Caliper guide pins frozen

[AutoMechanic]

I just bought some of this stuff, based off recommendations from people here!

And I really should clean and grease my caliper slides...I don’t think I ever have unless I was doing a brake job.

Yes it’s good stuff. At my workplace they had us using purple Permatex stuff on the slide pins and one day I was reading the bottle and I said hey this says not for slide pins and everyone was surprised so we switched to Sil-Glyde and every car we have had come back we have taken the pins out with ease. We still use the purple Permatex on the contact points when we start to run low on the Sil-Glyde. We haven’t ever had an issue with the purple Permatex on the pins but I didn’t want to take any risks using it.

 

[repairman54]

My old '09 Malibu used a rubber ''ring'' on one of it's caliper pins. I guess it's a vibration damper but that rubber would swell over time making it bind no matter what pin lube was used. I just ground down the rubber flush, re-lubed and put back in. No issues.
Probably same pins in the 'nox.
Salt zone person here also, if boots aren't sealing you will see rust on the pins. As prev. said clean and re-lube pins every brake job.

 

[Hall]

My old '09 Malibu used a rubber ''ring'' on one of it's caliper pins. I guess it's a vibration damper but that rubber would swell over time making it bind no matter what pin lube was used.

The "wrong" lube was used at some point and did this damage to the boot.

 

[doublebase]

Yes it’s good stuff. At my workplace they had us using purple Permatex stuff on the slide pins and one day I was reading the bottle and I said hey this says not for slide pins and everyone was surprised so we switched to Sil-Glyde and every car we have had come back we have taken the pins out with ease. We still use the purple Permatex on the contact points when we start to run low on the Sil-Glyde. We haven’t ever had an issue with the purple Permatex on the pins but I didn’t want to take any risks using it.

I’ve had problems with the purple And the green in the past.

 

[Donald]

I’ve had problems with the purple And the green in the past.

I use the purple on the pad ears only. Sil-glide on the caliper pins.

 

[coder]

Keep in mind the amount of brake dust generated also matters.
I am using creamic brake pads ==> less dust, and I find that cleaning the pins whenever I am
replacing the brakepads is enough enough to prevent problems. It is a good idea to take a look at the rotor
wear pattern also. Sticking pins usualy result in visible wear pattern changes.

 

[Donald]

The need to grease the pins in-between pad changes is probably related to how much winter driving you do where salt slush or road spray is involved.

It's a PIA. But so is replacing 4 pads when only one is worn down to metal.

 

[coder]

I use 3M Copper Anti Seize Brake Lube, 08945 on the caliper pins and on other surfaces where the pads are supposed to move. To take apart the brakes just to lube the sliding pins is unrealistic. I do not imagine too many people actually do that. If you clean and lube them every time you replace pads, you are way ahead of the average person, or the average mechanic.​

Went to change the worn out brake pads on the wife's car today, and was amazed to find the guide pins in both front calipers are frozen. Next surprise, Autozone doesn't sell the caliper brackets, only whole caliper assemblies. Got them both replaced, but other than making sure they move freely, and greasing as necessary, what kind of maintenance do those require? My old Saturn did call for routinely greasing the caliper pins, but I don't see such a requirement for a 2013 Equinox. Had the caliper brackets off last year when I replaced both front rotors, but apparently since then the salty slush got in and froze the pins. Boots looked fine, but should these require annual cleaning and greasing?

Last time I had a totally stuck pin (I ended up breaking it) on My wife's Sienna minivan, I was able to buy just the caliper carrier bracket. I think it was at autozone, Duralast 13-1324. This was an older model sienna, the 2010 and earlier seem to have this part available. In a pinch, it is worth taking the old part to the store and see if the above part number part is the same. It may fit, stranger things happened.

 

[Hall]

Parts stores definitely sell the bracket only but availability may depend on the year/model that you're looking for. I know O'Reilly in our small town stocks (or did when we checked) the bracket for a '12 Accord.

To take apart the brakes just to lube the sliding pins is unrealistic

It's actually quite the simple job as it's just (2) fasteners. And besides, if the rubber boot is in good shape, there's even less need to mess with the slide pins. At least in my climate, cleaning and lubricating the brake pad hardware would more likely be necessary and that's definitely more work. You're very much right, doing one or both of these is much more than the average vehicle ever has done.