doostica

I have a couple of questions.

1. I cannot for the life of me get the piston inside the passenger front brake caliper to retract. I've broken a c clamp and the brake tool as well. If you've got anything to try, please throw it at me.
- The driver side was a quick no issue job.

2. The driver side front pad really wasn't worn all that bad, however the passenger side, the inside pad (the side furthest away from the road/side closer to under the Jeep) is completely gone. The other pad was worn too but the driver to passenger side comparison is apples to oranges.
-What could have caused this??
I'm concerned because the piston that won't compress is the same side as the brake pads that were totally gone. (The Jeep wasn't driven at all from the first time I heard the squel/brake nose clip or whatever you call it)

I will upload pics later today. The pads were very high quality pads.

TimV

Sounds like replacing the caliper is absolutely the way to go.

Two things happening there that I gather from your description:
1) when applying brakes the piston pushes on the worn pad but does not retract, as you have found. This likely caused the pad to drag and wear prematurely.
2) also possible/likely that the sliders are sticking. If so, then the piston side pad does most of the braking increasing it's wear rate.

If the above is correct, the quality of the pads has little or nothing to do with the wear you are seeing.

XJlimitedx99

x2, sounds like that caliper is not floating around as it should. If it was just the slides I'd say lube them and stick it back in but if the piston is also frozen up then I would think that caliper is in rough shape.

Calipers are relatively cheap. Take your old ones in as cores and replace them both.

freegdr

Replace calipers in pair is the proper way. If ones is sticking the other just as used.

Jeepin'_Aint_EZ

Before completely condemning the caliper, crack the bleeder loose and try compressing the piston again. If the piston retracts, than the rubber brake line has collapsed internally. Replace rubber brake lines on both sides of vehicle. If the piston does not retract than the caliper is shot - replace both front calipers at the same time for even braking
performance.

Also make sure that your caliper slide pins are free. If you cannot push them in and out or you feel resistance they must be removed, cleaned, and properly lubricated otherwise your braking performance will suffer and you'll experience uneven brake pad wear.

doostica

Thanks gents, I am going to upload the pics of the pads when I get home from work. I'll go with the bleeder valve being opened first. I didn't need to do that on the driver side and I cannot recall having to do that previously when doing my brakes, so I've never actually thought of opening it, as I didn't want to have to bleed the brakes too, although I'll assume I probably should? The problem isn't really that I don't "want" to do anything, I live in a gated community that does not allow work to be done on our vehicles and my townhouse does not have a garage, soo I do the work around 6 15 am just as the light comes up and before the staff who patrols the community gets here at 7:30, so I have to james bond/mcguyver everything within that hour and 15 min time frame. The quicker the things are I have to do, the more likely it is that I can get it all done in that time frame.

Will I need to bleed the brakes if I crack open that bleeder valve to remove any air in the line or just tighten it back up?

I was thinking replacing the caliper would be the better choice, but wasn't sure how difficult or time consuming that would be. I'll do it though, I'll always choose the smarter option over the half *** one.

Jeepin'_Aint_EZ

I've done A LOT of brake jobs - my advice comes from experience.... living in the rust belt can provide plenty of that in a short amount of time.

doostica

It rained all day, still raining actually, so I haven't been able to mess with the Jeep.

How difficult is it to replace the caliper? I have looked up youtube videos and read the manuals, but those videos are edited for time lapse, is this a many hour job? and is this something I can do on my own?

dzywicki

Sounds like a pretty rough community for owning an XJ. Changing the caliper is pretty quick but messy. I had to check the calipers on my '99 today so just went through the process. Loosen the banjo bolt holding the flex line. there will be a copper washer on each side. Once you remove the bolt, the brake fluid will start flowing. Have the replacement nearby and ready to go in. The replacement should come with new copper washers. Take the banjo bolt out, and remove the upper washer. Put the caliper aside with the hole facing up (so the rest of the brake fluid doesn't go all over your driveway). Put it all back together the same way, with new washers. You will need to bleed it after all this. For your situation with the HOA *****, I would get a mityvac or something similar( ). You can definitely do this in an under an hour before the HOA ***** come by. The key will be quick bleeding.

freegdr

Replace both hoses and both calipers and be done with it bank drive thrus work great on rainy sundays. Been there done that. Or big parking lots...

freegdr

Need two people for bleeding gonna take couple hours if youve never done it and only got basic tool set. Search your year for more specific instruction and tools needed.

doostica

So I'm going to have to replace the caliper, at this point it seems like the logical decision because nothing seems to remove the pressure of that piston inside the caliper to retract... From looking at it, it's just the one bolt connecting the brake line/mounting bolt to the caliper... Someone said that replacing the caliper is a difficult job to do, Am I missing something? It's only 1 bolt, what makes the job difficult??

doostica

Thank you for the detailed instructions! Sounds like a good job to learn to do. I'm 32 and have learned to do many things when it comes to working on this Jeep. So I'm always looking forward to knowing how to do something new to add to my repertoire.
I was in Indiana for work a couple years back and my alternator was done, so I learned to do that in 7° weather outside in the snow. That was only difficult due to the cold hands.
-Jessica

EEVEE

Good to hear! yep once one tool breaks i would say screw it and buy a new caliper also VERY wise to get new hoses as well dont want to drag the new calipers lol.

97grand4.0

Actually the $10 self bleeder kit works great with 1 person, much much faster. Just crack the bleeder open and stick in the little plastic tube and bottle, then pump a bunch of times, then close the bleeder. Much better than "Pump it up! Hold it" Pump it up! Hold it!