Frozen Calipers - How many others had this problem?

[zerowkul98]

I hear you on the "sparing of the rotors". When i had mine done last week they had to machine the rotors to evan them out. I thought I was going to need new ones, but they said no need.

My only one concern is the shifting to the left i get when i hit the brakes for the 1st time after ive been driving a min. or two. Ive already gotten feedback on this from others in here about the dangers, the possible causes...and i voiced it to the Toyota Service Tech. He said to drive the rig a hundred miles or so and it should decrease, and eventually cease.

Ive been driving it a couple weeks, normal city driving...it has decreased a bit, but is still evident. Anyone wanna advise me on what i should do next?

Edit: I forgot to give my 2 cents as to what i bet it is: Im thiing the rotor /caliper combo on the passenger side (the side that was originally seized) either has a rotor / pad combo that is thinner and is therefore not touching simultaneously with the opposite side OR the new pass. side caliper isnt functioning the same as the drivers side, thus the pull to the left.

Id love to hear other people's thoughts on this, as well as what they feel i should do. I dont want to be driving in the ice and lose control to the left due to the pull! GUaranteed the Massachusetts winter weather is on its way!

 

[santana]

seized caliper fixed?

was going to make my own thread but it might make more sense to keep this all in one area.

for a couple of years now my brakes have been pulsing when coming to a stop. Doesn't occur all the time just every once and a while and usually more noticeable downhill. Purchased ceramic pads and rotors for the front and new pads for the rear. I read up on this thread a couple nights ago and took some mental notes about the calipers seizing easily and remem reading that some of you would get the pistons to come out all the way then clean them up before letting them back into the caliper.

Busted into the front drivers side today. Removed the old pads and rotor then pushed the break a couple times to get the pistons in the caliper to drive out further. Lower inside piston was completely seized and looked very rusted the one above that didnt drive out as far and seemed rusted as well. The others seemed fine. Sucks......

After fighting with the caliper for a couple hours and trying to get the seized piston to come out we hooked that sucker up to the compressor and shot it out like a cannon. Took a while to find the right adapters to get the compressor to screw into the brake line.

Here's an example video of removing the other one that was acting up.

Seized pistons blasted out

I didn't get the seized one on video but it was pretty awesome when it shot out. It shot out like a cannon ball or bullet break dust went everywhere.

--
Seized piston

Rigged up caliper with vices compressing the 3 pistons. Getting ready to shoot out the seized one.

KABOOOM

Got them all out and cleaned them up a bit

So yeah I guess if you are giving up hope on stubbornly seized caliper and have a compressor and some time... you could give this a shot.
Scrub down the caliper and pistons with some seafoam/brake cleaner hit it with some low grit sand paper then put it back together. This link is a good reference- I don't know if it was posted here already.

BMW 7-- Rebuilding the brake calipers

I just hope cleaning up my caliper fixes this issue up. I didn't bother with getting a repair kit to fix the gaskets because of the lack of time and need to get the car on the road.

 

[settytb]

That was badass... Also, Mods why isn't this a sticky?

 

[santana]

That was badass... Also, Mods why isn't this a sticky?

yeah..brakes get you absolutely filthy. breathing mask.. gloves and sun glasses err protective eye wear probably recommended for this.

It wasn't very fun to breathe in a cloud of break dust/break oil :fro:

 

[4RunnerFan]

This might be a dumb question, but would periodically shooting a little Kroil (or similar) onto the outer edges of the pistons be a good way to prevent this problem? Other ideas?

 

[MikeInNH]

This might be a dumb question, but would periodically shooting a little Kroil (or similar) onto the outer edges of the pistons be a good way to prevent this problem? Other ideas?

You'd have to REMOVE the calipers to do this.....unless you want to get penetrating oil on the rotors (oil on rotors is NOT a good idea).

In my opinion...not worth it. To be effective you'd have to do this once a week. Just every now and then is NOT going to work.

 

[settytb]

Add me to the list of frozen calipers. But I bet you guys haven't seen this before. So, my spare tire is 16 and my 4 mains are 17 inchers... So, I thought someone added the bigger wheels. 03 4runner with 135k I bought it a year ago. So, I knew my caliper was seized and I go pick up the 16 inch wheel brake stuff. since it probably has smaller brakes. I go to change the passenger side (the seized side) and guess what it was the 17 inch stuff. So I'm like no biggie I swapped out all my brake stuff...1 caliper, 2 rotors for the bigger versions. Now that side is done...going over to the driver side...and it has the smaller rotor/caliper...WTF???? So I had one bigger rotor on one side and one smaller rotor on the other side. You are supposed to replace rotors in pairs...why weren't they replaced in pairs. Moral of the story. Replaced the driver caliper so I have the bigger rotors/calipers in front now. But why oh why were they different sizes? someone screwed up before I got it. This is a serious safety issue with seized calipers...it'll pull to one side or the other under heavy braking. Toyota needs to fix this.

 

[hyperthread]

Add me to the list as well! Just had my calipers, and brake pads changed last Friday.

 

[4RunnerFan]

I've followed this thread off and on for a couple of months. Got the idea to look at the NHTSA Office of Defects website. Reviewed reports for 2008, 2007 and 2006 T4Rs and only found one case that explicitly spoke of frozen calipers. My thinking for checking these model years was they should be old enough to have corrosion issues by now (you should see the underside of my '08). Is this problem mainly with earlier model years? Has Toyota fixed the problem for later years? If not, then perhaps we should do a better job of reporting this issue to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

 

[settytb]

I'm pretty sure we all use the same calipers...old and new. Not completely sure though but a quick check on like an autoparts site search for like an 09 then an 03 caliper and see if you get the same results and the same stamped letters on the caliper but to my knowledge they are the same...if not i'm upgrading to the newer ones

 

[4Runners]

Add me to the list. 160,000 miles and my first seized caliper on front passenger brake. I originally took it in for brake pads and the mechanic showed me that the piston wouldn't budge so they replaced my whole passenger side caliper. Spent just over $400 to get it all done. Not too happy about that since i was saving up for a lift.

 

[derekdevasia]

I had this same issue like all of you did. My rotors were warped as well, and my brake pads we're pretty much done, they failed my state inspection, Toyota wanted 850 dollars to replace everything and put the good sticker on. I was like, no thank you, since i go to automotive technical school, i got a good discount on Auto Zone parts and replaced everything, with ceramic pads as well, for only 290 dollars. That includes brand new calipers, not a single problem with it, works just as well as stock. Glad i did it myself!

 

[scottm]

I'm hoping to put new front pads in this weekend, does anyone have any thoughts on preventative maintenance? Maybe work some caliper grease under the seals on those pistons? I'm just hoping I don't find them seized.

 

[hyperthread]

Add me to the list. 160,000 miles and my first seized caliper on front passenger brake. I originally took it in for brake pads and the mechanic showed me that the piston wouldn't budge so they replaced my whole passenger side caliper. Spent just over $400 to get it all done. Not too happy about that since i was saving up for a lift.

I just had my front calipers (driver and passenger side), brake pads, brake shoe replaced with Raybestos (Carquest) and it only cost me 510 bucks (I thought that it was expensive still!).

Anyway, I just had an issue with spongy brakes right after replacing those and rebleeding the brake lines again fixed the issue.

Did you have that spongy brake pedal problem?

 

[Druss]

I just did a quick look at where all the people live that have frozen calibers and it seems to me to be mostly northern and/or more snow road salt prone locations thus I suspect rust is possibly a contributor to this condition occurring.
One guy in particular on the first page of this thread indicated he has never had any frozen calibers on any Toyota and he lives in Florida.
Just my new member 2 cents.

 

[zerowkul98]

Im on my way to Boston for a New Years celebration (happy new year to all, btw) and im feeling and seeing a slight pull to the right when i brake. I had this same issue on my 08 and it tuned out to be a bad caliper (they replaced both fronts a couple weeks earlier due to frozen/seized). Im thinkin this is the signs of a frozen 2nd set.

I replaced the originals about 2 years ago and my friend who's a mechanic put on A1 Carbone's. People told me they arent the greatest, but i trusted him.

Has anyone replaced theirs with better aftermarkets? Any favorites brand-wise?

List em please!

 

[Ti-Ben]

Guys, a frozen caliper after 120-150k miles is not a big deal! I used to own a Mazda Protege, and it was almost a yearly maintenance.

The only maintenance that can be done to prevent this is to change your brake fluid every 60k miles. Personally, I do it every 40k miles, for two reasons:

1- The humidity that goes in the fluid will corrode the pistons in the caliper, then it will seaze.
2- When the fluid gets old, there is humidity in it, causing a huge drop in the boiling temperature of the fluid.

See table below and go change your fluid!!!

DOT Grade / Dry boiling point / Wet boiling point (3.7% water)

DOT 3 / 401 °F / 284 °F
DOT 4 / 446 °F / 311 °F
DOT 5 / 500 °F / 356 °F

 

[TUZ04SR5]

I just did a front brake and rotor change 2 days ago and the same one piston was seized on both the driver and passenger caliper. 74000 miles on the 4 runner. I ended up breaking a c-clamp trying to press the piston back in. I ended up getting pissed and used an air hammer to knock it back in. no issues as far as driving now, and the brakes feel good. I'm just not sure if the seized pistons are moving back out. I have an extended warranty from Toyota, so I'm going to go to the dealership and see what they say.

 

[zerowkul98]

OK....so i guess i'll ask again...

I got A1 Carbones and they didnt last nearly a couple years. Anyone put replacement calipers on and have better luck with them? If so, which brand?

 

[LB4Runner05]

OK....so i guess i'll ask again...

I got A1 Carbones and they didnt last nearly a couple years. Anyone put replacement calipers on and have better luck with them? If so, which brand?

I used fenco from advance auto. I did the job myself and replaced the pins after I cut them off. I greased the new pins real good and have had no issue so far over the last 6 months since I installed them. My front original calipers lasted to about 110k. When I changed the front pads at 62k I changed the pins as well. The pistons went back in so in my book they were still good. I think maybe the dealer is trying to tap into more revenue by the rusted pins.