How often do calipers and brake lines need to be replaced?

I am afraid this is a common scam that disreputable shops visit upon any number of people, but more often women than men in my experience for reasons that escape me. It seems that they calculate that practically no women know anything about auto mechanicals whereas there is some greater possibility that some men will, and I suppose that is true, although I am very much surprised as how few men these days seem to have an interest in that.

Still, that is an editorial and what you want is pertinent information, which I will herein hope to convey.

It will be useful I think to explain how your brakes work that you may better understand what you are being told. Brakes are operated via hydraulic pressure. That is to say, when you press your foot on the brake pedal it operates a large piston called the master cylinder that presses brake fluid through the brake lines to each wheel where there is mounted a smaller cylinder that in turn presses the brake pads or shoes up against a disk (also called a rotor) or a drum.

On disk brakes, this smaller piston is housed inside an assembly called a caliper. Imagine that you have a dinner plate set on edge and your hand is clasped loosely around thr top rim of the plate, thumb on one side and fingers on the other and this would be the configuration of a caliper with a metal housing on both sides of the brake disk or rotor.

Now, let us assume that the plate was spinning slowly and you wished it to slow or stop. You would squeeze your fingers together and the spinning plate would stop. Just so, when you press on the brake pedal, the piston in the master cylinder pushes brake fluid down the brake lines and this pushes forward a smaller piston inside the caliper that presses forward your brake pads to clasp the rotor and bring it to a halt. As the rotor is attached to your wheel that too comes to a halt.

So, what are the common failings on a braking system? Well, of course the top one is that the brake pads wear out and indeed are designed to wear away slowly each time they squeeze on the rotor. If they were made of metal instead of an abrasive material they would gouge out metal on the rotor each time you applied the brakes. Instead they offer a surface that can clamp onto the rotor with relatively little damage to it.

Of course the trouble is that when they wear down too far and the pad material is all gone, the metal backing plate does begin to contact the rotor and eats it up pretty quickly and you then hear a grinding noise when you apply the brakes. To preclude this, most manufacturers these days use some sort of mechanical or electronic wear sensor that either produces a small whistling sort of sound when the brakes that have reached the minimum pad thickness are applied, or in the case of electronic sensors--lights up on your dash.

Obviously, when the rotors become grooved from wear that is another failing, and they can either be resurfaced on a metal lathe in a process called "turning the rotors" or if they are worn below the minimum specification they must be replaced.

Still another failing in the braking system can be found in the caliper, and as this applies specifically to your question, I will explain what they mean by "sticking." As I noted earlier, the caliper has a small piston inside it that, when pressed forward by brake fluid, pushes the brake pads into contact with the rotor to stop the car. The insides of that cylinder must be mirror smooth and free from pitting and corrosion, as must also be the case with the small piston that slides to and fro as you operate the brakes. While a fair amount of hydraulic pressure pushes it forward, when you let off the brakes only the minimal contact the pads are having with the rotor as it turns serves to make it retreat, and if the piston and cylinder have rough places on their respective surfaces from corrosion, the piston cannot slide smoothly back and so it "sticks" holding the brake pads against the rotor where the constant friction builds up a great deal of heat, eating up the pads quickly and scortching the rotors. Yes it gets so hot it actually scortches the metal surface of the rotors, just as if you put a frying pan on your stove on high with nothing in it.

So what causes this corrosion that leads to the sticking? Well, every time the piston inside that caliper moves back and forth during normal braking, it drags with it minute amounts of dirt and humidity back into the cylinder which serve to contaminate the brake fluid. Over a period of time, a couple of years for example, the fluid in the piston becomes so contaminated that it causes the surfaces of the cylinder and piston to corrode. Of course, this is pretty preventable if you have the brake lines flushed every couple of years with new fluid to sid the system of contaminates.

Now, as to the brake lines failing. Well, they too can corrode from contaminated brake fluid. Or, the flexible rubber brake hoses that attach the calipers to the metal brake lines coming from the master cylinder can get old and the fittings can wear out, but this happens usually over a much longer period--several years, not two. I had a 59 Mercedes that I owned for about 30 years and I had to replace those lines once or twice in that period of time, but no more than that.

Anyway, I have gone on far too long, and probably bored you to tears with all of this, but I feel that if you have a better understanding of how things work, you may be also better prepared to spot when someone is trying to scam you. In my experience brakes and exhausts are amongst the biggest scam items car repair shops use to heap excessive repairs on unwitting customers--more often than not women. Such is what chivalry has come to I am afraid.

Incidentally, when you do have the work done, remind the service tech that you want your wheels remounted using a hand torque wrench, not an air wrench. A common oversight in shops, which I sometimes even think is deliberate, is to mount tires using an air wrench, which exerts undue and uneven force on the wheel lugs and can serve to warp rotors, depending on wheel design. Then, once the rotor is warped, being no longer flat the pads must ride up and down on hills and valleys in the rotor when you apply the brakes. At low speeds this is not terribly noticable, but at high speeds it produces a vibration or pulsation in the brakes. I never cease to be amazed at how many people report that shortly after they got new tires their brake rotors had to be replaced. Of course it was not the new tires, but the sloppy installation.

Anyway--this is more than enough I am sure. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at anonymourati@msn.com

When To Replace Brake Calipers

it depends on the vehicle. but these parts should last longer than two years. It sounds to me like they are taking you for a ride. It is always a good idea to get a second opiniong. Also, there is the possibility that the shop that charged you for the work 2 years ago did not do the work and now it really does need to be done. Personally I suggest you take th ecar to a completely different place and ask for them to look at it and tell you what it needs.

For my car, I have 98,000 miles and it is 13 years old, and I still have the same calipers and brake lines.

And for the answer "go to the dealer"..... The typical dealer mark up is around 100%. Plus labor is 70 an hour.

Aftermarket parts are offered with warranties, I use them all the time on cars I repair and never have had any problems, except once and the parts were covered under the part makers warranty. Dealers installing factory overpriced parts do not even do that. I worked at a dealer. People who think "the only place that can fix a car correctly is a dealership" need to get a dose of reality. THey are a money making machine and they will upsell you everything they can and everything you don't need. On top of it, they will overcharge you for it.

A brake job on my sisters car costs her 27 dollars, for new pads AND rotors in the front. and it lasts her about 30,000 miles. Do you have any idea what the dealer wants for that job? Over 100, way over, probably around 150. Plus if I was charging her 70 an hour it would cost her less than 20 bucks in labor. Dealers only charge in 1 or 1/2 hour increments, so if it takes them 5 minutes, you get charged for 1/2 an hour.

When To Replace Calipers

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Anti-lock brakes has nothing to do with why you continue to seize calipers. Water enters your master-cylinder vent holes in the form of moisture. It readily mixes with brake fluid. This is why it's important to have the fluid exchanged every 75,000 miles ir a maximum of five years. If you don't the moisture corrodes and rusts your brake lines wheel cylinders and brake calipers. If you feel I'm feeding you a load, call any Lexus dealer and ask them how often they recommend to have the brake fluid changed. Your brake caliper readers may need to be replaced if you have an ABS light staying on.

If you live in a really wet environment or the road crews use alot of salt on the roads in the winter your mechanic may be right. Maybe they sold you a cheap pair of rebuilt calipers. check with the original installer, if not them , and see if they have a warranty on the parts. break pads may last a few monthe to a few years depending on your driving. Calipers should last 10-15 years depending on your driving. I'v e had 20- 30 year old cars come into my shop with the original calipers on them.

It probably never needed calipers to begin with & now you have junk aftermarket calipers on the vehicle which could very well be bad. Your best bet would be to go to the dealer and have them look at the brakes and give you an honest opinion. Brake lines typically last 15 years or more, calipers are about the same.

Now if you go to Midas or Car-X they need replacement every 1 year or 15,000 miles whichever comes first. I think this has to be their philosphy, otherwise EVERY car they see wouldn't need calipers.

In my Ford Festiva, every two years. Had the same problem with my Ford Fiesta. Those little Fords just change calipers like some people change their underwear. I also had major problems with the parking break, the cable would start sticking & not release.

In my Saturn #1, I never replaced them, got 130,000 miles off that one. Saturn #2 isn't old enough, either. So the answer is, it depends on what kind of car you have.

unless you are having other problems or you have run your brake pads completely down your calipers should last for years and yeard or the age of your car.

this sounds odd unless you have not been maintaining your brakes correctly