Lucky me! I just spent $1000 to have Midas do a complete overhaul of my 1998 F-150 front brakes!

The mechanic said that Ford uses a plastic piston in the Caliper assembly, and that at about 70,000 miles, the piston will start to absorb brake fluid. The results are a piston that swells and eventually gets stuck in the cylinder, and in my case, with the brakes engaged. By the time I realized what was happening, I needed new rotors, seals, bearings, calipers and pads.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? If not, and your truck is approaching 70K miles, you should have the brake system checked out thoroughly, and replace the caliper assembly before it ruins everything, including your day!

 

They are not made out of plastic. It is a porcelin type of material called Phenolmic (sp?). it will not absorb brake fluid, but it is very fragile. So you cannot push on the pistons without a liner there like the old pads or they will crack, shatter, split on you.

$1000? Oh man, you got taken the the cleaners! You could but the F250LD/7700 payload calipers and install them for cheaper than that up front! they have larger pistons for more clamping force. Out back, most likely all you needed were new shoes, clean everything up and adjust up the drums. That should not cost more than about 4-5 bills. I would ask for an itemized reciept and the old parts back to verify what they said. Those places make money by up selling you and telling fibs about reality. I would talk it over with the manager and call and ask a few other places what they would charge for the same work.

You may have needed new rotors, about $100-200 for a pair. New bearings and seals ( I assume a 2wd here) would cost about $50. You can get caliper rebuild kits for about $25, you dont need new units. And if you did, get the larger piston calipers as mentioned.

 

The pison is Phenolic and it will not absorb brake fluid. I don't see how it could swell and get stuck either. There is a little rubber o-ring called a scarf seal that actually does the sealing. The piston itself is probably 1/16" away from the actual cylinder bore. I don't think that piston will get stuck in that o-ring with 300 psi behind it. Nobody likes to rebuild calipers anymore so they probably they replaced them which would cost some $$ but a $1000 brake job seems excessive.

-Jon

 

I can only recite what I was told by Midas as to the material that the piston is made of. or that is might or might not swell. Phenolics can certainly absorb liquids, and most will disentegrate once that happens, so I doubt the piston is made of phenolic resin material. Someone said that the piston is ceramic, which could be true, but there again, a ceramic piston could be susceptible to cracking, but unlikely to disentegrate or get stuck in the cylinder. Who is right? Darned if I know, and I really could not care less of the material, just the results!

The rotors had already been turned once, and the situation was definitely metal on metal, so I am certain that I needed new rotors.

The biggest dilemma I am facing now concerning the total cost is the labor I was charged. I am assuming that total time to break down both front wheels, replacing seals, rotors, calipers and pads would take a professional shop no more than two hours to complete (I"m being generous, as I think it would really take about an hour...), and I was charged by each piece: i.e. labor charge for pads, another charge for the rotors, another charge for the seals, etc., etc., until the labor charge was almost $300.00.
Excessive? I think so...

Comments?

 

99 F250 Ld 4x4 Ext- I too just had front caliper problem. One inside pad worn down to bare metal while all others still had good life on them . Ford dealership stood behind it. Only have 40,000 on it.

 

The pistons are Phenolics . The only other material you see used is steel.

But I have run them with over 200K on the original calipers and they do not have problems. That would be a major lawsuit if they did leak and absorb fluid! Look at the freaking tires!

 

Matt:

You're dead on about the pistons being Phenolics. I had a hell of a time overhauling my front calipers when I did my brake change, I managed to put nics in the rubber boot things with the anti rattle clip. I don't know how anyone could be asked to pay a grand for a change. Even if they were going to replace them with bran new one's, it still wouldn't get to a grand (unless they were serious after market one's.)

 

TO those who have done brake jobs. Did you push the pistons back with the pads while the caliper is still mounted in it's carrier? (as the Hayne maual says to do). I have always pulled the caliper off and the pads out then pushed the pistons back.

 

KYFordFreak:
what I did, which is not the best way to do it by a long shot, is I pushed the pistons back in with a C clamp. Some say that this pushes any sludge back up into the system or messes up the ABS, but so far I've had no problems since my brake change about 9 months ago. Hope this answers your question.

 

$1000 ??? I have a hard time believing that one! Of course I have been led to believe that I had a "SERIOUS" brake problem by a shop once. Good old Pep Boys, wanted $741 to replace everything on an 86 Ford E-150 that I still own. I laughed in his face and told them to take it off the lift.
The van was 12 years old at the time, but only had 45k on it. They wanted to do all this, when it only needed pads, shoes, and turn the drums and rotors.
(1) Replace both front calipers.
(2) " " Master Cylinder.
(3) " " front brake lines.
(4) " " drums.
(5) " " rotors.
(6) " " rear brake lines.
(7) new shoes and pads.

You have got to watch yourself out there, most shops are only in it for the profit. I would dispute the work needed verses the work done. Have you stuck your head under the truck to make sure they actually replaced what they said they did?????,,,,,98