As of last night we've replaced three rear calipers on our 2003 P5. Two on the left, and one on the right. Is anyone else having these problems? I wonder if I'm doing something wrong? They seem to seize most often when the steel wheels with snows are on the car. Can anyone offer any insight?
Rob
Grease the hell out of the sliders any time you have the wheels off.
edit: Also, I've had them act seized due to stuck sliders. The calipers have a little set screw in the back under a little cover that will prevent the piston from retracting as well.
skruffy wrote:edit: Also, I've had them act seized due to stuck sliders. The calipers have a little set screw in the back under a little cover that will prevent the piston from retracting as well.
Plus one ... Piston is held out with a screw ... allen head, right next to the bracket that holds the e-brake cable. If you change the pads and can't get the piston to retract you may think they're seized ... they're not.
yeah you have to take off the bolt on the back and on the inside there is an allen head adjuster to ratchet the piston back. DO NOT try to use a clamp and such to get it back in you will damage it.
Once you put the new pads on adjust the allen head in to the point that when you spin the wheel by hand it has a LIGHT drag on it. then go inside and make sure the e-brake doesnt feel like e36 m3 and then boom properly adjusted.
P.s the allen head adjuster can fall out of its bore in the caliper so be careful.
Grease the pins. When you think there's enough grease on them, add a tiny bit more. Do this every time you have the wheels off (as was mentioned above) and you'll be golden. Mazda, for some reason, doesn't seem to have greased some at the factory (I've personally seen 2 Miata with no grease on the rear pins with less than 5000 miles on the odo. Not even a sign of it.
curtis wrote:yeah you have to take off the bolt on the back and on the inside there is an allen head adjuster to ratchet the piston back. DO NOT try to use a clamp and such to get it back in you will damage it.
Once you put the new pads on adjust the allen head in to the point that when you spin the wheel by hand it has a LIGHT drag on it. then go inside and make sure the e-brake doesnt feel like e36 m3 and then boom properly adjusted.
P.s the allen head adjuster can fall out of its bore in the caliper so be careful.
I have been adjusting the parking brake as described in all instances. I've bought different grease for the calipers -- I wondered if the stuff I was using before wasn't up to snuff. Anyway, we'll see.
