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You're proving you are just a back yard mechanic by your statements.
I have been an ASE certified mechanic for many years, and a real mechanic does things the right way, and the safe way.
No. A real mechanic does it YOUR way.
"Mam, it's looks like your gonna need an entire new front braking system... yeah its gonna be a few dollars."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nayabone
You don't do a half-a$$ed job on brakes..! If you have a caliper hanging up, you can waste your time trying to prove you can fix anything, or you approach it the correct way.
Do a complete front brake job, and be ready to stand behind anything that might happen to that car in the future. If you want to do it your way, back yarder deluxe, and be ready to go to court when your family gets wiped out, then do it your way, but know that you are completely wrong.
A professional does things the right way, they safe way, and stands behind his decisions... If you like to experment and try to save money, do it on seat covers, not brakes....!
You have over complicated and over exaggerated the OP's situation. The hydraulic brakes at hand are about as complex as a 3rd grade education. They probably haven't been bled in a few years and some corrosion has caused the cup to stick to the cylinder wall. Mitch provides EXCELLENT advice for field trouble shooting.
You may be a technician but little do you know there are plenty of engineers floating around these boards.
OP: Attempt annual brake fluid replacement from now on. Brake fluid is hydrophilic and trapped condensation leads to problems like this (assuming it's a caliper issue and not the "check valve" effect that Mitch mentioned).
"Mam, it's looks like your gonna need an entire new front braking system... yeah its gonna be a few dollars."
You have over complicated and over exaggerated the OP's situation. The hydraulic brakes at hand are about as complex as a 3rd grade education. They probably haven't been bled in a few years and some corrosion has caused the cup to stick to the cylinder wall. Mitch provides EXCELLENT advice for field trouble shooting.
You may be a technician but little do you know there are plenty of engineers floating around these boards.
OP: Attempt annual brake fluid replacement from now on. Brake fluid is hydrophilic and trapped condensation leads to problems like this (assuming it's a caliper issue and not the "check valve" effect that Mitch mentioned).
Open a shop, be responsible for every vehicle that leaves your shop.. are you going to try to be a good guy and save the customer a few bucks doing things as cheaply as possible, and leaving yourself wide open for a lawsuit, or are you going to do the right thing and make sure the entire system is safe? When you have several thousand cars running around depending on their lives, and your name is on the brake job, you might learn to do things the right way, the first time. Easy to talk from a back yarder prospective, but a shop has the responsiblaty to stand behind his work. Turn out your cheap, half-a%%ed jobs, the first time your home and business are on the line because you played the odds, you will change your tune.. Talk is cheap until you get to court.. Do it right, do it once, do it safe, don't do a back yard brake job...
These back yard j@ck -offs will get you killed...!
Open a shop, be responsible for every vehicle that leaves your shop.. are you going to try to be a good guy and save the customer a few bucks doing things as cheaply as possible, and leaving yourself wide open for a lawsuit, or are you going to do the right thing and make sure the entire system is safe? When you have several thousand cars running around depending on their lives, and your name is on the brake job, you might learn to do things the right way, the first time. Easy to talk from a back yarder prospective, but a shop has the responsiblaty to stand behind his work. Turn out your cheap, half-a%%ed jobs, the first time your home and business are on the line because you played the odds, you will change your tune.. Talk is cheap until you get to court.. Do it right, do it once, do it safe, don't do a back yard brake job...
These back yard j@ck -offs will get you killed...!
You seem to assume that repairing only what's malfunctioning instead of what's malfunctioning and a whole bunch of other stuff, is half-a*ss*ed.
Let me ask you this, if you had a wood house, and at some point one of the planks on your wall gets some damage, would you replace the entire wall at ten times the price to "be safe", when the rest of it was completely fine and had no damage?
Fixing what's wrong doesn't mean it's a bad job, it just means you're not throwing away parts that are completely usable. The reason a shop (here at least) will advise against refurbishing a caliper (if possible) instead of replacing it, is that the cost of refurbishing (amount of work hours) will be higher than replacing with a new part.
I personally know several of highly qualified mechanics, who'll do repairs to the brakes on their own cars, because they only pay for the part, and they know that it's just as good, in some instances.
Open a shop, be responsible for every vehicle that leaves your shop.. are you going to try to be a good guy and save the customer a few bucks doing things as cheaply as possible, and leaving yourself wide open for a lawsuit, or are you going to do the right thing and make sure the entire system is safe? When you have several thousand cars running around depending on their lives, and your name is on the brake job, you might learn to do things the right way, the first time. Easy to talk from a back yarder prospective, but a shop has the responsiblaty to stand behind his work. Turn out your cheap, half-a%%ed jobs, the first time your home and business are on the line because you played the odds, you will change your tune.. Talk is cheap until you get to court.. Do it right, do it once, do it safe, don't do a back yard brake job...
These back yard j@ck -offs will get you killed...!
So how come I am alive at 52 and been working on my own cars, including brakes since I was 16, huh?
I am a Nuclear Engineer who is not at all impressed with your mechanic's certification BTW.
I think your objection to "cheap" is reduction in your own pay.
Nothing I have suggested is improper or unsafe, unless you consider the failure to spend $ unsafe to your own paycheck.
I'm not sure actually, and it's so freezing outside that any lengthy troubleshooting on the car itself is hard to get done. I don't have a garage, and I'd rather not get frostbite, lol.
As for replacing the caliper, I was hoping to avoid that, as the cost would be fairly high.
I know a rotor is warm after use, but when I can put my finger on the right one for 2-3 seconds before it starts getting uncomfortable, and the left one is so warm I got a tiny burnmark on my finger when touching it for a split second, I'd say it's geting a fair bit warmer than it should.
I was actually thinking the brake hose might cause something like this too, unfortunately I don't have the space, nor if I'm honest, the skill to do this and reach a conclusive diagnosis myself. I'll check the brake fluid though, as I know it's old.
Is it possible that the clean actually resolved it though? That ice and dirt (it's been consistently between 0F and 4F degrees here for two weeks now) simply made it less responsive and the clean took care of it?
I don't have any illusions when it comes to the importance of properly functioning brakes. That said, I'm not going to fix something that might not need fixing simply because it's important. The pads themselves are fine, I know that for a fact, the caliper may be malfunctioning, but it's not a given, and I'm not going to throw money into a car where I'll lose all of it, unless I need to. Realize a job of that magnitude would easily tip $1000 where I am.
As for my family, they'll be fine, I'm the only user of the car, and I know the potential problems is it is in fact bad. It's not like it'll suddenly stop working, at worst it'll warp the disk, making the car immobile once they cool down (and warp or crack), or possibly stay on the rotor, full force, in which case I can bring the car controllably to a stop by re applying the brakes to even the brake forces.
WOW! need to ask just where are you? here in California , I just called AUTOZONE auto parts and they have them for $40.00 each with a refundable core charge of $62.00 so in the end a total of $80.00 plus tax and labor, now the flat rate book states 1 hr each @ $70.00 PER HOUR TOTAL OF $220.00 sounds very reasonal to me.
WOW! need to ask just where are you? here in California , I just called AUTOZONE auto parts and they have them for $40.00 each with a refundable core charge of $62.00 so in the end a total of $80.00 plus tax and labor, now the flat rate book states 1 hr each @ $70.00 PER HOUR TOTAL OF $220.00 sounds very reasonal to me.
You seem to assume that repairing only what's malfunctioning instead of what's malfunctioning and a whole bunch of other stuff, is half-a*ss*ed.
Let me ask you this, if you had a wood house, and at some point one of the planks on your wall gets some damage, would you replace the entire wall at ten times the price to "be safe", when the rest of it was completely fine and had no damage?
Fixing what's wrong doesn't mean it's a bad job, it just means you're not throwing away parts that are completely usable. The reason a shop (here at least) will advise against refurbishing a caliper (if possible) instead of replacing it, is that the cost of refurbishing (amount of work hours) will be higher than replacing with a new part.
I personally know several of highly qualified mechanics, who'll do repairs to the brakes on their own cars, because they only pay for the part, and they know that it's just as good, in some instances.
Fact are facts as to your breaks ! if its sticking that means that there is rust or on the inside of the piston , most of them then can not be "REFERBUSH and must be replaced and replaced in pairs ( left and right side at the same time so as to equalize the breaking ) common sense needs to be applied here.
most of them then can not be "REFERBUSH and must be replaced and replaced in pairs
Oh really? According to who?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fighter 1
left and right side at the same time so as to equalize the breaking common sense needs to be applied here.
That's not common sense. That's just an assumption. One side could be working perfectly fine and the other side that is currently damage can easily be repaired with a $10 rebuild kit consisting of two rubber parts and a little elbow grease. Change the fluid out and voila. Do it yourself or instruct a reputable shop exactly what to do. No need to pi$$ money down the drain and not learn anything.
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