TennesseeZJ

Ok, so as the title says, my driver side brake caliper is not releasing.

Let me give you guys the back story on this. I bought a 1997 zj 4x4 a week ago last friday. drove 2 hours to pick it up and drove it 2 hours home. EVERYTHING WAS FINE. It had some squeaking going on, figured no big deal, i can handle this.

So i lifted the front end and spun the wheels one at a time. they both made the squeaking noise. so i assumed the bearings were bad in the hubs. WRONG. i got new hubs and got the front end disassembled to change them out. got one hub off and spun it in my hand.......no noise. turned out to be a u joint in front drive shaft, rookie mistake, oh well.

here is where the break caliper comes into play. i had it propped up on something so that i wouldn't stretch the brake line. cool, good idea. well it fell off at one point and smacked something and hung from the brake line.

i went and put everything back together and test drove it for a few miles. next thing i know, there is the smell of brakes and smoke coming from that brake assembly, the driver side. if i took my hand off the wheel, it would pull to the driver side. if i hit the brakes, it would pull to the passenger side. almost like it wasn't fully braking but not fully releasing either.

so i got it home and jacked it up, bled that caliper because i hadn't done it earlier. (i never even messed with the other side). brake kinda sorta released after spinning the wheel a few times. got in and turned it on and hit the brakes a few times as though i was driving it. tried to spin the wheel again, brake seems halfway locked again.

SO I NEED HELP GUYS!! WHATS GOING ON HERE!?!!?!?!
DO I NEED A NEW CALIPER OR DOES IT GO DEEPER THAN THAT?!

Nick-B

The answer is in your story.
"Hung from the brake line"
The brake line is damaged internally and blocking the return flow of fluid so the caliper won't release.
Replace the line - actually might as well do both sides while you are at it - bleed and enjoy.

TennesseeZJ

ok so i dismantled everything and the piston of the caliper was indeed seized up. so i went ahead and bought new calipers and hoses for both sides. i replaced everything today and bled both front lines because those are the ones i replaced. the Master Cylinder ended up being pretty low. like way below the add mark. but it still had visible fluid in it.

so i got everything bled and put back together and now i have no brake pressure. i dont understand why.

can ya'll suggest anything?!

Kingfisher

Sounds like you still got air.

Nick-B

Double check your calipers. The bleed valve should be at top. If you mistakenly put them on the wrong side (left to right) the bleeder is at a low point and you'll never purge the air. If that is OK, then bleed them again - actually if it were me I'd bleed the entire system to get fresh fluid in he rear.
Good luck!

TennesseeZJ

bought a bleeder kit with the little hose and bottle to attach to the bleeder screw. calipers were on right. hooked it up and had the wife help me. she'd press and hold the pedal and i'd loosen the screw and let it bleed. then i'd tighten it again and then tell her to release. then repeat the process until it was done. so now all is well!!

Kingfisher

Great!...

Kenzoey

None of the Caliper will not release on my 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

dave1123

welcome to CF!

Sorry, but that entire sentence doesn't make any sense. Please explain your problem more clearly.

IStoleIt

It sounds as though they cant get the jeep to roll freely.

Take the wheels off and check if you can spin the hubs/rotors freely. If the fronts are stuck (while in Neutral) take it to a brake shop. If the rears are stuck(in Neutral) check the emergency brake cables.(sorry no pics. Easy google search.) Release or disconnect the rusted/frozen E-Brake cables, and see if the wheels will spin now.

I hope this helps a little.

97grand4.0

If you bought the kit then you didn't need the wife. Just plug the line to the bottle in the open bleeder, fill the bottle a little to cover the bottom of the line, fill the master and pump that pedal to your hearts desire. Then close the bleeder.

rangermonroe

Oh, come on now... wives are fun to help with auto work.

Years back my lovely bride was helping me bleed the brakes on my Toyota. It had a manual transmission. (Guess where this is going?)

After ten minutes of attempting to get fluid out of the bleed screw, and her switching legs twice because they were tired... she realized it was the clutch she was pressing and holding for me.

dave1123

When my wife started to drive, I showed her how to check the oil and change a tire, having HER actually do it. That was a nightmare and so promptly told me she would call me or wait for AAA!