My wife's 97 DI (170k miles) started making the dreaded metal on metal sound upon braking, and sure enough, one of the front calipers was frozen. Inboard left front pad was down to metal while outboard pad still had 3/16th of material. situation was similar on the right side as well as on rears, though not quite as bad.
So I got on Rock Auto and found some rebuilts for a reasonable price, but before ordering it occurred to me to try my local Advance Auto Parts store. Surprisingly, Advance had them in stock, so since it was Saturday, I figured, get all 4 and be done with it. Price after core return was some where around $75 for fronts, and $60 for rears.
So I have the truck up on 4 jack stands, wheels off, and get to work. Everything is cooperating, old ones are coming off OK, no mangling of hard lines, no skinned knucles, 2 fronts and one rear rebuilt go on, and on the last rear one, I can't get the hard line screwed onto the caliper. I take a closer look, and see that the hole where the line screws into the caliper is out of round, so back it goes to Advance. Of course, its now Saturday late afternoon, and they dont have another ine in stock, so I have to wait' till Monday.:banghead:
Monday evening I pick up the caliper get it installed that night.
So now its like 10 pm and I get my wife to do the pump/hold routine to bleed the brakes. Starting at the rears, its taking quite a while since the calipers are empty, by the time I get to the front, I notice a big puddle of brake fluid by the front drivers side, I double checked the bleed screw and line connection, and both are dry and tight. the fluid is coming from the inside of the caliper. I pulled the pads, and the backing plate on one is soaked, so obviously the seals around one of the pistons were failing. :banghead: :banghead:
Call Advance following day Tuesday, and pick up new one on Wednesday. Install new left front caliper, bleed brakes, and go for test drive (11 pm ) Brake pedal is a little spongy, but is to be expected as it always takes me a few tries to bleed the brakes properly. I'm doing repetitive stops to get the pads seated, and all of a sudden, the pedal goes right to the floor. As I back up to turn around and head home, I notice a little smoke from the front right.
Sure enough, the inside of the right front wheel is soaked with brake fluid. Again, line connection is tight, bleeder is tight. I pulled the pads, and a piston seal ring falls out, and fluid is dripping out!!:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
Thursday morning I called Advance and ordered a new right front. At this point I am fuming and the parts guy throws me a free can of brake fluid and brake cleaner. I get hung up at work and get home late, but manage to get to the parts store before closing, picked up the new caliper, installed it, only bled the right front and went for a test drive.
Of course the pedal was spongy, since I need to re-bleed the whole system, but at least the brakes worked, and no leaks
So it basically took me a week to do the damn brakes all because of sh**ty parts:banghead:
And tonight I'll do a more thorough re-bleed.
Thanks for listening, I needed to rant
So I got on Rock Auto and found some rebuilts for a reasonable price, but before ordering it occurred to me to try my local Advance Auto Parts store. Surprisingly, Advance had them in stock, so since it was Saturday, I figured, get all 4 and be done with it. Price after core return was some where around $75 for fronts, and $60 for rears.
So I have the truck up on 4 jack stands, wheels off, and get to work. Everything is cooperating, old ones are coming off OK, no mangling of hard lines, no skinned knucles, 2 fronts and one rear rebuilt go on, and on the last rear one, I can't get the hard line screwed onto the caliper. I take a closer look, and see that the hole where the line screws into the caliper is out of round, so back it goes to Advance. Of course, its now Saturday late afternoon, and they dont have another ine in stock, so I have to wait' till Monday.:banghead:
Monday evening I pick up the caliper get it installed that night.
So now its like 10 pm and I get my wife to do the pump/hold routine to bleed the brakes. Starting at the rears, its taking quite a while since the calipers are empty, by the time I get to the front, I notice a big puddle of brake fluid by the front drivers side, I double checked the bleed screw and line connection, and both are dry and tight. the fluid is coming from the inside of the caliper. I pulled the pads, and the backing plate on one is soaked, so obviously the seals around one of the pistons were failing. :banghead: :banghead:
Call Advance following day Tuesday, and pick up new one on Wednesday. Install new left front caliper, bleed brakes, and go for test drive (11 pm ) Brake pedal is a little spongy, but is to be expected as it always takes me a few tries to bleed the brakes properly. I'm doing repetitive stops to get the pads seated, and all of a sudden, the pedal goes right to the floor. As I back up to turn around and head home, I notice a little smoke from the front right.
Sure enough, the inside of the right front wheel is soaked with brake fluid. Again, line connection is tight, bleeder is tight. I pulled the pads, and a piston seal ring falls out, and fluid is dripping out!!:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
Thursday morning I called Advance and ordered a new right front. At this point I am fuming and the parts guy throws me a free can of brake fluid and brake cleaner. I get hung up at work and get home late, but manage to get to the parts store before closing, picked up the new caliper, installed it, only bled the right front and went for a test drive.
Of course the pedal was spongy, since I need to re-bleed the whole system, but at least the brakes worked, and no leaks
So it basically took me a week to do the damn brakes all because of sh**ty parts:banghead:
And tonight I'll do a more thorough re-bleed.
Thanks for listening, I needed to rant
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