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MG MGF Technical - Sticking front caliper.

The front o/s.caliper is sticking on while driving making the disc hotter than the n/s.,I have tried to free it off while still on the car but it is still tight going back,will it just be the caliper that needs o/hauling.or could it be something more deep rooted in the hydraulics of the brakes? The car does pull to the left slightly while braking so it is not coming out properly as well. Has anyone ever had this problem before?
Neil Barker

Hi,

I've just had a similar problem with the near side caliper, outer pad worn down to the metal, inner pad still loads of plate left.

I dismantled the caliper and freed the slides and ensured the piston moved freely, it took some pressure to get the piston back in using all my body weight pushing against the piston with a Hammer Handle/Shaft, even with the Break fluid resevoir top removed it was tough going. I couldn't identify a problem and the piston moved back out freely when pushing the brake pedal.

Put a set of new pads in, greased the slides and put back together, will monitor situation and if happens again it will give me an excuse to by the 4 pot calipers I've been after for years.
Chris Catchpole

Regarding the inner pad wearing out first. This is probably due to the inner pad rusting to the caliper guide, so each time you brake the iner pad hits first, then has to slide on the caliper (which is rusted) to let the outer pad reach the disk).

However, I had trouble pushing back the FRONT NS caliper (had already done the front OS one). The pads had worn normally and the disk doesn't seem to run any hotter than the front OS one. I wonder if we are all missing a trick (perhaps something to do with having pushed back one caliper makes the fail safe operation of the brakes think that a brake pipe is broken, so shuts that one off) so you can't push the caliper back becuse there's nowhere for the fluid to go. As the caliper seems ok. Next time I might try undoing the bleed valve to see if the caliper is easier to push back.
Keith

JUST FOUND THIS ON THE INTERNET

With an ABS car, you CAN'T force the fluid back; if you do you'll damage the ABS valve body ($1500). Instead, you must open the caliper bleed screw and drain the excess fluid out of the caliper while you press the piston back into the bore. This is very important! If you force the dirty, water-contaminated fluid back through the relatively fragile valve body, you'll ruin it.
keith

I don't think the car has ABS? It's a tf135 2002 model. I tried loosening the bleed nipple off but it did't seem to make any difference. The o/s.one was the first one I did as I noticed the disc getting hot. Just looks like the caliper wants o/hauling then. Are these prone to this and where is the best place to get a repair kit from please??
Neil Barker

Neil, TF135 2002 may/may not have ABS depemding on the options chosen at original order point.

Open the bonnet and look in the front left corner - the ABS unit cannot be missed with several brake pipes coming out of it. If NO ABS then there is just a flat tray.

Not sure about overhaul kits these days although I did see a rack full of them in Stevenage Halfords about 3 weeks ago. Didn't bother to see if they included my brakes.

Either find an XPART dealer (http://www.xpartautoservicecentre.com) near you or simply try any convenient Motor Factor (see yell.com).
John Ponting

The brake caliper used on the front of MGFs and TFs that use the smaller 240mm brake disc, is a Lucas Girling unit that is shared with a number of other Rover Group cars of the 1980s/90s - including the K-series powered Metro (the GTi models), Maestro and Montego.
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed between 04/03/2006 and 08/03/2006

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