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Seized rear caliper guide pins

BRGT350

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#1
Went to install my Hawk 5.0 brake pads this morning and noticed that my one rear rotor has a ring of rust where the pad isn't making contact and my one wheel just isn't as dirty as it should be. Something is wrong with the caliper, so I start with that one first. Turns out, both guide pins are seized into the bracket. I got one out, but the other one broke inside the bracket. The car has 30k miles on it, but I decided against taking it to the dealership since each trip there with my wife's Escape has resulted in many trips back to repair damage to the wheels and anything else they touched. I called all the local dealers in case they had the bracket, but they had all closed for the day. Tried all the auto parts places, but most said there aren't any rear disc brake parts for the Fiesta according to their catalog. I attempted to drill out the guide pin and at least put in a new pin until I could find a bracket. I drilled into the bracket just fine, got out my large hammer and a pin and started to beat on the guide pin. After an hour of beating and alternating penetrating fluid and beating. I gave up and finished the rest of the brakes. Took out all of the pins and none had any signs of rust. The driver rear was the only bad one. The boots looked fine, so no issues there. Oddly, this is the second ST that I have worked on with the driver rear caliper guide pins seized and my dad's Fusion Sport had the same issue around the same miles and on the same side. Moral of the story, if you live where they use salt, take the pins out annually and grease them or buy spare brackets before you start to replace pads. Luckily, my dad is heading to Europe next week so I will borrow one of his cars until I track down the bracket.
 


CSM

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#2
Went to install my Hawk 5.0 brake pads this morning and noticed that my one rear rotor has a ring of rust where the pad isn't making contact and my one wheel just isn't as dirty as it should be. Something is wrong with the caliper, so I start with that one first. Turns out, both guide pins are seized into the bracket. I got one out, but the other one broke inside the bracket. The car has 30k miles on it, but I decided against taking it to the dealership since each trip there with my wife's Escape has resulted in many trips back to repair damage to the wheels and anything else they touched. I called all the local dealers in case they had the bracket, but they had all closed for the day. Tried all the auto parts places, but most said there aren't any rear disc brake parts for the Fiesta according to their catalog. I attempted to drill out the guide pin and at least put in a new pin until I could find a bracket. I drilled into the bracket just fine, got out my large hammer and a pin and started to beat on the guide pin. After an hour of beating and alternating penetrating fluid and beating. I gave up and finished the rest of the brakes. Took out all of the pins and none had any signs of rust. The driver rear was the only bad one. The boots looked fine, so no issues there. Oddly, this is the second ST that I have worked on with the driver rear caliper guide pins seized and my dad's Fusion Sport had the same issue around the same miles and on the same side. Moral of the story, if you live where they use salt, take the pins out annually and grease them or buy spare brackets before you start to replace pads. Luckily, my dad is heading to Europe next week so I will borrow one of his cars until I track down the bracket.
Sorry to hear of your headaches OP. My 2014 has about 32k miles on it right now, and I recently did pads/rotors on all 4 corners. I definitely noticed that the brake components are a lot rustier on this Fiesta than previous cars I've owned. I had to replace the front right caliper piston and seals because the rust buildup caused it to start leaking. Also the drivers rear bleeder screw had to be replaced because it was rusted shut!

Not sure if you ordered the bracket yet, but they are only ~$35 or so at Rockauto
 


CanadianGuy

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#3
Yup mine were the same. Top pins seized. Cleaned them very well and was very generous with the silicon grease. Should be fine now. Something to check fall and spring
 


OP
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BRGT350

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thanks, I will check Rock Auto. I just started looking for the brackets online since picking them up locally is out of the question. I haven't tried the bleed screw since there wasn't a point in bleeding with one rear caliper missing a bracket. I am little worried about how that will go. All of the fasteners came apart really well and no issues with rust on anything, except for the rear guide pins on the driver side. The passenger side ones look perfect. Lots of grease and no rust.
 


CSM

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thanks, I will check Rock Auto. I just started looking for the brackets online since picking them up locally is out of the question. I haven't tried the bleed screw since there wasn't a point in bleeding with one rear caliper missing a bracket. I am little worried about how that will go. All of the fasteners came apart really well and no issues with rust on anything, except for the rear guide pins on the driver side. The passenger side ones look perfect. Lots of grease and no rust.
If you do order the caliper bracket through rock auto, maybe consider ordering extra bleeder screws and maybe even extra guide pins/dust boots. These parts are quite cheap so I ordered extra just to have them on hand in case of more issues (I'm thinking these salty WI winters are the culprit!!)
 


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#6
I have had this issue too, fortunately for me the dealer was able to lubricate the rear slide pins on both sides. This my rear brakes where dragging for a while though


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


OP
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BRGT350

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Thread Starter #8
If you do order the caliper bracket through rock auto, maybe consider ordering extra bleeder screws and maybe even extra guide pins/dust boots. These parts are quite cheap so I ordered extra just to have them on hand in case of more issues (I'm thinking these salty WI winters are the culprit!!)
got them on order from Rock Auto and should have them Tuesday night. Thanks for the tip!!
 


OP
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BRGT350

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Thread Starter #9
Are you referring to the 2 bolts that are needed to take off to remove to pads?

there are two bolts that hold the caliper to the guide pins and the pins slide into the fixed bracket. The bolts came out fine, but the guide pins were seized inside the caliper bracket. I was able to get one out, but the other broke apart. All of the bolts came loose just fine.
 


CSM

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got them on order from Rock Auto and should have them Tuesday night. Thanks for the tip!!
Glad I could be of help!

And a side note, I've got to be honest here, I've been pretty disappointed in the quality of some of the brake components on our cars. We shouldn't be seeing seized slider pins and so much rust with so few miles!
 


OP
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BRGT350

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Thread Starter #11
I agree that 30k is a little early for seized caliper pins. I helped a friend do pads and rotors on his Honda Element with over 100k and original pads. Everything was rusted and he did have a seized pin. With that many miles, I expect that to happen. What is strange is that the other guide pins were in perfect shape. I also had these same rear brakes on my SVT Focus and the pins were fine after a few winters. My dad's Fusion had a seized left rear caliper and that has only seen two winters.
 


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[video=youtube;oAeojNKsVUc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAeojNKsVUc[/video]

after filming this, I realized that not only was the bracket seized, so was the caliper. Spent hours trying to get it to retract and eventually was able to get it to extend, but never retract. New caliper is on the way. I have worked on a lot of cars over the years and never had so many brake issues with so little miles.
 


Plainrt

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[video=youtube;oAeojNKsVUc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAeojNKsVUc[/video]

after filming this, I realized that not only was the bracket seized, so was the caliper. Spent hours trying to get it to retract and eventually was able to get it to extend, but never retract. New caliper is on the way. I have worked on a lot of cars over the years and never had so many brake issues with so little miles.

You have to push hard while turning to get it to go in.
 


Plainrt

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Does anyone know the difference in the bracket for red calipers and the regular ones? Not sure why there is two versions. I'd think one would be just red and other not painted
 


OP
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You have to push hard while turning to get it to go in.
yep, tried that. This is the 4th set of these calipers that I have swapped pads on and the first that has had an issue. I remember last Saturday when I tried to move the caliper piston that something wasn't right. The passenger side retracted normally and a few turns is all it took to get it flush. I could not get the driver's side to extend or retract. I eventually got it to move and it would just spin in the retract direction. I bolted the caliper back up to the bracket so I could get a good amount of push force with the turning and it still would not retract. I ordered a new caliper and going to install that one.
 


OP
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Does anyone know the difference in the bracket for red calipers and the regular ones? Not sure why there is two versions. I'd think one would be just red and other not painted

the only difference is the paint. The part number is different to show one is painted and one isn't.
 


Quisp

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#17
Volvo carries a grease that goes on caliper pistons. I've used it on motorcycle brakes and it helps with lever travel even after through bleeding. I know it's not relevant to pin problem but for corrosion on cups might be the ticket.
 


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This is looking like it might be a major warranty issue.

I just had my final 60K (km) inspection done and all my brakes are wearing unevenly, especially the left rear. Quote for replacing brakes by dealer is $951, plus tax, not including taxes; note: "not including broken or seized components" (like, maybe they know that's the problem!).

Maybe the moderators could put up a poll to determine how much of a problem this really is.
 


OP
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BRGT350

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Thread Starter #19
$951 for brakes, is that a quote to replace all 4 rotors, 4 calipers, and new pads, hardware? I spent around $350 for Hawk 5.0 pads, new rear bracket, new caliper, fluid, and expedited shipping. I surely could have knocked that price down without expedited shipping and multiple shipments. I did not replace the rotors as they are still in great shape. I was probably a little preemptive on the pads since they had more than half of their life left, but I needed to address the rear left brake and decided to do pads. I am keeping the stock ones and will probably use OEM pads and old rotors in the winter and Hawk pads and new rotors in the summer.
 


CanadianGuy

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$951 for brakes, is that a quote to replace all 4 rotors, 4 calipers, and new pads, hardware? I spent around $350 for Hawk 5.0 pads, new rear bracket, new caliper, fluid, and expedited shipping. I surely could have knocked that price down without expedited shipping and multiple shipments. I did not replace the rotors as they are still in great shape. I was probably a little preemptive on the pads since they had more than half of their life left, but I needed to address the rear left brake and decided to do pads. I am keeping the stock ones and will probably use OEM pads and old rotors in the winter and Hawk pads and new rotors in the summer.
That would be canadian prices and that is dealer stock rotors and stock pads plus labour. Car parts in Canada are crazy. I got a coil pack for our Edge dealer wanted $250 for Ford part, got it from the US for $50. BTW mind throwing up the parts numbers you ordered for future members?


[MENTION=2404]TrickSTer[/MENTION] Rockauto.com is your friend the parts. Even with canadian exchange you can get stock rotors(x4) and stock pads or Powerstop Z23 (4 corners) to your house (shipping and duty included) for about $350-400 (cad).
 


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