Hey guys so I just got back from the shop today, I had gotten front rotors from ebay and needed to replace mine because my rotors were bent a little. So the shop told me that my calipers may be malfunctioning as well (the pistons are not releasing) as having bent rotors, the rotors rub against the rotor and is robbing my gas mileage. They told me it would cost about $600 to order some rotors and to take the calipers apart and inspect them. My question is this, is there anything I can do to avoid paying $600+ for this. Is there a way to inspect and repair my calipers and maybe order some rotors online for cheaper. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. (94 600 F2)

 

a complete brake system for an f2 is worth maybe $50....its just a few bolts you could change it off yourself.

what does the wheel do now...does it spin free with the replacement rotors?

I doubt you have an issue. The F2/3 caliper is a floating one...if a rotor is warped slightly, it will follow it. If anything, lubing the pins the caliper floats on might be worth while.

 

they are taking you out for a ride.
complete bs. pistons will stick if you have gunk build up around them. i would extend each piston (1 at a time) and clean around it. as far as front wheel spinning freely...my experience is that some drag is normal.

 

I should have clarified..."spin free" meaning you can spin the wheel easily with your handand it doesn't immediately stop....it won't go more than a turn or two. If you don't have a stand, your bike should roll around easy.

I'm with Tahoe...

 

Well what they showed me was that when the calipers were off they spun the front tire easily with one hand and when they put the calipers on it would spin for about 3/4 of the way then stop abruptly. i have no experience with brakes but I would like to figure it out. I do have a service manual but any help with how to go about inspecting or cleaning my calipers would be greatly appreciated. And to answer your question jbreit the replacement rotors i got used from ebay did not help. I asked the shop to check them before putting them on but i guess they only visually inspected them. They told me it may be the wheel that is bent, but they said they would have to put it on an expensive machine to find out. Also should I buy a pitbull stand or something? I was under the impression that the tires should not be messed with because you can misalign them, is this true? Thanks for all the input guys

 

WOW these people are really messing with you. Get some T rex stands off ebay for $105 shipped for front and back. If your wheel is bent they should be able to tell pretty easily.

 

MICKEY, CHECK THIS OUT LIKE SAID BEFORE ^ THESE PEOPLE ARE F-ING U. ALSO LIKE SAID BEFORE I BLEW A FORK SEAL, LEAKED FLUID INTO MY BRAKE CALIBER (WHICH SAT FOR 6 MONTHS DUE TO DEPLOYMENT), IT CAUSED MY BRAKE CALIBER TO "LOCK UP"(LIKE SAID BEFORE IT NEEDS TO BE CLEANED JUST LIKE URS). $600? PITBULL STANDS(F&R) $100(AND THERE URS), USED CALIBERS $100+/-=$200. I HIGHLY DOUBT UR WHEEL IS BENT SOUNDS LIKE UR CALIBER IS PUSHIN THE BRAKE PADS ONTO A BENT ROTOR AND CAUSING IT NOT TO SPIN FREELY. GET ON EBAY PURCHASE THESE ITEMS IF CLEANIN CALIBER DOESNT WORK(TAKE ONE OFF AND CLEAN PISTON). TRUST ME THE JOB IS REAL EASY. IM 99% SURE ITS NOT UR WHEEL. HOPE THIS HELPS IF U HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PM ME AND ILL TRY TO HELP MORE.

 

Find a new shop...."expensive machine"...a balancer...yeah, the machine was expensive...but they should only charge you $5 to spin your wheel on it.

I sold a complete F3 brake set up for $50.

Get some stands...they willpay you back 10 fold. I have Trex stands and they are a decent value. Or, if you have a garage, you can use some ratchet straps from the joiststo lift the front end up

Take your calipers off and spin your wheel....use a pencil or something to hold near the rotor while it spins to see what its doing. You can also do this on the outer lip of the wheel.

Cleaning calipers is not hard...especially the 2-pot jobies on the F2/3....if you've got a manual it should suffice.

You can take wheels on and off yourself....

 

Thanks for all the feedback guys. So what I did today is I took the calipers apart and inspected and cleaned them and the fluid... there was a lot of white (whiteish snot looking material) buildup behind one of the pistons and a lot in the reservoir. And I flushed the lines (well i tried to flush them anyway) it took me hours to get all this done, and I finally got the airbubbles out of the system and got it so that it will push the pistons out (not at the same rate though) and i can push with my thumb and put the piston back down. but they move with some difficulty, i tried to lube them with the brake fluid but it didnt help that much. I did not do a very "good" job on all this but i tried my best with my inexperience. So now my calipers are back on and I can get them to brake but i need a knife to push the pads away from the rotor (i pushed them far enough away that i do not think they will rub, but it takes a pump or 2 of the breaks to get the pads to meet the rotor firmly. Is this just the seal? it seems like it has trouble moving i would be suprised if it is only the seal, only my dust seal on one side seemed to be worn O and JBREIT sorry i thought you were talking about floating rotors, ya the calipers are floating i see what u mean now.

 

I would nevr go back to that shop again if I were you! They can tell that you are inexperienced with mechanical issues and they're taking advantage of you. The "Big expensive machine" they told you that they had to use to see if your wheel was bent. You know what they will use to check it. They use a wheel balance rig ($150.00) and attach a dial gauge to check for "Run-out" (guage is about 50 bucks).