Recently the car started to vibrate a little through the steering wheel, and got particularly bad in the rain coming back from Goodwood Sunday. It also seemed to be sluggish and pulled to the left, just had a look at the nsf caliper and it's binding badly (can't turn the wheel when off the ground) and one of the pistons appears seized with a damaged dust boot.

Upshot is I don't have the equipment to sort it out - does anyone know of a trusted independant garage or mechanic that could do the work in or around the Wokingham, Berks area?

Many thanks,

Dave.

to be honest its an easy repair, i know this as im just in the process of repairing all 4 calipers on my lexus
you dont need any specialist equipment, just a seal kit a few spanners and some brake fluid
if you want info on how to do this give us a PM
and im not a mechanic either

PM on it's way,

Dave

.
Bought myself a repair kit and tried to sort it out. Not difficult but awkward on occasions, existing piston corroded and didn't want to come out initially. Took a morning to sort one piston out and reinstall (fiddly..) and put back together, massive difference and back to normal. I wonder if some of the wheel wobble seen is sticky brake pistons rather than warped discs.

Planning to do the rest over the summer and renew the sliding pins and bushes (can feel they are loose/worn) which hopefully will get rid of some of the clicking on turning and braking.

Dave

Any chance one of you nice souls could do a little write up here or perhaps PM the instructions of re-conditioning the caliper as im sure one of my rear calipers is seized on.

Damn vibrations coming from the back of the car, especially as the speed increases, is enough to rattle the dust out of my ears and make me go deaf.

Certainly Sir Will try to post something over the weekend. Have you checked everything else to make sure it's safe - wheel bearing, loose wheel etc? If you jack up the relevant wheel and can't spin it by hand it may be a fully or partially seized brake piston. I'll try to find the link for the site that I purchased the kit from as well, I'm sure it was recommended in the forums before.

Dave

Seized pistons seems to be a common problem on the GS, Series I at least.

I recently replaced a front wheel bearing - and all appeared well.

Suddenly the other day I experienced violent vibration if I traveled over 60mph, and also noticed it at 40mph up a steep hill.
Thought it might be the wheel bearing coming loose - but on jacking up the car I found the front wheel was bound tight - and subsequently found that it was a binding piston on the caliper.

Earlier in this post 'osteo66' was hoping to post some simple instructions for repairing the caliper, and a link for the supplier, but obviously never got round to finding time to do it.

Can anyone recommend a suitable supplier of repair kits, and possibly any links to anywhere I might find some useful instructions before I start the task of repairing the caliper.

Also, do you think it is worth doing both front calipers at the same time as eMJay suggested that the seizing is a common problem.

Hi Pewe,

Oops...completely forgot I've recently had the same symptoms re-occur and have found the second piston partially seized and the lower slide pin seized (see another thread).

Repairing the pistons and pins isn't difficult BUT should be done only if confident with mechanical work and brakes in particular - these are designed to stop you after all and if you are at all unsure get a professional to overhaul them for you. Better safe than sorry etc...

Having said all that I overhauled mine with a kit from brakeparts (google them) after advice from LOC members. This is how I did it.

Jack the car up and support safely (axle stands etc), remove wheel then loosen caliper bolts (you may need a spanner on the slide pins to stop them rotating). Depending on which piston seized I use a G clamp to hold the other one in and pump the seized one out by foot brake until almost free. I removed the top of the brake fluid reservoir and secured cling film over the top to form a vacuum. Undo the caliper brake hose bolt and detach pipe from caliper - wrap end of pipe in clean cloth and tape to prevent fluid loss. When caliper off I used pliers to gently tease the piston free, discard dust boot and fully clean the piston with scotchbrite (the green plastic kitchen cleaning/scouring pads). Fully inspect piston to ensure no corrosion or pitting in the sealing area, if there is I replace the piston. Scrupulously clean and dry the piston and place to one side. I then clean out the caliper and remove the piston seal gently with a small screwdriver being VERY careful that I don't scratch the inside diameter which may scrap the caliper. Clean out the groove of solidified brake fluid (I use a bent paper clip) until spotless. When everything is as clean as I can make it lube new seal with fresh brake fluid (this stuff is nasty, I wear protective gloves) and replace in caliper. Next is the tricky bit, I tried to put the new boot onto the piston first then lube piston and insert into caliper and also tried it the other way around, both of which are fiddly when you try to install clip that retains the boot into the caliper. I recently read another method (USA forums?) that advocates boot onto piston then push piston all the way into caliper to give room the fit boot retaining pin into caliper. Haven't tried this method personally. I had to BE VERY PATIENT here!! If another piston needs doing I use the same process which works for me. Sliding caliper pins are easy to replace (provided they are not seized!), make sure the right grease is used and the correct bushes go onto the individual pins - there are other posts about this and installing the gaiters. The brake caliper is then reinstalled using new copper brake pipe washers and all bolts torqued correctly. The difference was immediately noticeable. Brakes may need bleeding slightly.

I'm sorry if I've contravened site rules by describing my procedure and that it's a bit long/convoluted. Obviously this is my method and may not be the 'official' way of doing things therefore you use this info at your own risk, I accept no responsibility etc...and I reiterate if you are not comfortable with the job get a professional to do it for you.

I've probably missed something out, if I have ask away and I'll clarify. This isn't a job I particularly enjoyed but the results were worth it as was the cost saving! Enjoy!!!

mine used to have the pins cleaned every 6 months as they always seized.

Unfortunately one of my pistons had seized solid and would not come out - so I decided to replace the caliper - which cost me £58 as opposed to £28 for a repair kit and a new piston.

I am picking it up today and will do it over the weekend.

I will have to check the others too just in case, but having had the car for 6 years, I've not had the problem before (its a '94 GS300) so have been fortunate it seems.

Osteo, How much was the overhaul kit and what came in the kit?

This company do the kit for £13.86.
http://www.car-brakes.co.uk/

On their home page use the 'online catalogue' link (box on top left of page) which opens a new window where you can select parts by model.

These are the people I bought my kit from. It's a full caliper service kit so includes all piston seals and dust boots, gaiters, pin bushings, clips etc. Seems good quality and i had no problems with fit etc, although looking at their exchange calipers I'm not sure that taking the time to overhaul is worth it considering the relatively small difference in price...

Pewe,

Where did you get the caliper from at that price, brakeparts?

No - I got it from a company inn Bridgwater called Mill autosupplies (http://www.millautosupplies.co.uk/) who have numerous branches in the southwest.
They are part of a large buying group covering a lot of the UK - http://www.ukpa.net/default.aspx?id=386292