New Member

[Steve Johnson]

Hello Chaps,
First of all may I say thank you for allowing me to join your Club,Having read through some of the posts I see you are a very knowledgable group and very helpful to each other in many ways...a credit to you all I must say.
Well we bought my wife a nice little Micra 1.3 GX Auto for her to learn to drive in, Its a cracking little car and she loves it..however there is one thing that is niggeling me...on pulling away or reversing it seems to need a bit more than normal pressure on the gas to get it moving...all mt other Automatics just gently pull away no bother...so tonight I felt the discs and drums...the front discs were very hot indeed after only about a mile of driving with virtualy no braking involved....would I be correct in thinking it could be either a seized caliper piston or slide rod...Im going to investigate more in the morning...thanks for any advice guys.
Regards,
Steve.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

I've had this problem on both of my front calipers. It was the pistons that were very stiff and not releasing slightly when the pedal was released. I popped out the pistons cleaned them and fitted a new seal kit £13ish/side. My calipers had rusted slightly where the outer dust boot fits in it causing it to drag against the piston. Also the the seals on the pistons had completely dried out. You get a little sachet of grease to lubricate them in the kit.

 

[Steve Johnson]

I've had this problem on both of my front calipers. It was the pistons that were very stiff and not releasing slightly when the pedal was released. I popped out the pistons cleaned them and fitted a new seal kit £13ish/side. My calipers had rusted slightly where the outer dust boot fits in it causing it to drag against the piston. Also the the seals on the pistons had completely dried out. You get a little sachet of grease to lubricate them in the kit.

Thank you Agent Sm1th.
You have quantified what I thought the problem could be, I will strip them down today and have a good look...may aswell do as you have done and change all of the seals while I have them stripped down...It will also give me the chance to do a thorough inspection od the suspension and steering pars.
I really appreciate your response,
Regards,
Steve.

 

[frank]

mine were binding because of a ring of rust here steve, that part is open to the elements but is the same dia as the bore, so any build-up of rust will bind against the piston
(i just refitted the factory seals)

 

[Steve Johnson]

mine were binding because of a ring of rust here steve, that part is open to the elements but is the same dia as the bore, so any build-up of rust will bind against the piston
(i just refitted the factory seals)

View attachment 28708

Thanks Frank,
Another area for me to check out...when it comes to the brakes and steering everything MUST be in tip-top condition so any little defect or problem will be taken care of the correct way...Im a great believer in prevention aswell so I give our cars a proper good once over every month...the wife thinks Im obsessed...lol...
Regards,
Steve.

 

[frank]

you have to remove the piston before the boot btw mate, which sounds like a mission to refit
i fashioned a hook from a ball-ended coathanger wire to ease the boot back over the piston (twas easy to do in the end)

 

[Steve Johnson]

you have to remove the piston before the boot btw mate, which sounds like a mission to refit
i fashioned a hook from a ball-ended coathanger wire to ease the boot back over the piston (twas easy to do in the end)

Thanks for the tip...I think I would have been scratching my head for a while on that point...lol...

 

[Steve Johnson]

Well chaps here is an update,
After stripping and cleaning both calipers the problem remained virtualy the same, They had eased off a little but not enough...on inspection I found that both pistons were quite corroded at the bottom end and no amount of polishing would clean them off properly...the caliper itself also had internal corrosion that coresponded with the pistons...but the seals and boots seemed ok??...well to my eye they did. after getting a good soaking yesterday and the problem remaining I took the car to the Garage Ive been using for years and they confirmed that both front wheels were still binding. They inspected the calipers and advised me to fit new ones along with new brake hoses & pads...this Im having done on Monday at a total cost of £262....I dont think thats too bad a price considering my wifes safety comes first and foremost....I have asked if I can take pictures of the calipers and pistons before they dispose of them so I can upload them and they may be of help to someone elses problems in that area.
Once again...Thanks for all your help and advice lads, I really appreciate it.
Regards,
Steve.