper bracket was more narrow than the one on my truck that I could not remove – does it matter aka make the caliper pistons displace further etc because I put the new caliper on a wider bracket? Is this a mistake?Eric – I know you cannot answer this question with any certainty since you haven’t looked at the truck yourself but can I drive the truck until I can afford to buy a new rotor and brakeline? Thx very much for all your help. You’re the best!
Thanks for sharing your video. I would recommend that you replace the rotor and brake line. You may have a partial collapse of the brake line causing it to not release. Under pressure you can still get a good gush of fluid coming out of the bleeder but it may not let it go backwards when the pressure is released. Something else you can try now that you have a new caliper is try to compress it. If it doesn’t move smoothly back into the housing you still have the same issue you had to begin with. It could be that your new caliper is defective but I would say it is more likely to be a brake hose having some kind of obstruction. If you dont replace the rotor you will go through those brake pads quickly and have uneven wear due to the scoring and warp. Turning the rotor will help if it isnt to far gone. But with the cost of turning you may come out cheaper to get a new rotor. Since you are going to have to take the rotor off one way or another I would put the caliper bracket on that it came with. Just my 2 cents.
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