[tomtecno]

OK, I don't think I'm stupid but I just can't work this one out.............The brakes on my recently acquired 2004 GTA were pretty terrible so I popped the front wheels off to have a look only to find that the inside pads were jammed in the calipers. Calipers were also really cruddy with brake dust and had been attacked with an aggressive wheel or brake cleaner. So...off with the calipers for a clean up and overhaul together with new Brembo discs, pads and some nice, shiny Goodridge hoses. No problem!

Now, while I'm about it might as well do the rears............WOAAHHH!!! they're jammed solid - like ROCK SOLID!!!:wow:

They weren't like that when I drove the car into the workshop and the handbrake wasn't left on so what happened???

I've had lots of Alfas in the past, the 145's and 146's have the same rear calipers and I've never experienced this before...............Anyone got any ideas??

 

[David C]

Usually the slider pins not sliding anymore.
They should be stripped & serviced, but if it has a main dealer service history that has probably never happened!

 

[tomtecno]

Nope!!.......slider pins are perfect - handbrake levers work smoothly too. Like I said, they weren't binding at all before I had the fronts apart and drained all the fluid off. Could it have something to do with the ABS system? Does it sense that that there's been a total loss of fluid and tweek the internal adjuster screws so the brakes operate? - don't know.

I've got one caliper off and the piston was right out at the end of its travel although the pads are hardly worn. Neither the handbrake lever nor the brake pedal were operated while the front brakes were off the car, the fluid just drained out through the open ends of the pipes while the calipers were removed.

 

[chasman]

Sorry to jump on your thread so late and with a question rather than an answer but I had the same problem as you and you've clearly got further than me so I'm asking for help. I'm doing pads and discs. Caliper and sliders came off like a charm. Want to remove or rotate the pad carrier down... top bolt came out with a massive effort and a 12" 15mm ring spanner... I had Plusgassed it a lot but it was very stiff until it was over half way out.

The bottom bolt won't budge and you can't get a ring spanner on it because of the suspension attachment blocking access... I have a long 15mm open ended spanner coming but I'm worried I'll wipe the corners off the bolt. Is there a trick to getting a ring spanner on it? I'm reluctant to disconnect the suspension arm unless I have to... though my spring compressors have arrived... Plusgassed daily for three days. no joy.

 

[David C]

You may need to be selective with your ring spanners for that lower bolt.
It is tight, but I'm sure that is what I used on mine.

 

[chasman]

You may need to be selective with your ring spanners for that lower bolt.
It is tight, but I'm sure that is what I used on mine.

OK, cheers.

PS Who makes the slimmest spanners?

 

[chasman]

You may need to be selective with your ring spanners for that lower bolt.
It is tight, but I'm sure that is what I used on mine.

The thinnest ring spanner definitely won't fit... however, if I undo the top one of the two bolts holding the hub onto the flanges on the damper I can pivot the hub down to get easy access... is there any danger in doing that?

 

[chasman]

You may need to be selective with your ring spanners for that lower bolt.
It is tight, but I'm sure that is what I used on mine.

Got some Halfords Advanced spanners... the jaws are only 6mm thick.

Job done now but something odd has happened.

We wound back the piston until it was level with (maybe a bit below) the outer ridge of the piston gasket.

For those struggling with that bit it starts out REALLY stiff, in the end I held the caliper with both hands while my wife used a long ratchet ring spanner on the hex shaped top, it was way too stiff initially to use the 10cm bar across the top of the tool's shaft but eased after a few rotations.

The caliper went back on easily. We had so much space the outer pad was moveable in its clip with 5-6mm of play. I reattached the disc with the wee spike thingy but didn't torque it. Everything rotated freely.

Torqued the pin to 12Nm (midpoint of the 10-14Nm recommendation). Seized solid in terms of turning the hub/disc by hand.

Still had play in the outer pad. Aha! I thought, time to test my new sliding pins. Put firm pressure on the caliper and it slid like a dream and the boots uncompressed nicely. BUT the disc is still absolutely locked solid... it's as if the bell in the middle of the disc is too deep and it's jammed against the piston/gasket or worse still against the pad carrier :-( . I just double checked and the Brembo Max Disc P/N 08.3126.76 is listed by some vendors as right for my car... UPDATE: Brembo parts catalogue says: 08.3126.24 lesson learned ALWAYS go the the OEM.

My last few posts haven't attracted any replies, I hope I haven't upset everyone somehow, I really need help here and hopefully it will help others with similar problems.

 

[Chris155]

So, you bought the wrong discs?

 

[z06tim]

Yep. Sounds like you have the wrong discs. This happened to me many years ago on a Celica GT-Four.

To be certain, just compare them to your old ones. It'll probably be the hat section is taller on one, putting the disc offset too far out.

 

[OperationAlfa]

Early 156 had 251mm rear discs, the GTA's and later 156 always had the 276mm rear discs.