what causes calipers to stick?

[Dominick]

im guessing my caliper is messed up b/c my front driver side is sticking to the rotor, i noticed it when i got burned plastic/rubber smells, and just now it started smoking a lot now my pretty much new rotor has grooves in it and the tips of the new pads are white (extremely hot)

the rotors and pads are about 2-3 months old and ive never had a problem w/ them until yesterday.

[BMW BMXER]

Either the rotor itself is seized (rebuild or replace) or your master cylinders going south.

[Brew]

Typically the piston travels too far out of its cylinder and gets caught on a lip. It can be a major pain in the ass rebuilding those calipers, so you may be better off getting a new or reconditioned one.

A bad master cylinder will not cause only one corner to lock up.

[BMW BMXER]

Typically the piston travels too far out of its cylinder and gets caught on a lip. It can be a major pain in the ass rebuilding those calipers, so you may be better off getting a new or reconditioned one.

A bad master cylinder will not cause only one corner to lock up.

True, but in my case I noticed one side mor than the other for whatever reason.

[BS87]

Typically the piston travels too far out of its cylinder and gets caught on a lip. It can be a major pain in the ass rebuilding those calipers, so you may be better off getting a new or reconditioned one.

A bad master cylinder will not cause only one corner to lock up.

Is it really such a pain? I had to buy a new one for my eta a while ago, was not cheap at all.

[Brew]

It can be. Sometimes the piston will go right back into the cylinder, other times you will fight with the thing forever to get it back in.

[AdamF 88iS]

It's caused by years of neglect. If you never flush out the system with fresh fluid, shit happens. Corrosion builds up in the calipers and causes sticking, clogged lines can cause sticking as well.

[Dominick]

well i took off the rotor and the pads and caliper were attached i havent tried to pry them off, but they were definately stuck on there.

ive had the car for almost a year, and this is the first big problem.

is it cool to replace one caliper?

i think i might just go ahead and replace a lot
-ss brake lines
-new caliper
-new pads
- what fluid do i get?

[nando]

you're probably okay replacing one caliper, but it probably won't be long until the other side goes bad too. that's what happened to me when my rear calipers both froze up. might be better to just replace both so you don't have to bleed your brakes twice.

also, ATE or Motul fluids are highly reccomended. personally I have ATE blue.

[Bimmerfanatik]

It can be a major pain in the ass rebuilding those calipers, so you may be better off getting a new or reconditioned one.

I was hoping you weren't gonna say that, Brew. I really wanted to get a rebuild kit for my calipers, take them apart, clean them, get them PC'd, them put them back together myself. Nice clean job on the calipers, and cheaper I think. I assume you've had experience rebuilding the calipers?

[Brew]

It can be a major pain in the ass rebuilding those calipers, so you may be better off getting a new or reconditioned one.

I was hoping you weren't gonna say that, Brew. I really wanted to get a rebuild kit for my calipers, take them apart, clean them, get them PC'd, them put them back together myself. Nice clean job on the calipers, and cheaper I think. I assume you've had experience rebuilding the calipers?

Well, its probably worth giving it a shot. I rebuilt e30 calipers in school and, while I eventually got them together, it was a huge pain in the ass.

[Bimmerfanatik]

It can be a major pain in the ass rebuilding those calipers, so you may be better off getting a new or reconditioned one.

I was hoping you weren't gonna say that, Brew. I really wanted to get a rebuild kit for my calipers, take them apart, clean them, get them PC'd, them put them back together myself. Nice clean job on the calipers, and cheaper I think. I assume you've had experience rebuilding the calipers?

Well, its probably worth giving it a shot. I rebuilt e30 calipers in school and, while I eventually got them together, it was a huge pain in the ass.

Spectacular. Well, I'm gonna be bugging you to help me with parts of my M50 swap, so I may as well bug you on calipers too :)

Hows yours running? Any regrets/things youd change? Any issues?

[Jonsku]

What's the deal with rebuilding the calibers :roll: ? I didn't have any problems when i replaced the seals and cleaned the calibers, two hour job.

[Brew]

What's the deal with rebuilding the calibers :roll: ? I didn't have any problems when i replaced the seals and cleaned the calibers, two hour job.

Thats just it- sometimes they go right in no problem, other times you'll spend hours trying to get the damn piston back in.

[Beej '86 325es]

Typically the piston travels too far out of its cylinder and gets caught on a lip. It can be a major pain in the ass rebuilding those calipers, so you may be better off getting a new or reconditioned one.

A bad master cylinder will not cause only one corner to lock up.

I really didn't think it was that bad when I did one on my rear. It did what you said, traveled too far out and got caught. We hooked an air compressor up to it, aimed it at point blank range into a towel on the ground and put 150 psi to it...didn't budge. We then used a regular C-clamp and pushed it back into the cylinder and it moved freely. Lubed it up, replaced the seals, and it was good to go. BMW no longer sells new calipers, only reconditioned ones (still not the easiest to find). The rebuild kit is a total rip off for what comes with it (like $7), but that's one HELL of a lot better than a new caliper.