BounceNY

iTrader: (9)

Went to change my front pads yesterday and it all went well except one of the caliper slide pins was seized. I think bc of this, one of my pads was worn down to almost nothing. I'm going to to the store and get some PB Blaster later see if that works. Anyone know any tips or tricks to un-seize the bolt? I don't want uneven pad wear or any other trouble with the braking system.

BounceNY

iTrader: (9)

I should also mention that before I changed my pads, the pedal was 'soft' and it took quite a bit of pedal travel to actually stop. With the new front pads, the pedal does not seem soft and travel is much shorter. I'm just worried that the soft pedal was from the stuck caliper slider pin and the issue will return soon. Also, my rear pads will be changed today, crossing fingers for no stuck caliper pins!

BounceNY

iTrader: (9)

Just finished the rear pads, looks like the rear, passenger side, caliper slide pins are seized as well. I could not fit the new outer pad. Right now I'm thinking of looking to replace both front and rear seized calipers with rebuilt/re-manufactured one's. Any suggestions? I don't want to upgrade to aftermarket BBK's, maybe IS350 calipers.

SeanIS350

iTrader: (2)

I'm not sure if the IS350 calipers will help with this. I had to get one of my rear calipers replaced under warranty because it was seized during my 40K servicing.

VIS250P

iTrader: (1)

U have a recall for the rear caliper seize.. It call the bushing or gornment for the caliper bolt under the TSB!!!

BounceNY

iTrader: (9)

I'm way outta warranty at 92k miles. I ordered new sliding pin's and will try to replace that first. When I had my recall done about 1.5yrs ago, they only changed one rear caliper.

VIS250P

iTrader: (1)

OK they changed one rear caliper because one caliper has seized before.. BEfore that, they should do TSB for both caliper gourment replace.. I bet they did a wrong thing to do their job

BounceNY

iTrader: (9)

Yes, I think so too. Not much I can do now but fix it myself or buy another caliper. My father thinks he can help me fix it.

uz07lex

iTrader: (14)

Hey any up date on this. Im wondering because my pins are siezed on both of my rear calipers . My car has 63K will I be able to take it back to the dealer and have them replace it or am I out of luck.

BounceNY

iTrader: (9)

Well, last weekend I was able to fix the front where I had one seized pin and the rest were ok. It took a bit more work then I had anticipated so I never got to the rear. Since I both of the pin's are stuck on the rear caliper which will be a lot of work! I'm thinking of just biting the bullet and ordering remanufactured calipers since they're not too expensive (~80+ core).

As far as how the seized bolt was removed, we ended up heating up the caliper around where the seized bolt is with a torch. Soaking it did not work for us, nor brute force.

Every 30 sec or so, we were trying to turn the bolt while its hot. I don't think its a good idea to heat the metal too much as it can change its properties or crack. But we did heat it up quite a bit before the bolt decided it was ready to loosen up. When turning the bolt don't use a long breaker bar or anything with lots of leverage bc u can snap the bolt. Use a standard wrench (12in?), something like that.
We then cleaned the pin on a wire wheel. Also the caliper hole for the pin needed to be cleaned up, we carefully used a drill but (by hand, no drill) just to clean up the crud so that the pin can slide all the way in. Sprayed some brake cleaner in there as well then cleaned it all up, greased, assembled and reinstalled.

CarbonDtls

iTrader: (4)

I'm doing my brakes in this next month and i'm hoping I don't have any of these issues. Did you buy new pins for the front or just clean them and reuse them?

uz07lex

iTrader: (14)

This is some good info to note I think ill attempt it this weekend.

BounceNY

iTrader: (9)

I did end up reusing that stuck pin, if u have a wire wheel it should clean up ok. However, they don't cost that much, I would order a set if u can wait.

Funny story, I actually ordered a set of pins, I first replaced my good caliper pins, re-greased them and put everything back. Then went to work on the bad caliper and realized I only ordered one pair of pins not two. So that is why I ended up re-using the pin.

uz07lex

iTrader: (14)

BounceNY where were you quoted at $80 plus core exchange.

ecr527

I was in the same boat. I'd have to say you're probably out of luck. I brought my car in and mentioned the TSIB. They told me that they did indeed inspect them when I had the car in for a different TSIB/recall, but at the time, they were okay, so they didn't replace anything. They just cleaned it up and greased the pin. I brought my car in a couple of months ago hoping they would still cover it. They came back wihth a quote for $1200!! I ended up having them put it back together and bought the parts and did it myself. I think you would be better off buying remanufactured calipers vs. OEM replacements, especially if you can find them for $80. I paid $200 each from Sewell, but had the $500 gift card from Lexus, so I didn't really pay for anything.

I'm not aware of anyone selling just the pins, but if you can find them, this would definitely be the most cost effective (and probably one of the more labor intensive ones) route to go. If you plan to repair the caliper yourself, it would be best to remove it from the car and just bleed the brakes later. It's hard to try and break the pin loose while the brake line is still connected to it.