Hey, I have a 2004 X-type 3.0L, for the past couple of days (two days actually) I had heard a kinda scraping sound, like something was scraping the tire when I went over bumps. So I looked in the wheel well, thinking it was the pastic lining in the wheel well scraping the tire, one portion of it was semi-lose so I thought that was the cause of the sound, and tightened it. I then drove about 40 miles to work, and when I got there, I heard the sound again, and inspected the wheels once again and noticed something big. The left front (drivers side) brake caliper was scraping my rim! ... the "top" of the caliper had swung down and was scraping the rim, while the "bottem" part of the caliper remained in its proper place. I can push the caliper back to its correct position without exerting myself too much. I pushed the caliper back into place, and felt where the bolt/pin should be, and nothing was there. The bottem portion of the caliper still correctly in place, and secured. From what I can feel, there is nothing bent or broken, just missing the pin. All the other wheels look/feel fine, and I've never had a problem with my brakes before. I ordered the bolt and pin part, and will attempt to put it on myself. If this has happened to anyone before, I was wondering if anyone could possibly write a "how to" guide, or offer some tips. Once I put, and fasten the bolt in the caliper, I'll take it to a mechanic to have to checked out. It's just that my car is sitting in my work parking lot, because I was told that it wasn't safe to drive.

I consider myself somewhat mechanically challenged, just because I haven't worked with cars much.

Thanks!

 

Fedekz, it sounds like to me that the last person to do a brake job on your car didn't tighten down the bolts for your calipers too well. Odds are the bolt simply backed out. But, I would pull the other 3 wheels and put a wrench on the other 6 bolts (2 per wheel) and make sure that they are still tight.

While I agree that if you can leave the car parked, it would be advisable. But, you can probably get home safely by simply wrapping some tie straps between the caliper and the caliper mounting. Just don't do any emergency braking. Take it really easy.

This should be something that you can do yourself, even in the parking lot of your work. All it takes to pull out the pin is to pull it towards the center of the car. The boot is retained on the caliper, but it pulls off with minimal force. Putting in a new pin is simply sliding it into the hole and pushing the boot on to the caliper. Just make sure to apply some grease to the pin to allow it to slide freely. The only tool that you will need is a 13mm wrench. When installing the bolt, take the bolt as tight as you can get it with a standard 13mm wrench. You are not going to bust that bolt off unless you are using one of the extra long wrenches.

 

You also need to check - the loose caliper may have stripped the wheel balance weights off the inside of the rim.

Regards:
Oldengineer

 

Believe it or not, this happened to me as well. The caliper mounting bolt jumped ship for no apparent reason.

I sure hope you didn't drive the car anywhere in that condition without some type of bolt. My caliper completely rotated and jammed against the inside of my custom wheel. I was able to free it and rotate it back in. I left the car there, went home, got a bolt that fit, and put it in. Drove the 3 miles to my house, ordered the correct part, and put it in the next day.

Use loctite on the 2 mounting bolts (not the pin bolts) - the ones that keep the caliper yoke bolted to the hub assembly.