brake pads and caliper ?

[tigerfreak36]

hi i have a 94 chevy lumina van i recently noticed my van pulsating when i stop and it shuutters when i brake slowing down from high speeds and a very stinky passenger side fron wheel i think i have a sticking caliper ive never changed brakes on a van like this so anyone tell me what tools i need? thanks in advance Rick
and what about bleeding them its a abs braking system thanks
the brakes are dragging too

[tblake]

when you brake, does the car shake and the steering wheel? Or just the car, if the steering wheel does, then chances are a warked front rotar, that needs to either be turned, or replaced.

[tigerfreak36]

the steering wheel shudders which intern makes the whole front end shutter yes i think my rotor is warped but after i drive about 20 minutes then it starts shuddering and when i get home the passenger side front wheel smells hot im sure my caliper is bad too what do u think tblake? thanks much Rick

[jeffcoslacker]

Yes, you are dragging on that side, causing heat buildup and rotor warp. Try this: Drive it around until the problem occurs, then open the bleeder screw on that side, and observe the fluid. If a strong shot of fluid arcs out, You have a brake hose holding pressure in the line because it is collapsed internally. If there is just a dribble or no fluid coming out, the caliper AND/OR the caliper slides are bad. If the caliper cannot "float" on the support bolts, the inside pad will remain in contact with the rotor and cause heating. You will also notice excessive wear on the inside pad if this is true. If the outside pad is worn more, or the caliper is extremely difficult to push the piston back into, The caliper is probably bad. I've seen too many people replace a caliper when they didn't need it. Bad slides and restricted hoses were common on those. When you push the piston in, do it with the bleeder open. The calipers go bad from internal corrosion, and if you force the piston back with a bunch of crud in there, you are just forcing rust and dirt backwards though the system.

[tigerfreak36]

hey jeff i will try that is a hose pretty expensive? i dont want to buy a caliper and find out i have a bad hose and which hose would be bad the one going to the caliper right? thanks much Rick

[jeffcoslacker]

The hose is less than the caliper. Do the check I said to help figure out what you need. Or do it all (caliper, slide hardware and hose) on both sides, and replace those rotors, because if they have been overheating that bad, they will warp or crack again after being machined.

For a wild guess, I's say $30 each for the calipers, $15 each for the hoses, and maybe $15-20 for the hardware kit for both sides. It will feel like new, and work well for a long time if you do it all. Make sure to put some Sil-Glide or something comparable on the caliper slides before reassembly, or they will sieze up again.

The thing about doing the hoses, if you haven't done one before, is you will really need a line wrench to do it right. You can get a 10-12mm combo line wrench at Autozone, it will save you from buggering up the fitting on the hose. There is a clip that keeps the hose firmly in place on the top, you must pry it out with a screwdriver. It is like a piece of flat spring steel, folded in half with the fold toward you. Put a small 'driver between the fold and the hose fitting and just pull, it will slide out. Loosen the top fitting BEFORE you pull that clip out, it will help keep the fitting from turning as you break it loose (and it will be tight!) Make sure you have a very good grip on both fittings, and when it breaks loose, it will snap suddenly, so watch your fingers! Make sure you can start the threads a few turns on the new one before you put a wrench to it, if you strip the threads on the metal line going to the hose, it's a whole new can of worms. This union and the one at the caliper must be very tight to have a good seal. Do not use any kind of sealer or joint tape. At the caliper end, there is just one bolt, pretty self-explainatory, just make sure you have a copper washer on both sides of the hose end. Sometimes the old washer will stick to the caliper, if there is double washers there, it will leak. Make sure you pull the old ones off. They may have to be knocked off with a tool, sometimes they are stuck to the caliper real good. Other times they just fall off when the hose comes off. The end of the hose is squared, make sure it is oriented to the recess in the caliper before tightening. Make absolutely sure you are putting the right hose on the right side, sometimes one will work on the wrong side, then the other won't work on the opposite side, and you have to take it apart and switch them. This can lead to some serious cussing. When I do brake work alone, I just take the bleeder screw out when I'm done, and take the cover off the master cylinder. As the fluid runs through to the caliper (sometimes it takes several minutes for fluid to start coming out of the bleeder-so be patient), You might have to pump the pedal once or twice to get the fluid moving, if it doesn't start to drain through after a few minutes. I watch the master carefully and keep it full of fluid. Once the fluid starts to run solid with no air at the bleeder, put the bleeders back in. Tap the caliper lightly with a light tool, this will make any air bubbles break away from the surfaces inside the caliper, and float up to the bleeder. Open it again once more, and close when the bubbles stop. Test it, and if it doesn't feel right, have someone help you force bleed by holding the pedal down while you crack the bleeders. Remember to pump the pedal many times to seat the pads before you try to drive it, or else it can take 4-6 strokes of the pedal before any braking occurs. That can be exciting@!!

[richtazz]

great advice Jeff, I suggest the same thing. you can also try wiggling the hose to see if the caliper releases, eliminating the mess of brake fluid squrting out. If you wiggle the hose and it releases, then the hose is definitely bad. If wiggling doesnt do it, try Jeff's suggestion, as sometimes wiggling won't release the pressure.

[tigerfreak36]

hi Jeff and Rich i just want to thank u guys so much for taking your time to help me.. i did the check and it ended up being the caliper slides were bad and the piston so i bought a new caliper which had new slides also. i didnt have enough money for rotor so i just used my old one. I put everything off and back on the same way, i bled them and took for a test drive and what a diffrence but it will be better once i replace the rotor,and onther q i have for u guys is that now my brake light on the dash keeps comming off and on even with my pedal never touching the floor its firm i dont understand but i havent checked my master cylinder after i drove it have ideas why the light is going off and on thanks so much Jeff

[jeffcoslacker]

You may still have a small amout of air in it, or , if that one is still the "split diagonal" system with equal sized chambers in the master cylinder, each line operates one front and one rear brake (i.e. Left front and right rear). Sometimes on those when you are bleeding, the proportioning valve will get stuck "off center" because you were pushing the pedal with no resistance from the side you were bleeding, that's what the light is meant to sense, is an imbalance in hydraulic pressure from line to line. Usually I found that if you open the bleeder at the partner wheel, and have someone hold the pedal while you bleed it just a couple of strokes, the valve will "reset" and the light will be gone. If you avoid bottoming out the pedal when you bleed it, this shouldn't occur. More likely you are just low on fluid, though, if you didn't check it after driving it.

[tigerfreak36]

ok thanks so much ill try that