Is brake caliper overhaul necessary preventative maintenance?
 

I decided to keep my 2003 Camry LE after the lease ended. It has 100,000km (about 62,000 miles) and has given no problems at all. In Ontario a safety is necessary as this is a change of ownership, so I let the Toyota dealer do the safety andthe 96,000km fluid change out. I was surprised that they found the brake pads and rotors needed replacing, my wife and I are light footed drivers, mainly on country roads and highways. I was even more surprised that they consider a complete caliper overhaul necessary - about $800. The anager assured me that the calipers would certainly seize before the next brake pad replacement was necessary.

Unfortunately I was not able to take the car in myself and look at the state of the brakes, my wife did it.

Do Camry calipers seize routinely with less than 200,000km (124,000m - next estimated pad replacement)

Have I been ripped off?

Bruce

RE: Is brake caliper overhaul necessary preventative maintenance?
 

only if u have a brake problem & if its related to calipers then u have to do the overhaul .. brake fluid has to be clear not brown or black .. so if the color changes u have to flush it out & do the adjustment .. rotors can be polised if there are not smooth & have some linings but u can do that if the thikness is ok.

dealers always go with the milagethat u have to change not to fix.
try to find a good mechanic that might help u in this matter.

all the best :)

RE: Is brake caliper overhaul necessary preventative maintenance?
 

brake fluid needs to be changed every 2 years for best performance.

brake callipers are hard to predict when or if they'll sieze but if you keep with fluids and what not, and ur a light driver, you should be fine.

60-70K for brake pads is about right for normal pads.

Only recently have i had an experience with a slightly sticky calliper that thankfully didnt completely sieze. happend about 100K, but the way i drive my car is probably 200% harder than the way you drive yours.

I say...do a normal brake job...new pads, clean/resurface the rotors, and just clean off the brake parts.

RE: Is brake caliper overhaul necessary preventative maintenance?
 

i agree ;)

RE: Is brake caliper overhaul necessary preventative maintenance?
 

i agree ;)

2003 Camry LE brakes
 

My sister just purchased an 03 Camry with 118,000 miles on it. CARFAX records show maintenance done by dealer in Florida. Rear brakes are drum and the dealer adjusted them several times. I checked them because of a low and spongy pedal. The pedal also continues to go down when stopped at a light. Pads, shoes, rotors, and drums were great.No moisture on the calipers or wheel cylinders. I bled the brakes in the order as described in a Chilton book and as I have done many other times. I think air came out of theRR cylinder so I bled it until the fluid was "solid." I did all of them them a second time. The pedal was better but went back to being low when the engine was cranked. Since the ABS light came on and went off as spedcified and there were no ABS codes, I assume the master cylinder is bad. Yes? No?
The front passenger widow would not come down so I removed the panel to check the motor. The plug was disconnected from the motor. When I reconnected it and turned the ignition switch on, the window came down w/o using the driver's switch or the passenger switch. After removing the motor and reconnecting the plug, the motor ran and would not stop. Apparently the dealer disconnected the plug rather than replacing the driver's door switch. I think this switch is bad because there is voltage on the "down" wire all of the time with the ign. switch on. For those who may have this problem, the motors are permanent magnet. Applying voltage and ground to the two terminals on the motor changes the polarity at the motor so it will turn either CC or CCW. If the motor (window) doesn't go in the right direction, reverse the wires.

CALIPERS and WHEEL CYLINDERS
 

Bad things happen to calipers and wheel cylinders when standard (non-silicone) brake fluid is used. The fluid will absorb moisture. Some of the moisture may come from changes in temperature. Bleeding or better yet, flushing the brake system helps remove the moisture. Moisture eventually leads to rust. Changing to silicone fluid is a good idea.
I had a strange situation with my 1980 Cabellero brakes a while back. When I tried to bleed the left front caliper, no fluid came out. I changed all of the components except for the steel lines when I purchased the vehicle a few years prior and had bled the brakes since then. I found the flexible line from the steel line to the caliper had deteriorated and was clogged.
So, bleeding the brakes every two years may also prolong the life of the flex lines too.

How far does the peddle drop?

Observe front brake caliper operation when brake applied to determine if any pistons are stuck.

As to the window, could be a bad switch which means changing the switch console.