Caliper questions

[John Myers]

Okay, 91 talon tsi awd (but told when I purchased it I have 2g calipers, idk) driver side rear caliper is sticking, pads on that caliper are rubbing the rotor so I have parked the car. I have aftermarket wheels and lug nuts and go figure my lug nut key is stripped from the previous owner (thanks). Won't be able to get a new one until this weekend due to my schedule so I'm at a standstill which gives me time to ask a couple questions:

I first jacked up the rear and spun the tire back and forth a bit to confirm the driver rear caliper is sticking causing the pads to rub the rotor. Then I tried bleeding it to see if it released the caliper with no luck. First thing I notice is my guide pins are not the same. Bottom one has a bolt head and top one does not. By looking at my passenger rear its pretty easy to see the top guide pin on the driver side (one with no bolt head) is pressed farther into the caliper than the passenger side. I'm not sure if this means my driver side top guide pin is sticking or the caliper piston(s) itself or (themselves) are sticking. So...

My questions are:
1.) Without a bolt head how do I remove this top guide pin (if I'm even supposed to remove it).
2.) If I am not supposed to remove it, how do I get the caliper off the rotor?
3.) Do I need a new caliper or can I somehow just lube these guide pins and solve my problem?

I obviously have lots of searching and reading to go do now, so if I asked dumb questions most likely I will know it before u need to tell me to search.

Thanks in advance!

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[Smilinjay]

It is very common for these calipers to seize, however it normally isn't due to the guide pins. Happened to mine about a year ago and the it was the piston that seized. I recommend buying remanufactured calipers (they aren't too expensive) or rebuilding yours. This type of caliper has a screw in type piston so you'll need to buy a special tool to depress them. I cant remember off the top of my head but im pretty sure once you pivot the caliper up the caliper should slide right off the guide pin.

 

[John Myers]

Thank you. After searching around more it seems that you are right. The bottom guide pin slides out, I swivel the caliper up, and the caliper should slide off the top "lock" pin. Furthermore, it looks like some people have been able to use pliers to depress the piston. I couldn't find much info on how this is done, but I suspect it will be fairly obvious when I get the caliper off. Also, by reading up on the 2 piston caliper upgrade from the newer year talons it appears I have been lied to and I have single piston calipers (at least it looks that way to me from the pics)

I will be looking into the upgrade options now. Grrr...was hoping I was getting closer to being done with all these maintenance items and could start tuning...but peace of mind is priceless I guess.

 

[Smilinjay]

Glad I could help. I know for a fact you can buy the tool at most major auto parts stores and works a hundred times better than pliers. It looks like a small metal cube with various prongs on each side and you can stick a 3/8" extension in the center. As far as upgrading goes it isn't all that common to upgrade the rears (they seem to do just fine for most applications) maybe the previous owner meant he swapped the fronts to dual pistons. Anyway, I ended up just going with power slot rotors and ceramic pads and they've done great so far. Oh, I completely forgot to mention that if you buy new calipers the pistons will already be all the way in (eliminating the need to wind them in). The tool is more useful for replacing pads when you need to make room for thicker ones.

 

[John Myers]

Right on again man, fronts are duals. At least he went to slotted rotors for me, too bad I better just pony up for new rotors too...I found a set of dual piston calipers for the rear (why not go to duals on the rear too since I'm changing them anyway right) for a good price as well. Appreciate the help brother.