One stuck sliding pin on each caliper

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Dec 3, 2016
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Maine
Changed all brakes on my 2016 Caravan today because they have been "wobbling" so bad it makes a ton of noise. Well, besides the outer rear driver's brake pad, which was down to literally the backing plate, they were all 90%. It seems the pads were replaced but not the rotors.

So anyways I noticed one sliding pin on every caliper would not budge. I could twist it fairly easily and can hear the grease but could not push or pull it out.

Interestingly, this is the first vehicle I've owned with dual piston calipers and massive brakes, but that's only on the front and I don't think it's related. Could it be that all the caliper pins are starting to seize at once? I jammed some grease in the stuck pins hoping it would do something. The caliper pistons pushed in easily and I've never had hot brakes or odor from them.
 
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Depending on how it is stuck, you might still be able to service it. Watch some of the YouTube videos. I do not know about the videos for your vehicle, but some of the videos for replacing the brakes on a Honda CR-V show the person doing the job as not disassembling one of the slide pins from the threaded section. Instead they remove on slide-pin and pivot the entire wheel cylinder about the remaining slide pin. Then they can move the wheel cylinder when it will no longer hit the disk. And clean and lube the pin and put it back together with never having unthreaded that one slide pin form the threaded section.

If it is removing the slide from the other threaded section that you are having a problem with, then this might fix it for you.
 
Depending on how it is stuck, you might still be able to service it. Watch some of the YouTube videos. I do not know about the videos for your vehicle, but some of the videos for replacing the brakes on a Honda CR-V show the person doing the job as not disassembling one of the slide pins from the threaded section. Instead they remove on slide-pin and pivot the entire wheel cylinder about the remaining slide pin. Then they can move the wheel cylinder when it will no longer hit the disk. And clean and lube the pin and put it back together with never having unthreaded that one slide pin form the threaded section.

If it is removing the slide from the other threaded section that you are having a problem with, then this might fix it for you.
Since I'm no mechanic so I do tend watch youtube videos too when I'm doing something I'm not real comfortable or familiar with. A lot of these videos show you how to NOT do a job IMO. People replace pads but don't even look at the slide pins let alone re-lube them, don't replace any of the hardware clips, etc. Just slap in new pads and off they go. I generally try to watch several videos to get as much info as possible.
 
Since I'm no mechanic so I do tend watch youtube videos too when I'm doing something I'm not real comfortable or familiar with. A lot of these videos show you how to NOT do a job IMO. People replace pads but don't even look at the slide pins let alone re-lube them, don't replace any of the hardware clips, etc. Just slap in new pads and off they go. I generally try to watch several videos to get as much info as possible.
Check out "South Main Auto" on YouTube.
He knows his stuff and has a good sense of humor as he works through the jobs.
 
Are the pins riding in rubber boots that are inserted into the steel caliper bracket? On my cars what happens sometimes is the caliper bracket bore where the rubber boot is inserted is rusting. That places pressure on the boot which then squeezes the pin. The corrective action is to remove the boot from the bore in the bracket and wire brush/scrape out any rust an then replace the boot. I usually try and paint or otherwise "rust proof" the bore to slow down the process. A good wire brush to use is like this one:

610gT4wCMSL._SL1000_.jpg
 
Changed all brakes on my 2016 Caravan today because they have been "wobbling" so bad it makes a ton of noise. Well, besides the outer rear driver's brake pad, which was down to literally the backing plate, they were all 90%. It seems the pads were replaced but not the rotors.

So anyways I noticed one sliding pin on every caliper would not budge. I could twist it fairly easily and can hear the grease but could not push or pull it out.

Interestingly, this is the first vehicle I've owned with dual piston calipers and massive brakes, but that's only on the front and I don't think it's related. Could it be that all the caliper pins are starting to seize at once? I jammed some grease in the stuck pins hoping it would do something. The caliper pistons pushed in easily and I've never had hot brakes or odor from them.

Most likely a petroleum grease was used on the pins, this has swollen the rubber that's found on 1 pin on each caliper and those are now stuck.

What grease did you use?
 
I used silicone grease. I think there might be rust inside, all the boots are good and I can pull them back and see purple grease if that says anything. I'll have to rebuild them asap, brakes are working great for now.
 
A lot of these videos show you how to NOT do a job IMO
When the person doing the brake job meets any of the following, just use their video for laughs:

1) Wearing flip-flops or crocs while doing work
2) Car is supported by a scissor jack
3) They include in their video a trip to Autozone to buy a 12mm socket
4) Says to themselves (as they're putting a tool on a fastener), "okay, righty-tighty, lefty-loosey"

...and more. I won't even go into their techniques of the actual work.
 
5) They refer to using a 12mm ratchet
6) They refer to bolts or lug nuts as "screws"
 
I am thinking the wrong grease was used on the rubber sleeve and it swelled. Others mentioned the same. I would use a vise-grip and one way or the other get the stuck pins out. The vise-grips will ruin the pin so you will need some new pins.
 
I used silicone grease. I think there might be rust inside, all the boots are good and I can pull them back and see purple grease if that says anything. I'll have to rebuild them asap, brakes are working great for now.

Purple permatex doesn't play nice with a lot of rubber sleeves on slide pins. Take something that isn't sharp and basically hammer the pins out to remove them, clean out all of the old grease from the bores(brake clean and q-tips work fine), replace the rubber sleeves, then use a silicone based grease. Part stores usually stock relatively inexpensive caliper hardware kits that will have rubber replacement sleeves included for what it's worth.
 
6A.... the "bolts" are actually screws. Bolts are made to a much lower tolerance than the typical "cap screws" used on almost all brakes.
 
6A.... the "bolts" are actually screws. Bolts are made to a much lower tolerance than the typical "cap screws" used on almost all brakes.
Alright, I'll give you that one... 😁 They are commonly referred to as "Hexhead Cap Screws" or "HCS". To me, since they still have a bolt head, I call them bolts. A "screw" to mean normally means something you use a screwdriver on.
 
If the slider pin turns, you will be able to get it out. What I do in this case is : take off the caliper carrier bracket which actually has the sliders in it, to make it easier to work on.

I clamp the stubborn slider pin in a desktop vise. I can then pull on the bracket while rotating back-and forth about 10 degrees. Maybe spraying some penetrating lubricant into the joint also helps.
Usually, the pin is stuck because over time brake dust gets into the grease and it the grease hardens.
 
The swollen rubber folks mention in this thread earlier is the rubber band close to the thin end of the
slider pin. Never seen this swollen and causing problems. What I have seen is brake dust getting into the
grease and causing the grease to turn into a hard, non-slippery substance.

But, in all honesty, I never have paid any attention to the rubber bushing swelling up at all.
My recommendation to use the high-temp 3m copper based lube is likely wrong in this respect. Its product description does not state that it is safe for rubber parts, so for all I know it may cause swelling of this particular rubber bushing. Since there are other caliper lube products that claim to be safe for rubber, that is what we should be using here like others recommend.
 
Follow up on my earlier post on swollen rubber bushings: I have actually seen swollen bushings now, after checking on a slider pin that I greased with the 3M copper formula. It caused my guide pin bushings on a Hyundai Sonata 2015 swell up to the point that I had a hard time extracing the pins. Had to replace the bushings, and relube with a silicone based formula. The 3M grease also dried out in a couple of years, and hardened, so I totally do not recommend it. I imagine it depends on the type of rubber or synthetic rubber tha bushings are made of, but pertoleum based formulas are likely a problem. The bushing-safe lubes are usually "fully synthetic" or Silicon based.,
 
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