Re: Rear brake caliper

[Stewart MacLund <sundie@lunaticfringe.org>]

You can go to an auto shop and get thick grease in a spray can.  I was
suffering from frozen doors for a day or so into our cold snap.  Not
because the doors themselves were frozen, but because the latch had
frozen.  So i sprayed some of this stuff into it, and it pretty much
cleared the problem up.  My mechanic told me that the type of grease
(which name escapes me, i'll get back to you) works its way into all the
moving parts, forcing the water out.  he said i should spray it on my
hubs, which are exposed with the winter rims, to keep the salt and water
out.  Haven't had a problem since (with the doors).  Perhaps this could
be useful as well, in your parking brake.  

Nothin' beats a good winterizing... :)

sundie...

FlyinVR6 wrote:
> 
> Hey,
> This just happened to me too recently!!! I was going to post it tonite, but
> I saw this post first. My e-brake also feels like there is no cable attached
> for the first couple clicks when you go to pull it up. But when the brake is
> down and I put it in gear, it feels like the brake is still on. When I drive
> I can smell the pads burning. After the car warms up fully, then everything
> is 100% back to normal, including the e-brake feeling like it's tight again
> during the first couple of clicks when you go to pull it up. It's been
> freezing here on Long Island, NY recently (15 degrees today) and this is
> also the second time I've experienced this in the past couple of days. Are
> there any other theories or any cheaper solutions. Someone told me that they
> took a hammer and lightly tapped their calipers while there VW was warming
> up and that helped dislodge them.
> take care,
> -FlyinVR6
> ICQ : 8994103
> AIM : SwiftVR6
> \X/ Real Drivers Wanted \X/
> http://members.aol.com/qwikvr6/index.html
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-gti-vr6@cobra.ccsi.com
> [mailto:owner-gti-vr6@cobra.ccsi.com]On Behalf Of Bob Tillman
> Sent: Wednesday, December 30, 1998 1:54 PM
> To: gkoliopoulos@molex.com
> Cc: 'GTI VR6 List'
> Subject: Re: [gti-vr6] Re:Rear brake caliper
> 
> gkoliopoulos@molex.com wrote:
> >
> > It seems that my E-brake will not fully disengage, the right rear
> > caliper sticks, any one have a remedy for this problem?
> 
> Two things come to mind:
> 
> 1) Where do you live?  Has it been below freezing lately?  The little
> rubber boot at the end of the e-brake cable at the caliper will often
> rip, and let in water.  If the temperature gets below freezing, the
> cable can freeze in the 'engaged' position.
> 
> 2) How old is your car?  How many miles?  Do you set the parking brake
> every time you park?  If it's got a few miles on it, and the brake isn't
> exercised regularly, the e-brake mechanism in the caliper might be
> corroded or gummed up.  Unfortunately the best fix is to replace the
> caliper, and replace both rears together if you can.  I had to do that
> to my '89 GTI.  I can't remember how much the rebuilt calipers cost, but
> it was on the order of $150 to $200, plus a couple hours to do the job.
> (A pro could probably do it faster.)
> 
> First, check for the torn boot.  You'll have to replace the whole cable,
> but it's easy to do yourself and only about $20 for the part and an hour
> of your time.
> 
> Good luck,
> - Bob T.
>   '96 GTI VR6
> --
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>     library, etc.  see:   http://www.panix.com/~aqn/GTI_VR6/gti_vr6_list/

-- 


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Stewart MacLund				Systems Integrator
Email: sundie@zubcor.com		Zubcor Networking
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