Sticking brake caliper.

Sgr74

Active member
 Sunny Fife, Scotland
My drivers side brake caliper Is sticking a bit. First sign was brake dust. Jacked it up and spun the wheel and there was a bit of drag. Took it off and cleaned and lubed all moving parts. No difference. My question is, you can buy a pair off eBay for £40. Is it worth it? Or should I pay top dollar for oem?
 
I get lots of my bits from Autodoc..they do OE quality parts such as this https://www.autodoc.co.uk/abs/7797941 for £35..

You need to check it’s the right part but just an idea..
 
The seal has probably gone between the piston and the caliper which allows rust to form on the bore and makes it stick. Refurb kit is about £15, just done one of my fronts a few months ago as the bigger calipers for the 3.0Si are harder to come by. Yours should be pretty common though so I'd probably just go for a refurbed or new caliper. Have a look at the post here for refurb option.... https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=123465&hilit=pry
 
Sgr74 said:
My drivers side brake caliper Is sticking a bit. First sign was brake dust. Jacked it up and spun the wheel and there was a bit of drag. Took it off and cleaned and lubed all moving parts. No difference. My question is, you can buy a pair off eBay for £40. Is it worth it? Or should I pay top dollar for oem?
When you said all moving parts, do you mean the guide pins as well?
 
Z4C_er said:
Sgr74 said:
My drivers side brake caliper Is sticking a bit. First sign was brake dust. Jacked it up and spun the wheel and there was a bit of drag. Took it off and cleaned and lubed all moving parts. No difference. My question is, you can buy a pair off eBay for £40. Is it worth it? Or should I pay top dollar for oem?

When you said all moving parts, do you mean the guide pins as well?
Yes. All copper slipped.
 
Sgr74 said:
Yes. All copper slipped.

The cheap replacement calipers are usually of fine quality. I have had no issues with them. :thumbsup:
Best to use a rubber compatible grease for the pins, copper slip doesn't maintain its lubricating properties and often isn't compatible with the rubber parts. Some thick silicon grease is often used.
 
I replaced my calipers with some refurbished units six or seven years ago and they have been fine. According to TIS the slide pins should be fitted without any lubricant, presumably because lube' eventually collects dirt and they gum up causing them to stick. I used a VERY thin smear of silicone brake grease to prevent corrosion mainly, as the old pins were pitted quite badly. I've inspected and cleaned the replacement calipers and pins a couple of times since and they are still fine.
 
Ewazix said:
I replaced my calipers with some refurbished units six or seven years ago and they have been fine. According to TIS the slide pins should be fitted without any lubricant, presumably because lube' eventually collects dirt and they gum up causing them to stick. I used a VERY thin smear of silicone brake grease to prevent corrosion mainly, as the old pins were pitted quite badly. I've inspected and cleaned the replacement calipers and pins a couple of times since and they are still fine.

Hi Guys,

Sorry to jump in on your thread. I bought some callipers last week and it came with a packet of grease. I am 99.9% sure that it is for the slide pins (it doesn't look like the copper grease I bought for my pads.

What are your thoughts- is it silicone gell for the sliders? or Copper grease for the breaks?
 

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I'd expect the little packet of lube to be for the slider pins. As you mention it's clearly not copper grease (although copper grease is considered old skool stuff for the rear of pads these days I still use it :oldman: )
 
Ewazix said:
I'd expect the little packet of lube to be for the slider pins. As you mention it's clearly not copper grease (although copper grease is considered old skool stuff for the rear of pads these days I still use it :oldman: )

Cheers Ewazix,

I appreciate the reply :D
 
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