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My '04 GT3 had a broken parking brake retainer spring ... today I managed to take off the caliper, rotor, and put in new springs!
Happy that it went well, first time working on the GT3.
There is an abnormal brake noise, seems to be coming from the front left. Sometimes, there will be a tick-a-tick-a-tick-a noise, that goes away when you put on the brakes.
The noise is not always there, but more often than not, it is. When Chuck Price recently drove the car and got on the brakes hard, he noted a slight vibration/shudder in the steering wheel.
It also seemed like the noise was reduced when the brakes were hot.
I'm thinking that a piston is sticking and a pad is dragging. These are Pagid yellow pads, yellow calipers, and there is a lot of brake dust around.
I've read that rebuilding them is not difficult, and found some good information, for example https://www.zeckhausen.com/catalog/i...Path=6446_6494
I also saw some (expensive!) rebuild kits including stainless pistons from Racing Brake.
Is the sticking piston the most likely explanation? Or something else? I'm going to try to get a closer look at it soon.
Your car is approaching 15 years old. My philosophy when it comes to brakes, especially on tracked cars is that you can’t really over maintain. If you’re not certain that they’re up to snuff, fix them!
Rebuilding the calipers is not real difficult. There are a few threads here about what to do. A sticking piston could cause some noise like you describe. You can buy the seals and dust boots on Amazon. Centric brand is a brake OEM for many car brands and seems to be safe to use. I had trouble getting one of the dust boots out. They have a metal ring, much like an engine seal. I broke two picks trying to get that one out so I took that caliper to a shop....I just needed a stronger pick! The huge heat cycles do bake things pretty well, so changing all of the rubber seems very prudent.
I reused my stock pistons, they looked normal. The ceramic heat buffers can crack and chip and are not readily available IIRC. The little metal/Kevlar shims tend to break. Many of us don’t use them.
Its a fun, somewhat messy little project.
Im also lucky enough to have Chuck as a friend!,
Today I took out the front pads on both sides. I didn't see anything unusual (not that I would know!) , although they do feel quite tight.
Put it back together and took it out, it was a sunny day but cold. The noise seemed a little reduced, but still there now and then. Not overly concerning.
I'm getting more comfortable with the car, to the point of pushing it. Holy cow, it is something else ...
If this was the same setup you had (old pads on old rotors) sounds like you may have uneven wear on the pads and may have replaced inside/outside where one was worn differently. You may be able to fix this by rebedding as it may have nothing to do with a piston.
If its time for a rebuild, I used the RacingBrake rebuild kit with high temp seals and SS pistons for track work and they were very well made and lasted through multiple sets of Pagids/Rotors.
If the car has been tracked and the calipers haven't been rebuilt in the last couple of years then it's probably not a bad move, but I'm not certain that I'd say that's necessary the issue if you say it went away some when the brakes were hot. Generally those situations are going to get worse with heat and if it were dragging on one of the fronts you'd probably notice it pulling one way or the other. You could get one of those cheap infrared temp guns and see if there's a significant difference in temps from one side to another.
Again, with track time on the brakes it could be anything...pad taper, slightly warped rotors, piston hanging up in the caliper and you really can't rule out a wheel bearing either esp if you say it makes a noise that goes away when you corner...as you load and unload a bad bearing it can start and stop making noises itself.
I had my GT3 at a shop today and demonstrated the tick-a-tick-a-tick-a noise that comes from the front left, and goes away with brake application.
They did the obvious and jacked up that side, rotated the tire and there's a high spot.
Warped rotor (PFC performance rotors, and the pads are Pagid yellows).
I'm told the rotors are not very worn, with minimal stress cracking around the holes.
A pic of the offending rotor is below.
The tech said that it could be pad buildup at one spot and that turning it may help, but he didn't seem optimistic about that.
I'm wondering if maybe these Pagid pads weren't properly bedded by the PO.
Any advice? Can they be turned or is it worth it? Is there a chance that re-bedding the pads might help? Time for me to learn about rotors!
One more note - the pads drag quite a bit; more than "normal" according to the tech.
It takes a bit of effort to turn the wheel. Is that characteristic of these Pagid pads?
There is no backing plate behind the pads, just the round discs on the pistons.
Last owner brutal on that caliper it looks. I'd pull the rotor and check, replace if needed hardware, torque etc. Clean it all up as a first try before replacing outer disc. Pads look normal to me for Pagid. my 2 cents
03-31-2018, 10:51 PM
Caliper Rebuild?
