WH GC CRD brake caliper pistons
Just wanted to let fellow WH GC owners know that the brake calliper pistons are made of some sort of plastic or Bakelite
My WH GC had decided to hang both drivers side brakes don't ask me how this happened done 80,000 k,s in the vehicle trouble free all over Australia in varied driving conditions
I have bought myself a newer car so hadn't been driving the Jeep much but did notice a 2 weeks ago that it seemed sluggish
I put that down to the wife driving it round town
I did smell the brakes and thought must be a bit of rust on the rotors coming off
Then last Thursday I hop in it to drive it to pick some stock up for my shop and I can smell brakes again I also think the thing is gutless what's wrong with it
I take it on the highway and the steering wheel is shaking from left to right and I am afraid to go to 100 k,s
I get to the shop and talk to a mate who is there he is an ex RACQ call out guy so is pretty good a diagnosing stuff he feels the front drivers side wheel and says to me feel how hot it is and then feel the passenger side one
The drivers side one is extremely hot the passenger side is relatively cool
I think what now its been a month of so called trouble free motoring that seems to be the longest it goes without a warning light or something as it was already booked in to get the glow plugs done and fuel filter and oil pressure switch I just dropped it of at the mechanics and said have a look at it will you
An hour later I get a call from him it the callipers both the drivers side ones front and rear the pistons are made of some sort of fibre and have overheated and distorted and started crumbling apart
This is the first time in my life that I have heard of brake pistons being made of fibre like plastic the mechanic said its the same with ford territory's they have fibre pistons and get the same problem
Okay so now how did this happen and how come only on one side of the car
I then remembered my wife let her son drive the Jeep to get parts for his car and I noticed that the plastic tub I carry all the bits and bobs for the Jeep in the back which is Ocky strapped into place was on the other side of the car and the Ocky strap stretched to capacity
As he is an only child and not related to me I cant say anything bad about him to her but I guess this is the reason why the brakes where toasted needless to say he wont be driving it again
The upside of the whole process was that the pads where not destroyed and the rotors are okay if I hadn't checked the car straight away who knows how much more damage would have been done
I did do some research and there are aftermarket stainless steel pistons available for the callipers so I had the mechanic overhaul all the callipers and replace all the pistons and flush the brake fluid only time will tell
|