The front wheel of my e type does not rotate and I found that one of the calipers does not retract. I took it out and cleaned it and it’s slot but still have same problem when reinstalled. I can undo caliper bolts by about one mm and wheel turns.
Two qustions: is this a common problem.And is there anything to do other than just replace the expensive caliper?
I’m going to assume that you have freed up the piston and pushed it all the way back in. If you’re using new pads you may have to sand one or both down a bit for things to fit. I had to do that on mine. I needed to takeoff about 1 mm to get them to fit. If your caliber is not centered over the disk you may have to use some spacing washers to center it.
Did you get the piston fully out? Usually it takes air pressure to do this
If Yes, it is likely you can clean away all the corrosion and rebuild it with new seals.
Is it a Dunlop or a Lockheed caliper?
If Dunlop, it may have to be replaced or the bore resleeved. If Lockheed, it can usually be cleaned up and sometimes a new piston is needed if the existing one is corroded.
Dennis
69 OTS
Phillip, are you saying the one side caliper does not retract at all, or that one of the two pistons in that caliper does not retract? If it is the entire caliper, you may wish to check for a restricted rubber hose. If only one of the two piston is not retracting, the one you already cleaned, you may have to disassemble again. You said you cleaned, did you replace the seal? I believe you have the later style, and the seal does the retracting.
Tom
If you have the later style and split the caliper itself, you have to remove it and clean it and also retorque it.
If you loosened the two mounting bolts and that helped one side could be stuck and you can investigate and fix most possible faults without spending large sums of money.
If the brake pads are brand new it’s common that the wheel is impossible to turn by hand. That’d free up shortly.
Hi Philip:
Not quite sure exactly what you’ve done so far but as mentioned it’s critical that the caliper piston isn’t seized in the bore. Assume your car has the Dunlop brake system common to the Series 1.5. If you’re not familiar with the Dunlop calipers and what others here are mentioning take a look at this video to get a better idea of what the issue might be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4lmC8h9hxc
It’s a complete brake system overhaul but the first 5 minutes shows the caliper and pulling the caliper halves apart with the piston & seal - at about 3:20 he has them apart to inspect the internals. It’s important to determine if rust is causing a problem and causing the piston to get hung up.
Thanks for replies; I have learned a lot. Incidentally, my 1968 Series 1.5 has the single piston caliper rather than dual pistons in later cars.
Hello,
If you wish to keep your dunlop calipers, Zeus offers new wheel cylinders with modern cupped pistons and seals in the cylinder bores.
It’s the budgie in the coal mine others are not far behind😩
Cheers. Jim