Hi, everyone. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Inspections are due on all my vehicles (January) and I've been out of commission due to stroke and gout. Now, its' my left hip. Been trying to repair brakes and I did manage to get rears changed out and new pads installed. They kept locking up and killing my fuel mileage. Not that i expect to get 20mgp from a 2003 ford std. cab short bed 2wd automatic. So I thought while I was working on it anyway, I would bleed the front ones even though they weren't changed. Finally got passenger side out, that was nearly 2hrs. of work but after 2 days I (and ruining the bleeder on driver front) just couldn't get it to loosen up. I did heat, tried dousing with water, pb blaster, wd40, and brake cleaner. other than kicking up my COPD, I accomplished nothing more than pretty much destroying that bleedrer. My nephew says if I left fronts alone, and already bled the rears, I could have driven like that with no issues. But with all the heat I've applied, I think not only is fluid cooked but possibly destoryed piston seals. Since I can't get bleeder out of driver left front caliper The only thing left is to replace one or both front calipers. brake pads are in excellent shape. Sorry for the length of this thread but i need some other inputs. Can any one help me? Most appreceiated.

 

You could drill out the frozen bleeder and overhaul the caliper (used to be cheap and essy)
The piston is most likely okay
The caliper kit cost and the labor involved would make it cost effective to just buy a lifetime reman caliper from say AutoZone
Plus you need a bleed screw repair kit (just a new bleed screw in a fitting you drill and tap for)
Good luck
reman caliper about 35 bucks if you shop around

 

are you sure about the cost to obtain a reman caliper from autizone? I checked them out and couldn't find anything less than $66. I'm on a budget due to retirement and everything I found was phenolic piston (still not any cheaper) and I have steel pistons on all 4 wheels.Can I run one phenolic with other steel piston calipers or am I asking for trouble? Thanks for your help

 

No, I am not sure about the price. Damn inflation
The cheapest I could find a new one on ebay was 48 bucks for the dual piston type
Dorman 13960 is what I would use to repair your caliper. ebay # 225190992309
If you have steel pistons they are both most likely okay even after some torch treatment
Even the phenolic ones should be fine
ebay # 153883455369 is a caliper kit
There are 2 calipers or piston sizes I believe, depending on the thickness of the rotor
Harley edition or supercharged is a thicker rotor I believe

 

I can't thank you enough for all your help. However, after pricing proper drill/cutter & tap for this, and the fact that I'm dealing with cast iron, I decided to keep looking for an unloaded caliper with steel pistons. Finally located one at NAPA on-line. Turns out, since I waited overnight to order the caliper, the price stayed same but was no longer available at the store plus you had to pay shipping charges to get it at home. So, the only way was to order online and wait for home delivery. It WAS available at the store (about 4 towns away) for pickup but because I waited to think about it (it was pretty pricey) they must have sold out at store(?) but it was loaded with steel pistons. I'm 74, capable, but much slower than I used to be! I was told by inspection station that if I needed inspection sticker for January then I would need to bring it to him by early/middle of next week or don't bother. So instead of getting it today or shipped to me on Saturday (original recieve day), I'll be lucky to get it by next Tuesday, maybe. So, when I get it, I have to install and bleed the system. The only saving grace is that because I'm a first-time customer I got $15 off the price. It's still higher than other stores near me but they didn't have any with steel pistons. I decided mixing them was not a good idea. I really appreciate your help in dealing with this, it made me think of alternatives which was best way to go. Sorry for the long response.

 

Clamp the brake line off with some vice grips when you go to replace the caliper, and it will not loose all the fluid out of the master cylinder
Let it gravity bleed after assembling it. then proceed as you were with the rest of the bleed procedure
Good luck
You might have to start over with bleeding the master cylinder if the cylinder ran dry and someone touched the pedal

 

manicmechanic007, thanks for having my back. This info is greatly appreciated, honestly. Since you're the only one that responded, and quickly, makes it doubly helpful to me. If I could give you an award, I would! Thanks again for very thoughtful, inciteful, and extremely useful info. I just can't thank you enough!!!

 

Thanks for the wonderful compliment and good luck