Just bought a '92 Z28 that has rear disc brakes. The owner said the car has been off of the road for three years and needed brake calipers. I replaced both front calipers and hoses. The rear calipers needed to be bled but operated properly (I thought).

When I went to install new pads in the rear on the driver's side, I could not compress the piston in far enough to get the new pads in. The piston moves out when the brake pedal is depressed, but will not push all the way in.

I had no problem with the piston compressing on the passenger side. Is it common for the piston to "partially" locked-up? Do I have any other options besides installing new calipers? Thanks.

 

Could be rusted up inside. Possible trash in caliper. Try to bleed rear calipers with old pads stuck in it till fluid runs clear. If that does not help may have a bad spot on the piston and needs replacing.

 

just replace them, not worth your time


there only like 15 bucks for a brand new one

 

$15????? Where do you get your rear PBR's?

www.rockauto.com has the cheapest i've found. ~$62 each after core return. Napa, Advance, AZ, PepBoys....none could get my the caliper loaded correctly. EVERY place was missing parts EXCEPT rockauto.

 

lol, i may be of but generally thats about what reman units from general parts stores cost on just about everything ive put them on, besides gigantic truck calipers, etc

 

Thing is, if you go burning through time and brake fluid - and they are torn up inside, you'll have wasted all that and yet still need new calipers.

If money's tight - check a salvage yard.

I've never used this site at all - but I found it - perhaps you could find something cheap there - http://www.usedpartslive.com/

Might want to check Aftermarket Vendor Review (search for them in that forum).. maybe you'll find a place or two in there. I'm thinking if it's worth your time to fool with those, you might be better off investing time in searching for a decent used set.

Personally, with brakes... I'd just get new calipers, but I figure it's a safety issue along with not wanting to tear up roters or have to replace brake pads early.

 

/agree

As previously stated above all it is a safety issue

I just checked autozone real quick, looks like some expensive calipers.. wow 128 bucks for 2 loaded ones. But i think it would be worth your while

 

I found remanufactured calipers at NAPA ($89.00), but they didn't come fully loaded. I needed to transfer the e-brake spring and bracket as well as the whole actuating collar assembly. The boot from the collar to the caliper ripped so I needed to get a boot kit ($12.00). The kit comes with both boots, the springs, and other miscellaneous parts. The caliper has been bled and the brakes seem fine. I still need to install the boot kit (just got it today).

Thanks for the help. I think I'll keep and eye on the other caliper (it seems to work fine) rather than just replace it.

 

The rockauto one would've come with everything in the caliper for $62. Only thing you would've had to do was move the cable mount to the new caliper. Less work. Less money. Sounds like a good plan.

 

I've never worked on PBRs before, but on most rear calipers the piston is screwed back in using a pair of long nose pliers.

You can't push it in with a c-clamp because the parking brake uses a big screw assembly. That why it costs a lot more for a rebuilt rear caliper than for a rebuilt front caliper.

 

The PBRs don't work that way. The crappy cast-iron Saginaw ones do, but not the good ones.

They are NOT CHEAP. The prices you're getting sound about right.

You're most likely not going to find them at the junkyard.

I've had to rebuild mine, for roughly the same reason. The pistons and the bore had got corrosion, and it all got stuck together.

You could either try to rebuild them, or replace them. They are not easy to get apart when they're stuck, because there's no way to grab hold of the piston and pull it out. Even using compressed air, I was just barely able to get mine apart, and it took QUITE A WHILE of messing with it.