# Advice on stripping, releasing brake calilper



## monkeyboyo (May 16, 2007)

hello folks,
my Nissan X-trail passed its mot today, but with an advisory of "slightly pitted disc offside rear". Plenty of thickness left in the pad, so presuming a sticky caliper. 
Anyone know of any useful online guide to stripping and cleaning up a caliper ?
Reluctant to replace caliper before its time as the opposite one is working fine.

Thanks for any pointers :thumb:


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## rossco_pico (Feb 24, 2010)

you'll probably find that the pads are sticking in the pad carrier at the rear, just remove the pads clean the carriers copper slip them and refit and they should be fine, if it were a sticky caliper you'd have one side with mega low pads and the other side will be fine.

hope this helps

cheers


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## monkeyboyo (May 16, 2007)

That helps a LOT :thumb:
Thanks for the advice - makes a lot of sense !


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## rossco_pico (Feb 24, 2010)

you need any help let me know (qualified mechanic)


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

Surely a pitted disc is corrosion so means the caliper is not closing fully or the car is not used much so rust has set in?

You could skim the disc to clean it if there is plenty of meat left on the disc or really it means a new disc.


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## BurningFeetMan (Mar 9, 2010)

It may also be the guide pins as the brake dust can sometimes get inside the protective boot and form quite a thick paste instead of being nicely lubricated.

Probly worth a look as you will have the caliper off anyway 

BFM


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

but the advisory was a pitted disc, not a sticky caliper or am I missing something?


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## BurningFeetMan (Mar 9, 2010)

ALANSHR said:


> but the advisory was a pitted disc, not a sticky caliper or am I missing something?


ummmm i don't think you are missing something, i got carried into the whole caliper thing 

A pitted disc will just be corrosion?

BFM


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## vroomtshh (Nov 23, 2009)

BurningFeetMan said:


> ummmm i don't think you are missing something, i got carried into the whole caliper thing
> 
> A pitted disc will just be corrosion?
> 
> BFM


And how would the disc get corroded?


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

lack of use or caliper not closing fully so not getting 'cleaned' by the pads


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## rossco_pico (Feb 24, 2010)

discs get pitted due to pads sticking in the caliper carriers and not contacting with the discs correctly resulting in the dust and water sitting in the disc and not being cleaned off. It won't be a fault with the caliper, if the caliper is sticking the brakes will lock on on cause a binding in which will wear the pads down quickly and they will be severly worn on the sticking side compared to the non sticking side.


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## monkeyboyo (May 16, 2007)

ALANSHR said:


> lack of use or caliper not closing fully so not getting 'cleaned' by the pads


Yep. Spot on. Possible cause (according to mot man) is resistance in movement of the pad, rather than failure of the caliper. That was Rossco Picco's suggestion too.

Problem with getting it checked at a garage is that once its stripped, they've got me over a barrel if they then wish to make out that calipers and/or pads need replacing. There's some good honest mechanics out there, but the 2 that I know are too busy, so I'd rather do the DIY checks to see if there's any resistance in the pad movement.
And I'm always happy to learn ! :thumb:


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## monkeyboyo (May 16, 2007)

rossco_pico said:


> discs get pitted due to pads sticking in the caliper carriers and not contacting with the discs correctly resulting in the dust and water sitting in the disc and not being cleaned off. It won't be a fault with the caliper, if the caliper is sticking the brakes will lock on on cause a binding in which will wear the pads down quickly and they will be severly worn on the sticking side compared to the non sticking side.


What he said !


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## monkeyboyo (May 16, 2007)

rossco_pico said:


> you need any help let me know (qualified mechanic)


cheers Rossco Pico. Very kind offer. Might pm if there's owt that doesn't make sense once wheels are off. :thumb:


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## rossco_pico (Feb 24, 2010)

best thing to do is just take out the pads you'll know straight away if its them they will be hard to remove from the carriers, a good piece of emirie tape or sand paper, or a good file to remove the rust, dirt from the carrier, remember to clean the metal part of the pad that sits on the carrier, use copper slip, you can get this from anywhere that sells parts for about £3, use a little of this on the metal edges of the pads, check the slide pins that holds the caliper on, make sure they are clean, and put a little copper slip on this part too. if you pm me your email address i will send you some documents to help you out as its the stuff i teach mechanics with.

hope this helps


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## Guest (Apr 7, 2010)

Listen to the mechanic and you wont go wrong with it! i did lol @ corroded disc :lol:


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