just out of interest would a sticking rear caliper make the steering wheel shake a bit when braking ? 2017 SEAT Ateca 4drive 2.0 xcellence (May 2022 -
2007 HSE with HST bodykit in Zermatt Silver 169,700 miles (dec 2016 - May 2022 )
2007 Honda Civic Type S GT (2012-2017)
2002 Mini Cooper S (2008-2012)
1992 Honda Legend 3.2i (2003-2008)
1990 Honda Concerto (1999-2003)
1985 Honda Accord (1997-1999)
1983 Honda Accord (1993-1997)
1983 Mini Mayfair (1988-1993)
1974 Mini 1000 (1979-1986)

gentle shaking of steering wheel when braking is usually warped front disks.
Two obvious causes of warped front disks are:
1) sticking caliper - can be sticking piston or caliper slides corroded.
2) braking like a loon from high speeds or braking moderately hard and not releasing them when you stop. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

probably lack of brake use from me has given me a seized caliper, driving style is old fashioned for these days, anticipate the roads extremely well, slow down via the gears and hardly ever use the brakes

before anyone says wearing clutch out etc etc 166,500 on original clutch. Only ever had a new clutch once, that was in my first mini in 1980

last emergency stop was on driving test in 1978.

Often think I would be no good with these electric cars where using the brakes tops the battery up . . . mine wouldn't  2017 SEAT Ateca 4drive 2.0 xcellence (May 2022 -
2007 HSE with HST bodykit in Zermatt Silver 169,700 miles (dec 2016 - May 2022 )
2007 Honda Civic Type S GT (2012-2017)
2002 Mini Cooper S (2008-2012)
1992 Honda Legend 3.2i (2003-2008)
1990 Honda Concerto (1999-2003)
1985 Honda Accord (1997-1999)
1983 Honda Accord (1993-1997)
1983 Mini Mayfair (1988-1993)
1974 Mini 1000 (1979-1986)

Electric cars use regenerative braking, most have only two pedals, realistically they could have only one.

As you release the accelerator the fact that the vehicle has more speed than required, the motor is effectively turned into a generator and charges the battery this slows the vehicle in a manner to engine braking.

The amount of regenerative braking can be hard or soft, soft could mimic a diesel auto (sod all), or literally stand the vehicle on it's nose. The harder version if used considerately doesn't need to feel unpleasant but will take practice. Been used on forklifts for decades, these guys flick the direction lever into reverse while moving forward with a couple of tonnes of glass on the forks without dropping a thing, big note on the dash "Brakes are for emergency use only". - technically plug braking, years ago, long before brushless DC motors or modern transistor drives.
My only worry would be what happens if something goes wrong? Long ago, if the motor brushes failed, or the battery had an intermittent bad cell, or a contactor had burnt tips, then the load (battery) was taken off the generator = suddenly no slowing effect, brakes now needed. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Nodge68 wrote:

Calipers have a finite life, especially if fluid changes are infrequent.

No point in messing about with new seals and spending hours cleaning the old ones. Simply buy some new OE calipers and fit those, along with new hoses.

My own SE had clearly not been maintained to a very high standard, the brakes included, so over Christmas it got 4 new rotors, along with 4 new calipers, 4 hoses and all the friction materials needed.
The brakes are now factory fresh, which of course is how brakes should always be.

merlinj79 wrote:

If you change the fluid on schedule (and aren't off-roading in rivers or operating in a harsh environment) calipers fail rarely. I've taken multiple modern cars (1990 or newer) to 200k+ and only recall actually replacing one caliper with a leaky seal.

And yes don't bother with rebuilding, just buy a new one... OEM or reputable aftermarket.

You live in a warmer climate.
If you lived in the UK, with loads of salt applied to the roads for 4 months of the year, then you'd be replacing seized calipers as often as us.  2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Soon to be sold.
Hyundai Ionic 5 Ultimate on order.
Gone. 2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE.

Absolutely true . U.K. road salting is a killer . Weeks after the winter salting campaigns the roads around here still bear pink deposits . All you need then is rain and you have your own rolling salt spray cabinet to continue the season for a while longer . Our US friends probably don’t realise that
Every U.K. council area will be throwing literally thousands and thousands of tonnes of rock salt onto the road network in their area over the 4 month period you mention . 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

Yeah that's true, not many places actually use salt in the US any more. I wash the undercarriage thoroughly after driving in those conditions but of course that's not practical on a daily basis.

recent problem I had with my front callipers was the bleed nipple shearing off. Given they looked in OK nick and I was looking at north of £200 to buy new ones I managed to extract the nipple by welding a nut on top of the sheared one and to my surprise it came out . So my recommendation is to replace those when you do a bleed.

Feel free to spend lots of money on new replacement calipers if that floats your boat - but I have never had a caliper that was too bad to rebuild - and I end up with calipers that are as good or better than new for the price of a coffee or 3 and a little time & effort.

There is absolutely no need to replace calipers as a matter of course - just service them properly - one thing that few garages take the time to do is to lubricate and clean the slider pins and their holes - this is essential an should be done with every pad change IMHO as a minimum. 2014 Freelander 2 TD4 Manual Dynamic
1956/7 88" Series One Land Rover
1956/7 88" Series One Land Rover - undergoing restoration

as originator of this thread, I can say a mobile mechanic did a fine job of lubricating all my calipers as well as a full service and brakes bled . . , it was hassle free, card machine for payment, rubber stamp in service book, car drives great after his 3 hours of toil while I sat in the chilly sunshine

and as suspected the rear wheel is no longer HOT . . .caliper was the issue 2017 SEAT Ateca 4drive 2.0 xcellence (May 2022 -
2007 HSE with HST bodykit in Zermatt Silver 169,700 miles (dec 2016 - May 2022 )
2007 Honda Civic Type S GT (2012-2017)
2002 Mini Cooper S (2008-2012)
1992 Honda Legend 3.2i (2003-2008)
1990 Honda Concerto (1999-2003)
1985 Honda Accord (1997-1999)
1983 Honda Accord (1993-1997)
1983 Mini Mayfair (1988-1993)
1974 Mini 1000 (1979-1986)

Last edited by Northcroft on 17th Apr 2021 6:56 am. Edited 1 time in total

^^^^^sacrilegious!!!

You lazy lazy scallywag - letting someone else have all that fun AND then paying them  Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Good result  2014 Freelander 2 TD4 Manual Dynamic
1956/7 88" Series One Land Rover
1956/7 88" Series One Land Rover - undergoing restoration

Hi,
the joys of owning a car and doing your own maintenance is

You choose which jobs you Want to do and pay someone else to do the ones you dont want to do

Well done with your choice.

 .
my first ever FL2 and I did keep it longer than most other cars!
But its now gone way up Norf