Calipers have seized, yet again.

[capricanna]

I've had my 2003 Pontiac Vibe for about 8 years now. I have roughly 140,000 miles on the car. I love my little "big" car. I've kept it well maintained, but for a reason i cannot identify, there seems to be a problem with the calipers on this model. I have had to replace the calipers at least twice now and now for a third time. Not even two years ago the rotors, calipers and brakes were all replaced and now I am being told it all has to be replaced again.

I live in Columbus, Ohio. It all started about a month ago as I was driving on I-71 and had to jerk the wheel to avoid an accident. It seems immediately after that I could feel a vibration in my steering wheel. The vibration would come and go and not having too much money I didn't want to go to the garage just yet. Two days ago I was driving on the highway again and the vibration came back, only this time I couldn't seem to get my car to go much faster than 55 mph. My steering wheel started vibrating much more and I was terrified. I knew then, that once again, my calipers were seizing. I got home and the garage across the street was already closed. I had to work the next day, so I decided I would take the back way to work and take it real slow, like 30 mph slow and it was still vibrating. I started to smell metal to metal and knew I was in deep. I parked my car at work and saw the smoke coming from the passenger wheel. I took my car immediately to the garage after work. The garage calls me today with the bad news. Everything must be replaced for both front wheels again and it's going to cost $637.

Has anyone else had this same issue with their calipers? Does anyone have any advice or input if the cost seems right? When I had everything replaced in 2011, a family friend did it and I only paid for the calipers.

[jake75]

$637 does not go very far these days even at an independent shop. That does not seem out of line for brake linings, rotors, calipers, brake fluid change etc. Taking it somewhere else for $500 isn't going to save you anything. Arrow Radiator in the Hilliard area has serviced/repaired my sons older car - they seem honest but what do I know. Ernie's on E. Main Street in Whitehall seems to have a good reputation but I have no personal experience. It's tough to find a good place - seems like all have customers that swear by them and others that swear at them. I read in a Wall St. Journal column the other day that you should change your brake fluid every two years. I'm 4 and 5 years on original fluid in cars with 20,000 miles on the odo. I suspect even just changing brake fluid is not cheap.

[biodieselrabbit]

It seems too soon for your calipers to have failed after less than two winters. I replaced the front brake pads on my 2003 six months ago (no new calipers just pads) and from what I can remember the only parts that could lock up would be either the slider pins or the caliper piston. Did the shop explain to you how exactly the calipers are seizing? I haven't heard of this being an endemic problem for our model year.

[waingro]

Last year I bought an 03 Vibe with a frozen caliper. I bought all the parts (2 calipers, 2 rotors, pads) from Amazon and had a shop change them out. Total cost was about $400. No need to do a full brake fluid exchange, which is probably part of the reason they're quoting you $637.

[jlg1203]

I was just wondering for a Pontiac Vibe 2003, is there such a thing as caliper and the caliper carrier or bracket. I was surprised the shop that replaced mine charged 150 per caliper. But when I eventually called an auto part shop they told me around $60 and you can refund $30 if you return the core and also it includes the caliper bracket. Is the caliper bracket and carrier different?

I hope someone who is knowledgeable can bring some light to my confusion... thanks.

[cq358]

I see a pattern here. Sometime in life you cant be too stingy, it does have consequences.

Seized piston usually caused by inner pads wears out too thin... ie less than 3/32 or 30% remaining. The overextended piston is usually the culprit for the brake seized up. With dirty brake fluid, broken dust seal and rusty slider pins could contributes to your problem as well.

If ya wanna really save money then next time bring a channel lock with you when you brake seized up and see if you can retract the piston back at the service stop.