sticky rear caliper
 

i have recently purchased a 91 RX-7. This is going to be my daily driver. (I have a 1981 Porsche 911 that is my weekend toy) The car had not been driven for 6-8 months and now the right rear caliper is dragging. Do I need to replace the caliper or is there a rebuild kit I can buy. Thanks for your help!

TODD

Well depending on why it is draging. There is two common cause of the drag, and i believe this is true with the 4piston or single piston brake. THere is a slider bolt on the caliper that let the brakes slide side to side. SO that there is less drag on the brake, is kind of like a self centering design. But those slider pins or bolts can get dry or wear out. SO they either have to be lube with silicon grease or replace if they are too badly worn. But if the calipers are frozen you can get a rebuild kit for it. They are about 60 for the 4 pistion caliper. Thats for the two wheels by the way. ANd to tell if the caliper is frozen you can take the caliper out and try to push the piston in with a C-clamp. If is stuck it would be very hard to push in. I think you can also see if there is rust underthe dust boot. OH yeah if suggest putting some silicon grease in the dust boot of the caliper piston if you can it keeps them nice and smooth.

Buy a used one. Also, you CAN'T push them in with a c-clamp. You can rent a special tool from Autozone to put them back in. It needs pressure and twisting at the same time to put it back in. It's just like tightening a major pain in the ass screw.

I just had my front brakes completely redone - new rotors, calipers, pads, hoses & spring kit. The reason was that one side was dragging. Two mechanics told me that sometimes the hoses expand and don't let the fluid return, hence the caliper then doesn't go back. Also, if the springs don't push the pads back, they may rub. Just something to keep in mind.

Just replace the caliper... rebuilt units don't usually don't last very long, and usually when a caliper starts getting sitcky, failure is not too far behind.

If you are not completely comfortable with hydraulics, get a mechanic to do this. You need to be able to stop.

I have found the Mazda is about the best place to get quality calipers... most of the reman's from the big box parts stores don't last too long.