Disc Brake Question

I've been getting some squealing from my front disk brakes on my '96, so I went to take a look at them today. Oddly, only 1 of the 4 pads was seriously worn. The inside driver's side pad was completely gone, all the others had quite a bit of pad left. I don't know a whole lot about brakes, but it seems to me that this may indicate a problem somewhere. Is there something I should check or replace before I put this all back together?

Thanks,

Matt

Make sure the caliper slides freely, the pads aren't hanging up on the knuckle (sometimes they wear a notch), and that the piston retracts smoothly. It sounds as if you have a stiff or frozen caliper.

So just for future reference, if you continuly pump the brake pedal with out the rotor between the calipers, is it to be expected that the piston will fall out and leak fluid everywhere?

I ask in all seriousness, because I want to know if this is a sign that the caliper WAS bad or is NOW bad because I did something I shouldn't have.

thanks,

Matt

I would expect the piston to come out if you do that. It would probably come out too far also if you took the pads out and left the rotor in. Even by the time the pads are worn down to the backing, the piston is pretty far out of its bore.

Well, think of it this way: a new caliper will probably solve your problem, whatever it was.

mattb said:

So just for future reference, if you continuly pump the brake pedal with out the rotor between the calipers, is it to be expected that the piston will fall out and leak fluid everywhere?

Click to expand...

Is this similar to the 'A friend of mine did something really silly and I was wondering.....'
You betcha, gonna have to bleed that one now once you put a new caliper on there. I would not reuse it unless you rebuild it now...

I ask in all seriousness, because I want to know if this is a sign that the caliper WAS bad or is NOW bad because I did something I shouldn't have.
thanks,
Matt

Click to expand...

Might as well go buy two stuffed calipers [comes with pads already on there], Heck as long as you have it pretty much apart might as well do both so they are both the same age, pad thickness, etc...

It is also NOT a good idea to pump that brake pedal to the floor when bleeding, it makes the master cylinder go further than is normal and over time the area behind the seals gets corroded, you pushing it to the floor runs those corroded pistons thru seals and tears them up. If you did that prepare for a new master cylinder in a fairly short time...

Matthew Currie said:

Well, think of it this way: a new caliper will probably solve your problem, whatever it was.

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I told my wife: "The Good news is I can fix the problem. The Bad news is I think I was the problem."

RichP said:

It is also NOT a good idea to pump that brake pedal to the floor when bleeding.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, I've really got no idea what bleeding the system entails, but at 120k I guess its time to learn.

Thanks,

Matt