Rear brake caliper seized?

[h07swilkinson]

Hi all,

I recently started to work on my Astra H 1.9 CDTI 2009 replacing the pads and disks when I noticed the rear callipers were seized, so I went to my local salvage yard and got replacements for them.

The ‘new’ callipers are defiantly the correct ones for my car, the problem comes when I try to fit them, i wound the piston back, as far as it will travel but it won’t fit over the new pads and disc.

Now the strange part, if I leave the callipers a few seconds and try and wind the back up again, they will go back a few more turns so I think the pistons are coming back out by themselves.

Does this mean the calliper is faulty?

[stevemcs]

There is a reason why you should fit new calipers and not buy them from a scrap yard.

What happens if you leave the bleed nipples open ?

[h07swilkinson]

It’s not that I was trying to do it on the cheap, just needed it down ASAP and the scrap yard was my best bet, Not tied opening the bleed valve

[paintman]

Did you bleed after fitting & before you tried to fit the new pads?

When fitting new pads I prefer to clamp the flexi, fit a bleed tube to the bleed nipple then open the bleed nipple & retract the pistons in the appropriate manner.
Don't forget to check the level in the reservoir before & after doing this & top up if necessary.
Discard the small amount of old fluid.
Not had an issue.

[h07swilkinson]

Thanks for your help guys, I opened the bleed valve and clamped the line, then retracted the piston and it done the trick 😁