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Post by wheelnut on Jan 1, 2015 21:18:07 GMT 1
I have a 2005 Almera four-door saloon 1.5 petrol fitted with Lucas brakes on the front. It does about 5k miles per year at present but at one time it was doing about 24k miles per year. Since it dropped onto the lower mileage about 5 years ago there has been a tendency for the front brakes to seize. The problem is the pistons, not the sliders.
I have freed them out a few times by taking them off and working the piston through its full travel several times. Now one of the pistons is seized almost solid so it looks like I will have to bite the bullet and buy new ones. Here in Ireland the factor price is about €150 each (say £120) for direct replacements, so I want to see if there is any way of preventing a repeat of the problem.
What I would like to know is if there is any other type of caliper that will swap directly onto the Almera without modification. I would be looking for a brand that is reliable and not prone to problems like the Lucas.
As a side-issue I wonder if anyone knows why the Lucas pistons are prone to seizing and is there any way to prevent it? (I should add that the rubber bellows dust cover is intact on both pistons)
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Post by minimatt on Jan 1, 2015 21:41:55 GMT 1
You could try rebuilding the calipers you have using stainless pistons.http://www.kitek.co.uk/pages/pistons.html.I rebuilt some classic mini ones as spares and it was really easy although i havent used them yet.
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Post by chippie on Jan 1, 2015 21:46:31 GMT 1
One thing that springs to mind about seized calipers .....brake fluid...
It's hygroscopic, could this contribute to the pistons sticking due to corrosion?
Has the brake fluid been changed at all?
I once had an 86 plate Capri that I only used thru the Summer, but eventually the front calipers gave in a similar way to your Almera's....
Just a thought.....
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french crap fanatic
Apprentice
french car specialist based in dagenham east london
Posts: 3,355
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Post by french crap fanatic on Jan 1, 2015 23:15:12 GMT 1
phone factors or dealers for new ones,if they say choice of two,then you know what other makes were fitted.
the seal that goes round piston is a special shape,after ten years it prob gone bad.
when i was at citroen we had problems with some zx models who lucas calipers were sticking,the remidy was to replace both with bendix ones.
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Post by wheelnut on Jan 2, 2015 0:26:36 GMT 1
One thing that springs to mind about seized calipers .....brake fluid... Has the brake fluid been changed at all? Yes, the fluid has been changed as recommended so I don't think the fluid is the problem. @fcf: Thanks for the Bendix clue. |
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Stilo
Apprentice
Posts: 1,536
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Post by Stilo on Jan 2, 2015 10:22:14 GMT 1
Here in Ireland the factor price is about €150 each (say £120) for direct replacements, so I want to see if there is any way of preventing a repeat of the problem. Mister-Auto.ie quoting Almera from calipers from €86...... |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2015 14:32:13 GMT 1
I have a 2005 Almera four-door saloon 1.5 petrol fitted with Lucas brakes on the front. It does about 5k miles per year at present but at one time it was doing about 24k miles per year. Since it dropped onto the lower mileage about 5 years ago there has been a tendency for the front brakes to seize. The problem is the pistons, not the sliders. I have freed them out a few times by taking them off and working the piston through its full travel several times. Now one of the pistons is seized almost solid so it looks like I will have to bite the bullet and buy new ones. Here in Ireland the factor price is about €150 each (say £120) for direct replacements, so I want to see if there is any way of preventing a repeat of the problem. What I would like to know is if there is any other type of caliper that will swap directly onto the Almera without modification. I would be looking for a brand that is reliable and not prone to problems like the Lucas. As a side-issue I wonder if anyone knows why the Lucas pistons are prone to seizing and is there any way to prevent it? (I should add that the rubber bellows dust cover is intact on both pistons) I have not come across this or any other brake caliper siezing on there own ,it is always an outside influence, front ones are also less affected than rear combined calipers, i would be asking myself why ! |
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Post by dooroy on Jan 2, 2015 19:32:39 GMT 1
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Post by wheelnut on Jan 2, 2015 21:24:53 GMT 1
Mister-Auto.ie quoting Almera from calipers from €86...... I had checked that site. I don't know the FTE brand you have quoted, I would probably select the TRW brand which is €106.44 plus delivery €8.95 plus deposit of €18.45, Total €133.84 (part refundable). You then have the cost of sending back the old one to get back your deposit. If they are anything like Mick's Garage there is a 50% chance they will send the wrong ones the first time so you will have to send back twice. Over all little saving for a lot of hassle. No thanks, I will stick with the factor in this case, he's quoting for Ate brand and he's not much dearer than that site. @ Dooroy: I am willing to try rebuilding the caliper but I would like to have a spare one around in case I mess it up. This is a safety item so I would want to be 100% satisfied with my work. @mac: There seems to be a problem with Lucas calipers sticking as they get old. My daughter had a Peugeot fitted with them and I got some bother with them too. The fluid was good and the dust covers intact but they still gave trouble. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2015 22:38:52 GMT 1
Mister-Auto.ie quoting Almera from calipers from €86...... I had checked that site. I don't know the FTE brand you have quoted, I would probably select the TRW brand which is €106.44 plus delivery €8.95 plus deposit of €18.45, Total €133.84 (part refundable). You then have the cost of sending back the old one to get back your deposit. If they are anything like Mick's Garage there is a 50% chance they will send the wrong ones the first time so you will have to send back twice. Over all little saving for a lot of hassle. No thanks, I will stick with the factor in this case, he's quoting for Ate brand and he's not much dearer than that site. @ Dooroy: I am willing to try rebuilding the caliper but I would like to have a spare one around in case I mess it up. This is a safety item so I would want to be 100% satisfied with my work. @mac: There seems to be a problem with Lucas calipers sticking as they get old. My daughter had a Peugeot fitted with them and I got some bother with them too. The fluid was good and the dust covers intact but they still gave trouble. Yes get what your saying old calipers do give bother , can only think yours if not any outside influence must be worn so the piston is jamming in the cylinder bore , not seen that for years . |
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Post by Joepublic on Jan 2, 2015 23:09:25 GMT 1
What does the inner pad measure? Is it parrallel or worn wedge shaped?
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Post by dooroy on Jan 3, 2015 4:08:34 GMT 1
I found that the problem was usually a sticking piston due to corrosion and when 'forced' to move this corrosion would damage the seal .
The actual bore of the caliper never seems to be affected (in my limited experience) and can be cleaned up easily .
So if you replace the piston and the seal your caliper should work very well .
Make sure that the groove where the seal sits is completely clear of any corrosion etc before fitting the new seal .
Then coat the piston and seal with brake fluid and fit piston - getting it 'started' can be the trickiest part , making sure the seal doesn't get pinched or part of it turn in with the piston.
The bellows type seal that goes on over the piston is , in my opinion , very important . You can also put some brake grease in this so that as the piston comes out the grease will protect it . A properly fitted , undamaged seal should ensure the piston won't corrode again for a long time .
Stuck sliders can be difficult to remove - but again the kits can be used to get them working properly again . And like the pistons good seals are important to keep out moisture etc .
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Stilo
Apprentice
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Post by Stilo on Jan 3, 2015 10:28:07 GMT 1
Mister-Auto.ie quoting Almera from calipers from €86...... I had checked that site. I don't know the FTE brand you have quoted, I would probably select the TRW brand which is €106.44 plus delivery €8.95 plus deposit of €18.45, Total €133.84 (part refundable). You then have the cost of sending back the old one to get back your deposit. If they are anything like Mick's Garage there is a 50% chance they will send the wrong ones the first time so you will have to send back twice. Over all little saving for a lot of hassle. No thanks, I will stick with the factor in this case, he's quoting for Ate brand and he's not much dearer than that site.. Are you sure about the cost of returning the calliper is borne by you? They have a returns system where you print off a returns slip and arrange for their courier to collect it. I ordered a wheel bearing from them before which became noisy after a week. I returned it too them using this procedure free of charge. From their website |
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Post by wheelnut on Jan 25, 2015 20:12:41 GMT 1
Sorry I have been a little while getting back to this. The job is done now at €130 per caliper from the factor. (about £100 each) Here are two photos to show what I found: The first shows the caliper as it came off the car. It can be seen that the dust covers are intact.  The second shows the components of the caliper after dismantling. (Ignore the oil filter, it's just propping up the caliper) The only fault I could see was a slight tarnishing of the chrome around the piston. The chrome was not broken, just marked. I hope you can see it. I don't know if the tarnishing caused the piston to seize of if mark resulted from the seized piston.  Joepublic: The pads were wearing flat, the correct way. There was no wedge shape or uneven wear. @stilo: You might be right about Mister Auto. My comment was based on an experience with Mick's Garage. They identified a part based on the car's registration but it was wrong when it arrived and I had to pay the return postage. |
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Post by valhalla on Jan 25, 2015 22:52:01 GMT 1
My experiences with old Rover P6 calipers were that it was better to rebuild the pistons into the calipers with red rubber grease, not brake fluid, because the DOT3 / Dot4 stuff is hydroscopic, therefore making a corrosive environment almost guaranteed behind the gaiters. No cars that I rebuilt with red rubber grease ever seized their pistons again, and it's worked long-term on the wifey's Range Rover Classic for nearly 20years as well. The only problem (these days) is getting the grease in decent sized tubs - I have a hallowed tub of Castrol on the shelf that I get very possessive about!
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