Tried to replace front discs and pads, left side went without problem but on right side had a problem with stuck cylinder. I was just able to get the cylinder out but couldnt press it in. So i installed it without pads and pressed brakes and the piston came out even more, so it is not totally stuck. But cant push it back in. Problem is that i should drive the car on monday to get those famous ball joints to be replaced. Any ideas?

 

Rover did that to me last year.

Earned it four new calipers.

BTDTGTS, lots of other vehicles, including rebuilding seriously bad ones, "back in the day", Lockheed-Girlings, onward.

It is NO LONGER an item worth messing with at present cost of CNC-made calipers, entire... vs human time and labour costs.

Just reschedule the strut work and find other transport whilst awaiting a new caliper.

Beats having an accident over known-faulty brakes and the legal risk operating that way entails.

2CW

 

Have you tried to compress with the bleeder nipple OPEN??????

 

Fair assumption he had done if he got as far as he did..

Have you tried to compress once the pads were so worn the piston's travel puts it so far out as to risk cocking and digging a big-**** BURR into the sidewall of its cylinder?

First one did that, I didn't even BOTHER to look at the other three. Wasn't my first rodeo. Those Lockheed Girlings were on a Triumph TR3.. and it wasn't yet 7 years old.

This go? 111k miles, thirteen years, old calipers with decomposing seals and boots no longer owed me a dime.

Four new ones @ average of USD $80 each, plus new brake lines and Copper washers seemed like a good idea at the time.

I had already bought the Zimmerman rotors and Akebono pads. Why put big bucks at risk from small bucks?

NEW calipers were fast, easy, cleaner to work with, soon DONE and good for the NEXT 100K miles.

No part of a motorcar is "immortal", after all. Had I 'saved' the old calipers? They would have still been.. old and corroded calipers with deterioration still ongoing.

 

So i took the whole piston out with pressing brake padel couple of times, clean the whole thing and put it back in. Now i need to bleed the brakes and waiting for a friend of mine to help me with that.

its not ideal but i have to drive it tomorrow to garage to get those ball joints replaced. I live in finland and we have to take cars to yearly inspections where they check that car is suitable to use. I dint know the english term for this. Need to get this done next week.

Old jag parts are not easily available here and if they are they are so expensive that it just doesnt make any sense to buy them here. If i order some part its minimum of one week to get the parts. If there is any problems with the cylinder i will order a new unit.

 

Brakes bleeded and test drive done, everything worked well. Not stuck anymore. Ball joints tomorrow and hoping for big improvement on handling, steering is quite loose at the moment.

 

"back in the day.." disk or drum alike, we would commonly hone the bores and fit new seals to the old piston ...or even new, oversized pistons. Get it right, they worked fine. Worst-case a manageable seepage leak.

Present-day, the whole caliper is made on automated machining centers, even the tools and parts changed and inspected by robotic devices. So the human labour content is mostly in the factory's packing and shipping department. Hard to justify NOT replacing the whole shebang, as it is faster, easier, and grants a solid "many years" of fresh life as to corrosion, perished seals, and all else..

Even WITH help, a hand-squeeze vacuum bleeder is really good to have.

Most developed countries have similar rules. "MOT" (Ministry of Transport) for UK, Hong Kong, other commonwealth jurisdictions. "State Safety inspection" DC and all but 13 US States.

"MOT" tends to be stricter, sometimes by a LOT. Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore want cars OFF their limited inventory of roads at any excuse they can conjure.
Finland is no different from the USA. ALL parts have to be ordered from "somewhere", await mail or courier. One learns to allow time for that or go afoot for a week ... or several.

Plan ahead. Deterioration on a motorcar can be seen and assessed in advance of failure as "will soon need....".

"Making" the time in advance gains far better chance of scouting best prices than last-minute 'emergency' can do.

Inflation makes the parts bought and put-by two years ago look even MORE attractive!
The downtime, wasted time, waiting time, and associated inconvenience saved is borderline "priceless".

Motorcar enjoyment is every bit as much a "Management" exercise as a "wrenching experience".