front brake possibly sticking on

thougt I had a trackong problem as the car would pull to the left slighty....noticed when braking that the steering would then be straight, i assumed the brake was stuck on. Took the caliper off and sprayed WD40 under the seals and worked the pistons in/out a few times, they seemed to have got easy to push back in so I fitted back on the disco, when trying to turn the wheel there does seem to be more resistance than the other wheels. i then pressed the brake and it is definetitely sticking as I can barely turn the wheel, does it sound like a new caliper or can i rework this one?

cheers

pughster25

Yu do realise that WD40 is likely to screw up your seals - dont ya?

use red rubber grease from Parts Spares & Accessories for Triumph MG Rover Land Rover Discovery Freelander Defender Range Rover & Rover SD1 , if you use wd40 it will just shag your seals

landrovermilfer said:

if you use wd40 it will just shag your seals

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[smile] Is my cloak of invisibility on tonite - or summat? [/smile]

The Mad Hat Man said:

[smile] Is my cloak of invisibility on tonite - or summat? [/smile]

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No wd40 mad, although I have used it many times to get them moving, however as you say it will cause the seals to react and die, so clean it all off with brake cleaner and stuff that red rubber brake grease in. Need to get the piston pumped out a bit to inspect and clean it though, and watch you dont pump it out too far, keep a screwdriver or sumut in there.

You could fook about with the caliper but probably find the piston is corroded so its a waste of time most times.

The Mad Hat Man said:

[smile] Is my cloak of invisibility on tonite - or summat? [/smile]

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Who said that??

WD 40 will not ruin brake seals.
If a calliper or wheel cylinder is sticking, it needs replacing cos it's knackered.
If you spray a calliper seal with WD 40, it will work for a while but will begin to stick again cos it's knackered.
Brakes are your salvation between stopping or crashing.......don't mess with them.

cheers guys, the pistons are all still shiny and smooth, I have read somewhere that one brake sticking can be the master cylinder too?, just dont want to fork out £70 for a caliper and then find its the master thats all. so you would recommend a new caliper?

Soloby Rob said:

WD 40 will not ruin brake seals.

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Yes it does.

WD40 is kerosene based - the seals will not like kero or indeed diesel, oil etc.

I am not saying a little spray and wipe off won't damage them but if you spray it in and run the pistons in and out you could have now contaminated the fluid and the seals will now be sitting in kero which will reduce their life.

Use some brake fluid, on building calipers and cylinders up brake fluid is the commonly used assembly lube and red rubber grease - which also conditions the rubber.

If a caliper is sticking it is NOT ruined, it just needs rebuilt, set of stainless pistons and new seals and a clean up with brake cleaner etc and you can rebuild calipers easily - now a days garages prefer to fit new parts than actually fix things but rebuilding calipers was and should still be perfectly common.

You can even rebuild masters!

If the pistons are still all shiney then it could be the case of new seals and a bloody good clean up of the calipers - although, you might want to fit stainless pistons anyway while you are at it.

where would you suggest i get stainless steel piston kits from? cant seem to find them for the TD5?

To get you started - lots advertised in landy mag's too.

http://www.zeus.uk.com/land-rover.php

Check the pads ain't sticking .

pughster25 said:

I have read somewhere that one brake sticking can be the master cylinder too?

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With ABS it is possible as IIRC all the calipers are independently piped, but it would be rare.

regards

Dave

addicted2welding said:

Check the pads ain't sticking .

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They were sticking as 1 pad had about 5mm left and the other had 15mmm left.

1 of the guide pins was jamming which I thought was the problem, so i regreased both and swapped them round and they were nice and smooth then in and out no problem