A Brake in the Action

While the guys were working downstairs on the drywall, I took a few minutes to look into the brake issue on my car. As you may recall, there was an issue with the brake pad which was jamming things up so that the car wouldn't go. After pulling the front driver-side caliper off, I discovered that the broken part I'd found on the ground was an exact match for the missing part on the outer pad.

The odd thing about the pad was the wear pattern when viewed along the side of the pad. Instead of being nice and rectangular, it was triangular, which seems to indicate that the caliper pistons were not aligned. This is most likely caused by excessive friction along the cylinder wall on one of the pistons, typically caused by moisture which had crept into the caliper from the seal and corroded the piston.

I pressed on the brake to see how far the pistons would extend, and one of them didn't move very far; it was kinda stuck. The other one was fine. This seems to be the problem.

The obvious solution is to head over to my nearest NAPA or AutoZone to purchase another caliper / brake pad set. But they want $50 for just the caliper, $75 for the caliper with the mounting hardware, and another $30 for the brake pads! And obviously I'm going to need to do both sides at the same time ... and might as well check the rear brakes as well ... and I already know the parking brake needs new shoes. So might as well do the whole thing at once, right?

Maybe after the basement gets the drywall and paint done. Which will be after Spring Break, after we get back from Texas.

Meanwhile, I have job interviews on Monday and Tuesday, and lots of other things to do in the meantime. Like Easter.