Is my caliper bad?

Just took both calipers of the front of my makim.
The pads do not look bad except for one which is much thinner and it is of a differnat make. I have no clue what the PO did. I am going to see if I can compress the piston with a c clamp. If something is wrong is there anything I can do short of bying a new caliper.

 

okay the piston compressed with a c clamp pretty easy any suggestions

 

What bike are you working on? Looks like you have a 2 piston caliper and one of them is stuck. causing uneven wear on the pads. Time for a rebuild, get new seals and pads from Chacal. Chean and rebuild.

 

pads very seldom wear evenly. i don't think i've ever changed pads where one wasn't almost worn out while the other had around 1/3 material left. even on the one bike i had brand spanking new.

just make sure all your movement areas are lubed. antiseize works best. bought from any parts store. bushings and what not. the calipers need to slide freely on there mounting surfaces.

 

If it were a car or truck I'd say you had frozen slide pins however in this case it looks to be a stuck piston. Brake fluid is hygroscopic, leading to frozen and corroded internal brake components.

 

You will need new pads.

Don't lose that spring-clip shim that's clipped to the blue pad; you'll need it.

You need to completely disassemble the caliper (there's actually nothing to it) CLEAN IT, and replace the seals (nothing more than a couple of rubber rings in each bore.)

The hardest part is the cleaning. The grooves in the piston bore where the seals sit have to be cleaned out without gouging them all up.

The pistons need to be cleaned thoroughly and inspected for pitting or wear in the area where the seals contact them. Some minor pitting is OK as long as it's outside where the seals "sweep."

Unfortunately, this isn't a car. You can't just go to the corner store and get a rebuilt caliper. In most cases new ones are either not available or horribly expensive; anything you buy second hand would have to be rebuilt anyway.

Good time to overhaul the entire braking system. The lines need to be replaced if over 5 years old anyway, consider upgrading to stainless.

 

Thanks I will be be cleaning those guys up

 

You have to get creative to be able to give the Groove that the Caliper's MAIN Seal is seated in the Dentist's Office cleaning it's going to need.

Brake Fluid, Brake Dust and Moisture come-together and make a Crusty Buildup that requires some scraping.

Getting the right Tool is only limited by your imagination.
An Old C-B Antenna can be heated and formed to make a Tool that will reach those places that aren't a straight-shot with a conventional tool used for scraping.

Your Mission, in cleaning the Caliper, is to remove every trace of foreign matter to allow the SEAL to fit ... PERFECTLY Round.