New caliper won't retract

[Bolt snapper]

When I bought my new(to me) 2004 Eddie Bauer, the seller said it needed a new driver's side caliper. You could definitely feel a caliper binding, especially at a dead stop when taking off or when shutting the car off (after you released the brake to get out it creaked forward like a parking brake partially engaged).

I put the new caliper on last night and drove it. Seemed to drive fine. It started making a screaching/scraping noise, which I suspected were the little slide clips you put on the bracket for the pads to slide on (they were so loose they were falling off).

So tonight I take it all apart again and bend those little slides so they stay in place, but I cant get the calipers to retract using a vise clamp. I finally have to open the bleeder screw to get it to retract.

I bled it again and it seems to drive fine (once again).

From a diagnostic standpoint, is the only other possible cause an occluded hose acting like a check valve? Any other things I can check before I start throwing more parts at it?

 

[Bain64]

When the caliper is stuck and you open the bleeder, does the fluid shoot out with pressure (and release the caliper) or just dribble and stay stuck?

If guide pins and pads float freely but the caliper only releases with the bleeder, plus there is pressure on the fluid when you open the bleeder, collapsed/flapping brake line is a definite possibility!

I’m just a ‘shade tree’, more experienced individuals might be along shortly, but it sounds like your logic is spot on.

 

[Bolt snapper]

It's like you said: the fluid shoots out once the bleeder is opened and then the caliper can be compressed (although it didn't slide in super easy).

Guide pins are greased and pads seem to float freely. I'm starting to look hard at the brake hoses - just want to make sure that's about the only other thing it could be before I go there.

Thanks for the response!

 

[1955moose]

Change out the one hose, see what happens. Other possibility is a stuck sliding bolt. Make sure tracks, bolts, clips everything is clear and greased. I'm leaning towards an imploded hose though. Beyond that your getting into proportion valve and abs unit, but let's not jump the gun yet on that. Brakes as a rule are simple, and so is the fix.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[Bolt snapper]

I'm kind of wondering now if both front brakes aren't tight? It doesn't pull when going down the road (and didn't before I changed the LF caliper either). I checked the rotor temperature after a 30 minute drive with just normal braking, and it was 200-210 on both sides (rears were cooler). Could there be a problem elsewhere in the system that would cause both front rotors not to release properly?

 

[Vancouver Bob]

When I bought my new(to me)

I bled it again and it seems to drive fine (once again).

So are you thinking it's now fine or do you still think it's binding? You say it's not pulling to one side or the other. Not sure what a normal rotor temp should be but both sides are about equal. Is it better than when you first drove it? What's happening to make you think it's binding?

 

[Vancouver Bob]

Just out of curiosity, how were the pads? Did you replace those as well?

 

[Bolt snapper]

I don't think it's fine now, although it seemed more like it was right after I took it apart and reassembled and re-bled. Now I think it's "tight" again. I hesitate to use the word "seized" or "binding", because it's not as if the brakes smoke when I'm driving.

The vehicle is new to me, so I struggle with perceiving what's "normal" when driving these, but as an example: When I'm sitting at a stoplight and maybe even a little downhill, and I release the brake to go, it doesn't roll. The idle doesn't even pull it forward. And it just feels like you're driving with two feet when you accelerate, like you have one foot sort of riding the brake.

The big concern - and the reason for the post - is when I took it apart yesterday (after replacing the caliper the day before) I couldn't push the pistons back in the new caliper using a vise clamp. I had the cap of the master cylinder, too (if that would allow for pressure release when compressing the caliper).

How likely is it that both front hoses delaminated / imploded at the same time?

I kind of wish I knew if the 200-degree-plus rotor temperature was normal. If it was, maybe I would relax a bit and accept this as normal. It appears as if the pads were replaced recently (brake material is very thick). As I said in the OP, the seller said it needed a caliper. When I took the old one off, one of the two slider bolts was stripped out at the hex head, so someone has been messing with it to try to fix something.

 

[Hamfisted]

Is the retraction spring still in place there at the top of the caliper, between the pads ? There should be no contact between the pads and rotors with your foot off the brake pedal. The rotor should free spin.


-Mike

 

[Bolt snapper]

Is the retraction spring still in place there at the top of the caliper, between the pads ? There should be no contact between the pads and rotors with your foot off the brake pedal. The rotor should free spin.


-Mike

Umm..... there was a spring in the kit with the new rotor that didn't come off of the old brake assembly. I couldn't see where it went or how it worked. Have any pictures or diagrams of where this retraction spring goes?

Edit: I found a video and a couple of pics of this spring, but I'm pretty confident my inboard pad doesn't have the little tab and hole that accepts this spring. Does this mean someone put the wrong pads on or is this spring not really that critical?