Replacing brake calipers on ABS car

[Guest Shaffer]

My 92 Buick is in need of a new brake caliper, as one is sticking and the car is "pulling". I have never worked on ABS brakes, so I am wondering if there are any different processes for a car with ABS? Does anything have to be disconnected? Thanks.

[Reatta Man]

If you don't have the factory service manual, I would strongly recommend you go to www.alldata.com, and go to the DIY section. There, you can register for $24.95 and get the latest factory data for your make and model of car.

If there is a specific proceedure, that site will have it. After you have done the repair, I would also recommend you get the fluid flushed by a shop set up to work on ABS systems.

Joe

[Guest Shaffer]

Thanks Reatta for the fast reply. The more I think of it, I think I will let the next owner worry about it, as it sounds like it may be not worth my time changing it- I was just wanting to make the car a little more presentable. I have spent unbelievable amounts of money on this car and am tired of pouring more and more $$$ into a car that I am only asking $1200. for. Thanks again.

[JohnD1956]

I have a 93 Regal with the 4 wheel disc brakes, and I would recommend you try freeing up and lubricating the sliders on the stuck caliper.

The rear calipers remove in a similar fashion to the fronts, but the big difference is the parking brake hook-up. I did not have to disconnect the parking brake cable. But remove the studs and it swings right up.

If you go to replace the pads, then you will need a tool to "screw" the pistons back in. On my 93, I usually pull off the rotor, and the old pads then reattach ( without tightening too much) the caliper on it;s holder. Then using the tool you can push on the tool and ratchet the piston at the same time to get it back in place. I have also put a large prybar behind the tool and then turned it to give added leverage.

On some cars I understand the lever for the parking brake would have to be removed, but this is not so on the 93 Regal.

Of course if it is the barking brake cable hanging up causing the pulling problem, then it's another whole story. But my 93's was not hard to replace either.

Good luck.

[Guest Shaffer]

Thanks for the reply. Actually, my car has front disc, but rear drums. My main concern is that my car has the ABS (anti-lock) brakes. I was wondering if there was any additional procedures required for changing them. I may go ahead and do what you suggested about "freeing" up the sliders. This seemed to have started after I had new front brake pads installed, but if I recall it was even doing it before that. The shop that supposedly aligned it after the new tie-rod ends still insists that the car is in perfect alignment, but it is still pulling bad to the right.

[JohnD1956]

I never touched the anti lock sensors, and doubt you will have to either. The fronts are just like non anti lock brakes, except my Regal has a seemingly complicated caliper mount. It seems the caliper is mounted to a steel form, which is then mounted to the knuckle. You can get the caliper out without removing the mount attached to the knuckle. but you have to remove both to get the rotor off. Still, you don't have to touch the antilock sensors.

There was a previous thread on unbalanced brakes, and some one said that if the shoes get brake fluid on them ( like from a leaky wheel cylinder) then the brake will actually grab faster and harder than a dry brake shoe. I don't know if this is true but it causes me to think you should check the pads first. Any good mechanic would ensure the sliders were cleaned and lubricated when installing pads. Perhaps one of the pads became contaminated with the lubricant?

Good luck.

[Barney Eaton]

I agree with JohnD, replacing the calipers on ABS should be no different than other cars. The ABS sensors are probably in the bearing or behind the spindle and are not involved in the caliper replacement.

Sometimes, the manual will have specific instruction on bleeding the brakes dependant on the brand of ABS. Some want you to pressure bleed other suggest suction. I believe this has something to do with the balance.

As a precaution, disconnect the battery when bleeding the brakes so you do not set any codes etc.

[Guest Shaffer]

Thanks for the replies. I may go ahead and try to replace them then- I have more problems now anyway, as I think my alternator died today.....

[NTX5467]

On the newer GM vehicles, you can use the scan tool to do a "bleed" procedure so you don't have to manually bleed the brakes. What I suspect it does (and sounds like it does) is cycle the pressure/release system to get any air bubbles to come to the top of the system (i.e., reservoir). If you try to do it manually, the pedal will never feel right, for some reason, yet when you drive it it feels normal.

Flushing the system is a good idea as brake fluid (except the synthetic types) will absorb moisture and that is not good for the antilock system internals.

As far as the calipers go, they change just like any other caliper (other than being sure to not damage/disturb the wheel speed sensors in that general area). The brake pads might be different in some respects, compared to non-ABS cars, with respect to chamfers on the edges of the pads and such.

Would anyone buy a car knowing that it might need lots more money spent on brake work? Even if it was priced to compensate for that? People usually want to buy something and drive it right then and there, not next week after everything's fixed (by them at their expense). But then others that know about those things might not mind--a variable situation.

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467