caliper

[james accordino]

--- don & lori <dell4 at mb.sympatico.ca> wrote:
> 
> hi james
> 
> have same sticking caliber on my 1990 200q. 
> wondering what you mean by the
> 'pill'.
> 
> did you have to disconnect the caliper to do
> this work?

I'll answer last first.  Not only do you have to
disconnect it, but totally disassemble it.  There have
been other posts, but IME the sticking is ALWAYS in
the lower portion of the caliper, and any other
solutions are only temporary fixes. BTDT  The pill is
the primary interface between the rotational motion of
the parking brake lever and the longitudinal motion of
the caliper piston itself.  There are various o-rings
and machined steel surfaces that become fouled by
old,water-laden brake fluid.  Obviously completely
flushing the brake fluid every 2 years will prevent
this, and the caliper internals probably have an
unlimited lifespan under these conditions.  However,
if your car is 8-15 years old and the original brake
fluid is down in there, I'm positive it's a mess. 
Merely replacing pads, or even mild bleeding does
nothing to remedy this situation.  You need to open
things up and really run some fluid through the
system.  It takes me about a quart to get it all out. 
Once the o-rings go bad and the steel gets rusty,
nothing short of cleaning the steel surfaces and
replacing the o-rings will work.  Sorry I can't report
some simple solution, but if your cal. is truly
sticking (red hot rotors, brake stays on) then I'm
afraid that it's deep internal.

Jim Accordino