I have recently replaced the discs and pads on my 2008 Mk3. Everything was meticulously cleaned and lubed with Ceratex upon reassembly …
It all worked spot on till today when I used the car for the first time in several weeks.
The front nearside brake was dragging and overheating. So back home for a strip down…
I’ve pushed the pistons forward and lubed them. It seems fine now but I’m wondering if new callipers are needed.
If this is the case which brand are good apart from the obvious Mazda genuine parts which would I imagine be extremely expensive.
Ebay replacements are from 35 quid upwards but I prefer to fit something branded and I will replace both front ones not just the one that has been sticky.
Yep I had the same problem with the front and rear calipers on my mk3 After much patience I have got my originals working perfectly. Obviously, if the pistons are corroded or the rubber seals are cracked then refurbishment is required However in my case, these were good, if its just the slider pin and rubber which needed attention. Make sure the slider pin is free and the seal creates a good suction, because that is the part which pulls the pads back from the disc. Also give the calipers piston a push in and out to be sure it moves
. The piston goes in and out but seems to take a wee bit of effort…
Since posting earlier I’ve been out and road tested the car/brakes and there is no drag it’s all running free.
But it’s fairly obvious the previous owner who owned the car for 8 years used brake cleaner and this was the cause of corrosion to hubs and some parts all of which I’ve replaced or stripped and repainted …
So I’m thinking of just biting the bullet and fitting a pair of new callipers. It’s just which brand I’m unsure about. .
If you wish to consider refurbishing your current calipers then I recently had a very good service from Bigg Red in Worcester. I had a sticking front caliper on my wife’s MK3 which they turned around very quickly and looked like new. I have serviced the other front caliper with refurb kit (including replacement piston) from them and am servicing the two rear calipers this weekend, again with kits from them.
I didn’t get much joy from them via email, so suggest that you give them a call. I dropped it off and collected it in person from their workshop.
As regards cost, my front caliper refurb was £55 for a standard silver finish. Not sure what their standard turnaround time is, but I dropped and collected in the same working day. My transaction was a bit non-standard as initially I bought a repair kit and then realised that I was out of my depth when I could not get the existing corroded piston out, so then dropped the caliper in to them for a full refurb. They kindly off-set the cost of the kit against the refurb, something that they didn’t have to do.
Bigg Red Ltd The Workshop Weir Lane Worcester WR24AY
Well the callipers are now with Bigg Red in Worcester for a complete rebuild…
BR. offer a Premium service which is a total strip then shot blasted and painted a colour of your choice The lacquered. . They then fit new pistons seals clips bolts in fact every last part. . New slide pins rubbers are also included
It costs just under £200 for the pair of front callipers inc VAT. Very reasonable considering the options ???
I went Gold. I had recently painted the calipers when I fitted new discs and pads all round. This was nothing to do with the sticky caliper by the way the blame for that was the previous owner using nasty corrosive brake cleaner. This buggerd the piston surface then I of course push those pistons back in to accommodate the new thicker pads.
This is how they looked.
Bigg red offer two shades of Gold. Subaru gold which is in your face. Or a shade that was a virtual match to what I used so I went with that. ??
Many thanks mate for the info and the link to Bigg Red.
Turnaround time is ten days due to the painting process,
Picked up the reconditioned callipers from Bigg Red in Worcester who did an excellent job. I opted for new banjos new clips and fitted new anti squeal shims. The premium package included new slide pins and rubbers.
Looks good. We are going to get them Bigg Red to do all four calipers on my son’s 1990 Eunos Roadster as one of the rears has started to seize. All being painted red at the same time.
