Rear 1.9 Caliper Not Winding Back Fully

[daveyboyblack 1]

Hi All,

 

Just a quick(ish) question really... to determine if there's anything I can do besides replace the caliper.

 

Since bleeding the brakes, the rear O/S brakes on my 1.9 (discs) seemed to be "on" more than it should be (couldn't turn the wheel by hand)

 

Last night I was able to take the pad carrier off, and refit so that all seemed ok as I could turn the wheel by hand. However after pumping the brakes a couple of times, the brakes were back "on" fully and not releasing the pad from the disc.

 

So I took the carrier off, pumped the brakes once to push the piston out, released the bleed valve, and the tried to wind the piston back in (further than it had been before). Now I can't even wind the piston back far enough to refit the original pads into the caliper.

 

So my question is.... why would I not be able to wind the piston back in? I understand that there's an automatic handbrake adjuster in the rear of the caliper, but could this be causing the issue? Or could it be something that going on behind the piston that won't let it retract fully?

 

Unfortunately I need to get the car on the road by tomorrow night as i'm driving to Birmingham on Saturday for DES Developments to fit my new exhaust.

 

Is there anything else I can try before replacing the caliper? I'm not sure i've got the time to re-build the current one, although would that help, and is it easy?

 

Apologies for all the questions!! I did do a search and came up the only suggestion of "wind the piston back to reset the auto handbrake adjustment" but it's precisely this that I cant seem to work!

 

Cheers

Dave

[daveyboyblack 1]

Just had a thought. How easy should the caliper be to run on the sliders? It was pretty tough to slide yesterday.... should it be totally "freed" and easy to slide back and forth?

 

[jim205GTI 3]

That could well be the problem then. The sliders are probably a bit gacked up and might need greasing They need to move freely....

[Anthony 1,003]

As said, the sliders should move fairly freely, and the piston should wind back in without issue - occasionally they need a bit of a tap, but normally just winding them in and out a few times sorts most issues.

 

I've got a few spare calipers at home if you get stuck, although not sure if I have any drivers side ones left (I certainly had far more passenger side ones last time I checked)

[daveyboyblack 1]

Thanks for the responses.

 

I'm gonna start with the sliders first so hopefully that's all it is!

 

Cheers for the offer Anthony, i'll let you know if it looks like I need a new one, although i'm supposed to be heading out to sort my exhaust on Saturday so look like i'll be fixing it tonight if it kills me!

 

Ta

Dave

[welshpug 1,678]

if freeing the sliders doesn't work it might be a partially seized compensator, did it bleed easily enough?

[daveyboyblack 1]

Right, seeing as I absolutely need to have the car on the road today, I've replaced the caliper.

 

Having re-greased the sliders, it became apparent that the handbrake lever (on the caliper) was jammed solid, so I can only presume that it's a problem with the handbrake adjustment. I still couldn't wind the piston back in enough to put the pads in..... so to stop me going mad I've put on a new caliper!

 

Welshpug, the caliper did seem to be bleeding ok, so i'd presumed that all the lines were ok and not blocked. I gather from another thread that sometimes the hose or compensators can collapse and effectively become one-way valves. Glad it wasn't this tho! Ta for the suggestion!

 

Getting the old one off... almost 40mins due to the 18 years worth of grime that had built up!!

 

Thanks for your help everyone!

Edited January 18, 2008 by daveyboyblack