I noticed the pads where not retracting. Couldn't turn rotor with or without bleeder valve opened.

SFINA

MEMBER
2012 NISSAN SENTRA
1.5L
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
11,000 MILES

Replaced front pads.
Next day brakes locked up at 45 mph.
Sat on berm for 20 minutes to cool brakes.
Still locked up.
Another 20 minutes later they freed up.

While bleeding the brakes after replacement, I noticed the pads where not retracting. Couldn't turn rotor with or without bleeder valve opened.

I pulled the calipers back off.
Lubricated piston.
Used free-all pressed piston in 3 times.
No issues with piston going in but couldn't tell if that slight retraction was working when releasing brake pedal for sure.
Seamed fine after that.

I then wire brushed all the medal and brackets with a dremmel to remove rust and allow pads to slide freely.
Removed top fluid from reservoir and topped off with new fluid.
I then bled the breaks until I could see the fresh clearer fluid come through.

When replacing passenger side caliper one slider pin wasn't cooperating and I gave it a slight hit with my driver.
Didn't seem like a big deal.
I did not lubricate any slider pins. Could it be that simple? Haven't pulled off tires to check yet.

Booster, master cylinder, pistons, brake lines, fluid levels show no issues. Bolts all torched proper specs. Valves closed and capped. Brakes freely slide (when caliper is not on and compressed of course).

Thoughts?

1 Reply

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Do you know if all brakes are grabbing at this point or is it just one caliper?

If it is all of them then that is most likely the master cylinder. However, it sounds like it is just one of the front. If this is the case, then it is as you are describing. The piston is not retracting or the caliper pins are not allowing the caliper to release.

Let's start by identifying which specific wheel is effected and then we need to take it back apart and see what is sticking. Clearly the pins should move in and out easily and the piston should be able to be moved back in pretty easily with a large pair of channel locks and old pad over the piston. We need to go back and check both again because if they are still locking up then one of these two is the most likely cause of the individual caliper issue.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/brake-caliper-replacement

Let me know and we can go from there. Thanks