Lude Generation

Hi

My rear driver side brake seems to be seizing on, i noticed this from the smell when driving, and when i stopped the car the wheel was red hot,

Someone has told me that this is the caliper seizing on, does this sound right?

Thanks

Yeah. It could be a couple of things, stuck sliders, stuck piston, pad(s) stuck in the carriers. Your calipers need to be broken down, cleaned, regresed, and put back together. The pad will probably also be damaged by this so you will more than likely need new pads.

Ideally all Prelude owners should service their brakes once a year.

Agreed, rear brake calipers are a known problem area on ludes now they're getting on.

it's most likely that just removing the pads, stripping the pad carrier anti-squeal shims off the carrier, giving all those bits a really good clean up to remove all dirt and most importantly corrosion,then re-assembling with plenty of copper-ease or silicone grease will sort your problem, though if you're unlucky it could be the extra things Merlin has mentioned.

As Merlin also says, it's possible the pads might be cooked in this instantly so probably worth renewing them. when you get the new pads, take a good look at the outer edges where they sit against the pad carrier and be sure to remove any burrs/high spots in the paint, with a file. modern pads seems to be crap in this area and it makes them very tight in the carriers.

Do the same to both sides, even if the other side seems ok, to make sure rake balance stays unaffected.

Mine was down to corrosion on the piston, so I grabbed it with some waterpump pliers, wound it in and out a few times and voila, no more sticky caliper!

FWIW, if you have to replace, I did one of mine recently and the best price by a long way was from Brakes International. Worked out about £65 after the rebate I think.

Thanks for the replies,

I will have someone take apart the caliper and see what can be done with cleaning them up

I suppose in worst case scenario i will need a new caliper and pads etc, the bast price i have found for a single caliper is about £130, does that sound like a right price?

thanks

Really getting a new caliper is the very worst case scenario. I have never needed to get a new one, but I suppose it depends on how much work you are willing to do. If the slider pins are stuck solid you may find you may also need to replace the slider boots. Please make sure that whoever is working on them takes care in greasing up properly as if they dont, you will only have the same problem again in a few months .

@Vanzep Did you get a set of slider boots on the cheap? Rather than the £26 refurb kits Big Redd do?

ive been looking for slider boots on there own for a while but can only find thrm as part of a refurb kit.
brakes int may sell them individually if you ring though

Merlin wrote:Really getting a new caliper is the very worst case scenario. I have never needed to get a new one, but I suppose it depends on how much work you are willing to do. If the slider pins are stuck solid you may find you may also need to replace the slider boots. Please make sure that whoever is working on them takes care in greasing up properly as if they dont, you will only have the same problem again in a few months .

@vanzep Did you get a set of slider boots on the cheap? Rather than the £26 refurb kits Big Redd do?

i just went for the slider refurb kit which is £13.95 and does both sides
heres a link to ebay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-CIVIC-C ... 35c47ccc05