inner front brake pad wasted

[mtrExplorer]

had a grinding noise coming from pass. side front brake, pulled caliper off and saw that
the inner brake pad is completly wasted, and it took the inner rotor along with it. huge grooves in the inner side of rotor.
i noticed that bottom slider pin was siezed up, i pulled the pin out and cleaned it up and re-greased it.
how could i find out if its just the slider pin that caused it, or if the caliper piston is siezed also. i pushed the caliper piston back with the old pad and a c- clamp it went back .
hope that its just the slider pin.
2006 ford explorer Eddie Bauer all-wheel drive.

 

[Flag Gibby]

If you were able to push the caliper piston in then it should be fine. However, it wouldn't hurt to push the brake pedal a couple of times for it to expand all the way out to clean it up some and then push it all the way back in again to make sure that it is not hanging up anywhere.

 

[mtrExplorer]

i was able to push the piston back with a C-clamp, so im thinking the piston is not siezed.
so is it ok to push on the brake pedal with the caliper hanging?
im pretty sure it was the bottom slider pin that was stuck, i cleaned it and removed the rust on it. what tpye of grease do you use on those pins?

 

[swshawaii]

DON'T touch the brake pedal with the caliper disconnected, otherwise the piston(s) may pop out. The bleeders should be opened when compressing the pistons to change pads, otherwise you are forcing contaminants back through the system. If the guide pins had rust, they may be pitted and should be replaced with cheap replacement kits. Use specific high temp brake caliper lube or Syl Glyde, not anti seize or chassis grease which will gum up and bind quickly. Buy a quart of Valvoline DOT 3/4 brake fluid for under $10 and do a complete flush. This is what may remain in the bores, even after flushing. Open the bleeders and force that junk out.

 

[Flag Gibby]

Thanks Hawaii, forgot to mention leaving a piece of 1/2" wood in the caliper to prevent just what you said could happen. Good advice as far as the whole contaminants thing goes. I usually don't worry about it since I am doing a full flush after I get done anyway so it figures that I would overlook that good bit of advice too. Sheesh, I was asleep when I was writing this morning.

 

[mtrExplorer]

thanks for the pointers guys'
is this a common thing for the slider pins to sieze up?
im pretty sure the caliper piston didnt cause the pad to lock up, cause i was able to push in back in the bore with a C-clamp. do you still recommend bleeding the brake system? the fluid in the reservoir looks clean.
is there a way to bleed them with just one person ?

 

[Flag Gibby]

I have read/heard of a couple of individuals having slider pin issues, but it is not something that I have come across on these vehicles before. Anytime I mess with the brake system I always at least bleed the lines to get fresh fluid down to the calipers because brake fluid breaks down pretty fast and starts absorbing moisture (especially the OEM Motorcraft fluid). You can bleed the lines yourself just by opening up the reservoir (take the cap off being sure to not get/let any dirt fall into it) and then opening up the bleeder screw (with a small piece of clear tubing on it)and letting it gravity feed into a catch container until you see no bubbles and the fluid is new/clear looking and then close the bleeder screw and move on to the next. It really doesn't take very long doing all 4 calipers this way since you are only getting fresh fluid to the caliper and not doing a full flush. Be sure to start with the PR, then DR, PF, and finally DF (P=passenger and D=driver, R=rear and F=front). Keep an eye on the reservoir and be sure to top it off with fresh fluid as you go.

 

[mounted]

My slider pins were all gunked up on the front also. Removed, regreased and everything is fine. Must have been going on a while now because I picked up an extra 1.5mpg. Now I hear some faint squealing from the rear brakes sometimes... guess its time to see if those pins have seized up as well.

 

[Trac Marks]

Often, but not always, the slider pins get corrosion because the dust boots are torn.

 

[mtrExplorer]

well ended up doing the pads and rotors on the front ,which was pretty easy.
i figured i would check out the rear pads too, when i took off the wheels on the rear,
both pads and rotors were shot ,so i replaced those too.the rears were a little more tricky to do.