DaveB

The story so far:
I have a MY00 with 33K miles on the clock with FHSH (last serviced in April 04) and I've had the car for 8 weeks. In the last 2 weeks I'd noticed my near side rear wheel being very hot. There was always a smell of brake dust after getting out of the car after any journey over 20 minutes, that was what led me to touch the wheel. The disc was getting very shiny - mirror like.... The disc didn't look in bad nick before in case you were wondering. I jacked the car up at the weekend and tried to spin the wheel - it didn't turn freely at all. The pads were obviously binding on the disc even when the brake wasn't applied. So today I gave it to Lookers Honda (Derby) to investigate. Their conclusion was that the calpier piston had seized and that the handbrake had been over-adjusted. They adjusted the handbrake correctly and released the caliper piston so I'm told =

AquilaEagle

I have 2 rear calipers (I think) which i bought from a breaker ages ago for a project i never started. PM me an offer and you can have it Dave

I'd wait for it to re-occur before forking out that kinda money!

slikts2000

Its also a piece of pi$$ to change the rear discs, pads and calipers and doing it yourself will save you the best part of

DaveB

Thanks for the advice lads.

AquilaEagle, I may take you up on that offer when I have convinced myself that the existing caliper is not doing its job. I refurbished my Dad's 1967 Triumph Spitfire front brake calipers last year and all they needed was a repair kit, some care, attention and bags of patience to get them back to original condition. I'm sure brake technology has not advanced so much that a bit of engineering know-how and some patience can't recover the situation.

slikts2000, cheers for the shortcut. It looks just the ticket for showing me how to dismantle and re-assemble the rear brakes.

Just 2 more things. Can I get a caliper repair kit and if so has anybody done this before? Also, what about torque settings when I come round to tightening up the nuts - where can I find that sort of info out?

Cheers again.

Shipley

My front nearside caliper locked a few weeks ago. It made the wheel smoke after every journey

The garage lubricated it and told me it was ' one of those things that happen' and not to worry about it.

I'd leave it for a while and see what happens. Mine is fine

lower

if your caliper has seized once, it will do it again. sure as eggs are eggs. unless they have removed the piston and cleaned the bore or rectified an actual problem it will seize again.

DaveB

That's exactly what I was thinking 'lower'. The Honda garage said that they probably just loosened it i.e. half a job - so it's bound to happen sooner or later. Every now and again I keep checking the wheel temperature after a run just to check if it starts to re-occur. When it does I'll be looking to purchase a rear brake caliper repair kit, something which if you live in the dstates you can purchase from www.handaaccessories.com for $17.42 - bargain. Not sure where else to source this from in the UK. Anyone know??

Karl2k

Just my 2p worth, but...

a) You won't be spinning the back wheel even without any brakes at all - it is a rear wheel drive with a limited slip differential
b) The brakes do get bastard hot, especially with 'spirited' driving and also if the meat on the pad is a bit low - compare yours to other S's if possible.
c) If there is a problem, it is likely to be the piston inside the caliper than has some crap inside stopping it from moving freely (hence the cleaning thing you mention) - you can normally pull the pistons out and clean with oil
d) Can't think of a 'D', please read the 3 above again...

Your best way of checking for sticky calipers is to park on a slight downwards slope, let the handbrake off and see how easy (if at all) she rolls.

In answer to your question about a 'cleaner' though, sorry, can't help.