Realist
Dodge Dakota
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4/21/2004
13:22:48
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 Subject: frozen caliper, bleeding abs?
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Message:
I believe I have a frozen caliper, as the inside pad on the front passenger was worn down to the backing and ended up digging grooves into the rotor with a grinding noise. All other pads appeared fine with plenty of material remaining. Although I thought that perhaps the caliper simply didn't slide on its pins, the parts guy said 9 out of 10 times this indicates a frozen piston on the caliper. I was able to push the caliper piston back in with a c-clamp, and it was fairly hard to push back in, so perhaps he's right. Because I needed the truck, I only replaced the rotor and pads and left the "bad" caliper. Everything seems fine now. The truck doesn't pull at all to either side, and the truck eases forward when the brakes are released at a stop, transmission in drive, indicating the brakes are not on.
So my question is whether a frozen caliper can be unfrozen/fixed by simply pushing the piston back in. Or, perhaps, if the problem will reappear.
I was going to replace the caliper anyways just to be sure (it's only $50), but ran into several problems. One is that the Chilton manual says you cannot bleed ABS brakes without a special tool, and removing the caliper will require bleeding the brakes. Second, I don't have a socket that seems to fit the bolt that attaches the brake line to the caliper. I wonder if it is an unusual size? I suppose I could just use vice grips or a crescent wrench.
Any insights on how to bleed the brakes on an ABS system without special tools? Although I just need to bleed enough to get the air out due to replacing the caliper, I sure would like to bleed enough to get much of the old fluid out.
I ran across this post which talks about how to bleed the ABS brakes without a tool, but I'm not sure how well this technique works:
http://pub54.ezboard.com/fchryslersebringconvertiblemessageboardfrm12.showPrevMessage?topicID=209.topic
Idea, thoughts, opinions?
Thanks!
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