'99 Suburban with sticking front caliper

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Kevin - 12 Nov 2005 00:43 GMT

'99 Suburban 1500 2WD

Replaced BOTH front calipers AND hoses after they heated up and appeared to
be sticking after replacing the pads last weekend. That was all that was
done then, new pads on.

Now the driver's side caliper is working perfectly, no excessive heat,
stopping good, etc. The passenger side is still heating up big time! The
interesting thing is this, after bleeding the caliper and pumping it up so
it is adjusted, you can still spin the hub by hand. Spin it and have someone
touch the brake it stops. Release the brake and spin it by hand no problem.

Start the engine and press the brake and release, no more spinning of the
passenger side by hand! It is tight and will not completely release. Try to
push the piston back in with a "C" clamp, no can do. NO ABS light on the
dash.

Stopped for the evening, but have this plan. crack the bleeder valve and
press the piston back in. Pull the ABS fuse, bleed the caliper and then let
it readjust. The hub will probably spin freely as expected. Start the engine
and see what happens after that. Wondering if the ABS pump is jacked-up or
the valving in that ABS is jacked-up? I doubt the valving just because it
never appears to screw up before starting the engine. Grabs and releases as
expected.

I have heard the horror stories of the ABS pump cost and have yet to
research the rebuild, salvage yard, new options. Don't really want to think
about any of the above!!!

Thoughts?

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Shep - 12 Nov 2005 14:32 GMT

If the someone at one time changed pads and just pushed the caliper pistons
back in without opening the bleeders, debris in the fluid can be pushed back
into the abs unit rare but can happen . Do your plan, if it locks, crack the
line for that caliper at the abs unit, if that wheel frees up you know where
the problem is, make sure you are not getting any drag on the other wheel,
if so this could be a booster or m/c problem. It only takes slightly more
pressure to hold the wheel locked so don't be fooled that it is only one
wheel. post back your results, I've seen this before.

> '99 Suburban 1500 2WD
>
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>
> Thoughts?

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Kevin - 13 Nov 2005 00:30 GMT

Won't go into the full skinny here and now, it should be obvious why to
most, but the basics are this.

There was absolutely NOTHING wrong with any of the original equipment! This
morning my tests and very close inspection of the pads that were put on it
last weekend proved one thing. It HAD to be something with the pads! Sure
enough, the pads the parts store gave me were wider, top edge to bottom
edge, than every other part number listed for that truck!!! Put the properly
sized pads on it, put 'er back together and NO more problems. Absolutely no
heat buildup, no pulling, only correct operation!

Two new discs, two new sets of bearings, new ABS sensor and backing plate
all due to being roasted from the wrong sized pads.
Two new calipers, two new hoses, complete fluid flush trying to get it to
brake properly!
The fix, obtaining the correctly sized pads!

Like I said, you can guess where this continues from here.....

> If the someone at one time changed pads and just pushed the caliper
> pistons back in without opening the bleeders, debris in the fluid can be
[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]
> ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption
> =----

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Shep - 13 Nov 2005 01:11 GMT

Wow, that's a bitch, lesson learned here to compare, best possible, parts
before installed and that is probably what a judge/store manager would say.
I would dispute the charges if you paid with a credit card or take the store
to small claims court, but you may need to get an expert witness to back up
your findings. I had one similar to that in my shop[but the pads just rode
on the unmachined portion of the rotors.

> Won't go into the full skinny here and now, it should be obvious why to
> most, but the basics are this.
[quoted text clipped - 62 lines]
>> ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption
>> =----

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