Seized calliper

[Markcoopers]

Had the near side front calliper seize up today, felt it within a vibration in stealing and brake peddle, then the puncture warning came on. Let it cool off and now all if fine...........but is it?

It might be fine now, and working, but why seize up and will it do this again? It had sat for 3 weeks and I suspect this is partly to blame, but is this my an early warning before total failure?

Cheers,

Mark

 

[andicole0]

I just had my Front N/S calliper changed as it had seized up. Apparently not unheard of and yes likely to happen again. Usually this happens after the piston is pushed back for new pads and disks which can pick up 'dirt' from old brake fluid and muck from cylinder walls.

I have not heard of an explanation why it is more likely to be front N/S but this is what I have been told.

Andi.

 

[Sim_Simma]

You can nearly always break them off. I had I bike with twin 4 pot front breaks. 6 out of 8 pistons were seized and I broke them all free and they works fine.

 

[Dogmatic6]

I just had my Front N/S calliper changed as it had seized up. Apparently not unheard of and yes likely to happen again. Usually this happens after the piston is pushed back for new pads and disks which can pick up 'dirt' from old brake fluid and muck from cylinder walls.

I have not heard of an explanation why it is more likely to be front N/S but this is what I have been told.

Andi.

Yep I've had the front N/S calliper seize too. Luckily the pads and disc weren't damaged. BMW wanted to replace it but I got a local garage to strip and clean the calliper for £50. That was over a year ago and the problem hasn't returned yet.

 

[Toe-side]

Generally the N/S gets more abuse from the elements............puddles, crap and alike.

 

[CornishRob]

Yep, mine went in the summer.

Ended up needing new caliper, two new front disks, pads, sensors and a brake fluid change as it all got so hot!

 

[Sim_Simma]

Yep, mine went in the summer.

Ended up needing new caliper, two new front disks, pads, sensors and a brake fluid change as it all got so hot!

Thats shite, what did that cost you then? I'm guessing around 800??

 

[Markcoopers]

Car booked in with TWG in Peterborough (recommended on a few forums) this Friday. New calliper and flexi hose and will then consider if any thing else is needed.....like discs and pads. They will only fit the OEM pads unless I supply them with them, so I have ad few questions.....I did do a search, so just want to check a few things.

As I have 1 track day coming, and will probably only do 1 or 2 a year, I have no desire to go down the BBK route, but a swap to an upgraded pad and some braided hoses and fluid May way be a good option.

So I assume the hoses are from Goodrich, but what fluid?

On the thorny issue of pads as I realise this is a personal choice, what options exist for the std BMW calliper (fronts)?

If I upgrade the fronts, should the rears also be upgraded?

Does the z4M run a different calliper to the E46 M3, I know the discs are different, but are the callipers?

Sorry for the q's, a beer to those that help if/when we meet up.

 

[andicole0]

Yep, mine went in the summer.

Ended up needing new caliper, two new front disks, pads, sensors and a brake fluid change as it all got so hot!

Exactly what mine did, a cooking smell when I got out of the car, luckily pads and disk were OK so just had a new calliper fitted, all good now.

Andi.

 

[tomscott]

My driver side went, had it replaced. Was horrendous felt like the wheel was going to come off wobble through the steering was quite alarming. Took it in and they replaced it straight away under warranty.

 

[tomscott]

Z4M runs the CSL specification discs.

 

[Merrsh1]

Had the near side front calliper seize up today, felt it within a vibration in stealing and brake peddle, then the puncture warning came on. Let it cool off and now all if fine...........but is it?

It might be fine now, and working, but why seize up and will it do this again? It had sat for 3 weeks and I suspect this is partly to blame, but is this my an early warning before total failure?

Cheers,

Mark

Absolutely identical to what happened to me. Took to garage and they couldn't find anything wrong. No problem since.

 

[CornishRob]

Yep, mine went in the summer.

Ended up needing new caliper, two new front disks, pads, sensors and a brake fluid change as it all got so hot!

Thats shite, what did that cost you then? I'm guessing around 800??

It was all under warranty, but I would guess more like £1000-1200.

I think the Caliper was about £440 on its own if I remember correctly.

 

[GuidoK]

If you choose to repair the caliper (so replace the piston+o ring&dust boot), it may be smart to repair(replace) the guide bushes from the guide pin (guide pin is attatched to the caliper carrier and lets the caliper move freely) too. (there is a repair kit for that).
I don't know if a dealer will do this job ($$ hourly rate and selling parts=easy money), but an independant garage probably will (or you could do it yourself of course)

 

[Markcoopers]

Interesting day today, took the calipers and brakes apart to take a look and see if it could all be freed off. Car has a Full BMW history and apparently had discs and pads replaced about 16k miles ago.

Absolutely no copper slip or even signs of grease anywhere used in the assembly, but corrosion and rust on all surfaces. The seal on the piston was out as well on a tiny part,which explaines that problem, and was a complete sod to refit. What was also odd to note though was that the open part of the seal corresponded to where the pad wear indicator was, and it looks like this somehow interferes with the fitting of the seals. I need to re look at this when I have more time, but as this pad ware indicator is only in the front near side I wonder if this is the cause of the often only near side caliper seizure?

Anyway, cleaned up all the surfaces and copper slipped the surfaces and guess what, it all works freely.

Over winter I will take all the callipers to bits again and complely service them with new seals and caliper bolt bush kits, paint them, fit SS lines and fill with new/better fluid and better pads. But for now it is freed off, working and a serviceable as this is only my toy and not daily.

Also fitted the front and rear mud guards, which were reassuringly easy and a good fit to put on.

 

[Woots]

By time you've paid 1k for oem replacements might as well get some blingy stop tech ones?

 

[Markcoopers]

Really, the service kits will be that expensive?

 

[Liam]

Interesting readmark, sorry to hear of your bad luck. Would you recommend any preventative maintenance that would be worth doing? Which could be easily done? I don't think I have the ability or knowledge to go as far as to strip down the calipers though..

 

[weegeoff]

If your calliper seizes try going in reverse and brake hard this sometimes frees it. Make sure there is no one behind you :!: :!:

 

[Markcoopers]

Liam, it was not difficult, 1 hour a side I recon.

Car on the flat, in reverse and handbrake on, engine off. Crank steering fully right if working on left and vica versa
Slacken off wheel nuts
Jack car using jacking point, I use a piece of wood between the car and the jack as well
Make the car safe, you can leave it on the jack, but I like to add a stand under the car just in case
Remove wheel

If on the left front, near side, you will see a wire coming out of the calliper. Chase this to a box on the wheel arch lining and disconnect. Then free the wire from the lining, the upright and the calliper. All are small rubber connections and just "pop off or out"

Facing you is a big flat spring, this needs to be pushed away from the centre of the wheel and it will pop off.

On the calliper above and below the piston (inside facing the engine) you will find two rubber/plastic caps, pull these out. Inside are Allen bolts, undo.
This frees the calliper and the whole lot should slide off of the disc, unless there is a ridge on the disk which might need taking off with a grinder or dremel.

One pad has a spring that holds it into the piston, the other/outside one does not, the pads should now fall out or be pulled out of the calliper.

I used a bit of solid copper wire to hang the calliper from the road spring while doing other jobs....do not let is pull on the brake fluid line. The piston is clearly visible as is the dust seal around it.....is the seal pushed in all the way round? There is a kit to replace this and the O ring on the piston, I did not have one today but will do this after christmas. Either way, can you push the calliper back in, I use a g clamp, if so then this is not stuck.

The cage will still be mounted to the car, you can leave this if you want, or 2 17m bolts and some grunting will have it off.

I cleaned up the groves and mounting faces of the cage and the pads with some "gunk" and a toothbrush, a flat screwdriver and some sandpaper.

Once clean, either mount the cage or if left on the car, coat these surfaces in copper slip. The Allen key tightened bolts for the calliper were also coper slipped for the record.

Reassemble is the revers of destruction, but be careful to do all the bolts up tight and replace the two plastic caps as these keep the crud out of the mounting pins.

Refit wheel and torque the bolts when on the ground. Pump brake peddle a few times to ensure the piston and pads are back against the disc.

Preventative wise I would recommend copper slip on the pads and the bolts to stop them corroding. I would recommend not jet washing the hell out of the callipers directly and I would keep an eye out on the free movement of the pads and if they are sliding or not.