Technical Rear brake caliper sticking

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Technical Rear brake caliper sticking

tara23

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Hi everyone,

For about a month the passenger rear wheel has been making a metal on metal noise when hot and my alloy wheel and brake disc are really hot after about 10 miles or so of driving.

I took it to a garage who said the brake caliper was stuck and they took it apart cleaned it and then put it back together. A week later and it's doing it again. I don't know a lot about cars and don't want to pay for things I don't necessarily need to have done. Do I need a new caliper? I can't bear the noise any longer.

Any information or advice would be appreciated. My car is a 2007 Fiat Stilo Blue.

Thanks.
 
Its the easiest solution to be honest - that's what I ended up doing. You could go for a proper caliper refurb but when you can pick up a new one for less than £80 a side, I just decided to do that instead.

I did both sides just for even braking as I figured the other sides probably not working at its best either if one sides got to the point of seizing.
 
Two things . (maybe 3) Search this forum and you will find lots of entries on this issue.
To cut a long story short ........
Replace the caliper with a new one, (aftermarket or refurbished ones are very much cheaper - about £50-70 each - than a Fiat original). Check out, at least, the handbrake cable and expect too replace this too on the side affected at least. (Cost about £20) When you replace the pads make sure they slide easily in the caliper and use copper slip sparingly on the slides.
After this should last for years with regular maintenance to the pad slides.
 
Ok I will get it replaced thanks for all the info the noise is so annoying I had to turn my radio up to drown it out :p
 
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If anyone could comment on this it would be very appreciated (y)

It appears that my rear right caliper is slightly sticking or at least so it seems. The reason I'm posting here is because it's not a straightforward problem - when the piston seized on my previous car it was clear what was wrong; the rear disc was very, very hot, it smelled like someone was using an angle grinder when you stepped out if the car and of you tried to push the piston back it it didn't really want to move.

What I have on my Stilo is different - rear right disc is only slightly hotter that the left one (if some braking was done) or a bit warm if I stop without braking and check the temperature. The temperature difference isn't that great - if I can touch the left disc I can also touch the right one, but I still feel the difference.

If I jack the car up the wheel on the left spins freely, but the one on the right stops after 3-4 turns. It gets weirder - when I was changing the pads and I had to rewind the piston, it moved with ease! I don't even have a rewind tool, just a homemade key that fits into the slots on the piston and then you turn it and push it in at the same time by hand - and it went in with ease.

Of course I also cleaned and lubricated all the parts with proper greases (sliding pins with silicone paste and copper grease for pads) so that's not an issue. I also checked that the piston creases are in line with the nipples on the pads and I even checked the handbrake mechanism which it works - I had my hand on the moving part on the caliper while someone was in the car pulling the handbrake and it releases normally.

Is there anything else I could check? The only thing that I think helped a bit was changing the caliper mount because the outer pad was a bit hard to get in on the old one, but it didn't completely solve the problem.

Thank you!
 
When you tried the handbrake and say it released normaly, if the wheel was still sticking slightly did you try tapping gently on the handbrake lever on the caliper with small hammer or tool to test if wheel spins more freely, if so then the lever is not releasing completely either due to sticking handbrake cable or sticking lever arm on the caliper to see which then detach cable end from caliper whilst caliper still fitted to brake mount/wheel on car and check caliper h/brake lever using hand if not release as should then this lever arm is sticking I usualy put few drops of lubricant on pivot point a couple of times each year and jiggle till working as they should as the lever arms are in a place to get gunked up with road muck.

If lever is working correctly and wheel spins fine without handbrake cable attached check what you can of the outer of the cable for breaks in the protection and check the cable can be pushed and pulled through the cable shrouding freely, then either replace or lubricate till free.

Also when you replaced calipers after cleaning and greasing did you set handbrake cable correctly by pumping the brake pedal with a heavy foot approx 20 times before setting the handbrake cables
 
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Thank you for your reply! I think I need a new caliper.

I took the wheel off and tapped on the handbrake lever with a hammer, but it didn't move any more backwards. When the cable is loosened you can also move it with your hand, so I guess it works.

Then I noticed that the inner pad I a bit closer to the disc than the outer and I gently pushed it back with a flat screwdriver - the disc finally spun freely. However, when you pull the handbrake and release it, the inner pad sticks too close (even though the lever and the cable come all the way back) - if I push the pad back again, the disc spins again. So I'm guessing something inside the caliper handbrake mechanism isn't working properly? Because the lever and the cable do return...
 
If you have not already tried , then giving the pad and mounting sliders a good clean ,and filing off slightly any rust visible, then little copper grease on where they mount in the pad slider, could be worth a try before spending on a new caliper as you noticed the pad was not releasing grip on disc, or if it is the caliper itself it could have a seal that is going bad that does not allow the piston to retract the slight amount it is supposed to after pressure applied to piston.
 
Rust will build up between the anti rattle clips and the caliper metal. This prevents the pads to slide normally, and will not release properly when not braking. Remove the caliper, pads and clips and use a flat screwdriver to scale off the rust (use force). Fit the clips with copper paste, and refit the unit. If the clips are rusted, get new ones. The pads will now slide perfectly...

M.
 
I have cleaned everything, including the caliper mount completely numerous times but without any success really.
Everything is greased with copper paste also, and the sliding pins with silicone paste :(

The pads move with ease inside their mounts and the outer one retracts, but the inner one stays pushed against the disc.
 
So I've changed my rear right caliper today and things are still not as they should be... I'm baffled to be honest.

Under heavy braking, the car pulls slightly to the right - you can clearly feel and hear (the tyre) that the rear right wheel is braking harder than the left one. I have bleed both so they are 100% without air.
When you jack the car up, the rear right wheel now spins nicely, but stops after a while because the pads are brushing against the disc which I think is normal - on the left side however, the wheel spins freely, as if the pads don't even brush against the disc. I have no idea why this is.

This is not all - when I went to adjust the handbrake (yes, I mashed the pedal 20 times before doing so in fact I even went for a test drive) I've noticed that only the right caliper grabs! When moving slowly and pulling the handbrake on grass only the right wheel draws a line, but not the left...
When the handbrake is released, you can push with hand forward the lever on the right side but not on the left - it's as if it's stuck, but it doesn't grab the disc... It's really bizarre.



One time last year I went about adjusting the handbrake and I adjusted it very poorly... After a few kms when I stopped the car, the rear left disc was glowing red (but not the right one - in fact it wasn't even that hot, so here's another weird thing (this was with the old caliper of course)). After that I slackened the cables and adjusted it better and everything appeared to be normal... Is it possible that I damaged the left caliper that time?
 
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I did some checks again just now and I think I'll have to order a new left caliper, too. The handbrake lever on the left caliper in very hard to move and moves a lot less than the lever on the right caliper (which is new) - I'm guessing this is the reason than only the right wheel holds when you pull the handbrake and since I can't even pass the technical inspection like this I'll just order a new one and hope that everything else will resolve itself with a new caliper.
 
Watching this video I think it's possible that the handbrake on the left caliper hasn't worked for some time now and this would explain why the pads aren't as close to the disc on the left side as they are on the right:

[ame]http://youtu.be/nPRNbn9bdJg[/ame]
 
i have had similar issue : my rear brake pads refused to go back after braking , also hot wheells and noise . rapair guy said he will buy some kit costed like 7 euro for one side.brakes are like new today. kit is named something like rear brake/caliper rapair kit for fiat stilo
 
I agree with Morty Mort on this one. The caliper hanger can be the main culprit as dust and rust build up , particularly under the lower spring clips, reducing the distance the clips can spring open and making the pads far too tight in their clips. It's a good idea to take the hanger off the hub and really scrape the places that sit just under the spring clips.
 
Just keeping on this topic. Why is it not possible to buy new caliper carriers (hangers) when they are subject to degradation through rusting? All ads are for calipers only. At most you can buy new pins, springs and rubbers for the carrier.
 
You can buy the caliper bracket. Item 5 in this diagram from ePER. It consists of the parts marked "A"
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