Mechanic Says New Calliper - Is He Right?

[jradcliffe]

Hi All,

I'm new to this club, so if you're reading this, much appreciated! I should have been on this before I bought the celica as the posts are really helpful.

So the situation,

I bought my celica a year ago, as soon as it came from the dealer it needed new pads and discs due to a seized caliper. The caliper was freed, new pads and discs, and the bill fitted by the dealership. Everyone is happy.

The brakes have never been amazing, even after this, I don't know if this is a trait of stock brake thing, but they've always felt a tad spongey.

Well now the travel on the pedal is a fair amount, if anyone drives it they comment on that straight away, and I feel when I drive company car I'm nearly almost slamming on because they feel much more responsive! The car doesn't pull to either side, and it appears to free role just fine. I do sometimes get a brake squeek, which will go if I tap the brakes. No funny smells.

I had the car serviced six months ago and they made a note to "change the brake fluid". Nothing else.

So I go to the garage that I had the discs and pads done and the more recent service. They tell me its the caliper again the whole assembly needs replacing -

Cradle / Pins / Boots / Bolts / Pads = £167.56

New Caliper = £82.05

Labour = £52.50

Brake Fluid = £24.99

Fee for finding fault = £35!!

Total = £434.52

So this feels a tad much really? Considering it probably should have been done properly in the first place?

Any advice? I feel I should shop around, or get a second opinion.

Thanks all

J

[gazza1286]

Rip off!

It's EITHER the slider pins are sticky OR the caliper piston is stiff. What they appear to be suggesting is BOTH are faulty. That does not happen.

Is there excessive pad wear on that side? Have you noticed that the rim on that side has more dust? How have they come to that diagnosis?

You need a second opinion. I've never replaced a caliper support bracket. Don't know why it's being suggested. Replacement pins/sliders come in at around £25 from Brakes International. That's probably all that's needed plus a fluid bleed.

[jradcliffe]

Thanks Gazza, that's exactly what I'm going to do!

There isn't more dust on one rim rather than the other, visually the outside pads seem to be wearing at the same rate, I haven't taken the wheel off so I can't say about inside! They said that one of the pads is worn, and it's definitely the problem coming back. I fully believe I'm getting taken for a ride!

Thanks for the assistance mate, it's been valuable!

[Scarlett Arrow]

The labour cost, and replacement caliper cost are reasonable, but the rest are a mega rip off. £24.99 for brake fluid?!, that's ten times what it will have cost the garage.

Good luck in finding an honest mechanic in the Merseyside area, and if you're ever in the East Midlands, give me a shout, as I'm lucky in that I have one.

[gazza1286]

Single sided calipers which use sliders to centralise will always cause one pad to wear more than the other. This is not a problem unless it is excessive and accompanied with other iissues. These being pulling to one side under breaking and/or binding which is evident by excessive heat on the rim and hub. If these issues are not present there is nothing to do other than re-grease the sliders which should be done annually when the car is serviced.