Brake Caliper Replacement

[Guest Thewifescar]

I have a problem on my wifes V70 where the front driverside caliper is sticking. I am pretty handy and would like to repair this myself. I have done a full brake job before on my Saab 900 and now it is time to par-take in this endeavor.

The symptom we are having is when it is wet outside (either wet roads or heavy mist, etc), the calliper will lock. Yesterday while driving, my wife slammed on the brakes and after that the front left caliper got stuck. We stopped soon after and when we got back in the car and drove off, it was fine.

The first question I have is will a seal kit fix this or are there rebuild kits available? The car has 80k miles on it and I don't want to throw more money at it than I have to.

The next question I have is whether or not the rebuilt calipers are any good? Is it worth putting on a rebuild to save the extra money?

Also, how critical is it to buy Volvo brake pads? With my saab it was critical because aftermarkets kept breaking down.

Lastly, is it easy to install the calipers? I wouldn't assume it is too hard except bleeding the brakes.

Thanks for the great website. Your information has saved me a lot of time and money.

[theunderlord]

Also, how critical is it to buy Volvo brake pads?  With my saab it was critical because aftermarkets kept breaking down.

Lastly, is it easy to install the calipers?  I wouldn't assume it is too hard except bleeding the brakes. 

Thanks for the great website.  Your information has saved me a lot of time and money.

←

OE pads are pretty decent, but they throw lots of dust.... aftermarket pads generally have a much smaller dusting problem.

installing calipers is super easy, assuming that everythings' not all corroded shut on ya, get some good penetrating oil, and hose things down.

gracias.. this website does kickass doesn't it.. :P

[Pauloil]

Get a rebuilt caliper: they come with new pads. On my 850, it didn't matter to mix

the new raybestosQS pads with the old volvo ones. I figure when the old volvo

pads get too thin that I'll just put on the volvo pads for the old caliper!

you need a torque wrench and locktite(?) for the caliper mounting bolts.

a pressure bleeder is nice, and if you have to do one line, why not flush the whole

system?

[starfish]

You can get seals and rebuild your own caliper if your piston is in good shape. Reman calipers are also available and save you some hassle for a reasonable cost. Some calipers can come dressed with new pads but you will need two to have the same on both sides. The Volvo brake pads are very good and you know what your getting as far as stopping power goes. Ceramic brake pads are an inferior pad in comparison.

When replacing the brake caliper do not pinch the hose with vise-grip pliers or you will damage the inner liner and cause problems. Inspect the hose to see if this is a source of your problem. Next, break the line loose and remove the caliper from its mounting. Step on the brake pedal and jamb a stick or something i.e. snow scraper between the pedal and the front lower edge of the seat cushion or have a helper hold the pedal down until you have the change over completed. This will close off the compensation port in the master cylinder and prevent the resevoir from draining.

You can now remove and replace that caliper. No sense messing around with it unless you have all of the parts and tools available with the know how on how to inspect and replace them. Afterall, your wife needs her car back quick right? Even though only the drivers side caliper is sticking, you will need to at least change the brake pads on both front wheels. Do that now if you did not buy two dressed calipers.

After reasssembly, fill the resevoir with the proper fluid and get someone to step on the pedal and hold it to the floor as you loosen the bleeder. Start on the caliper you replaced furthest from the master cylinder. When the pedal hits bottom, tighten the bleeder. Pump and repeat until the air is eliminated before moving on to the next if it was replaced. The pedal should now high and firm and you have no leaks. Top off the fluid.

[Guest mywifescar]

Thanks for the advice. I will have to give it a shot. Can anyone explain however (before I have to jack the car and remove the wheel) why volvo has no idea what I am talking about when I ask them what size rotor I have on this car? It is a stock rotor and for all of the rebuilt calipers I have found, they are asking for the rotor size (11 or 12"). Vovlo claims there is only 1 size however I don't know what this size is.

Obviously I could jack up the car take the wheel off and measure but is someone blowing air? I have been trying to search by part number for the pads that I have on the car now to find the size but to no avail.

[andrelam]

You can get fully loaded rebuilt calipers from http://www.fcpgroton.com/ for around $65. Since new pads alone would cost around $35 you get the rebuilt calipers for about $30. Why buy a rebuild kit for $15 and go through all the hassel. You should also be able to get the rebuilt calipers for about the same price at Autozone. I would do both sides at the same time to ensure that everything is working right. If one side went bad the other side is bound to go sooner or later. Also are you flushing your brake fluid every other year? This realy helps keep the corrosion down in your brake system. I have been using the pressure bleeder from IPD (the one you hook up to a spare tire). It works fine, but the resevoir is kind of small. I just bought the larger self contained unit at fcp Groton. I have not had a chance to use it yet, but it looks realy nice. Since I have two cars and my dad has two cars, we figure we'll get plenty of use out of the unit to justify the $44 expense.

Happy Swedish Motoring,

André

'03 V70 2.4T

'98 S70 T5

'63 P1800

[Ivanfbi]

lol, i just made estimate for calipers for 2000 V70 at the company i work for, and it was $31 + tax for rebuild and $65 for brand spanking new