Well I just phoned Rimmer Bros to see how much they charge for the rear calipers and it's £175 each, so I guess £165 for the pair isn't too bad after all!!!

 

Take the calipers out of the carriers and wind the piston in and out a few times.

You will find it very difficult to move it to start with, but it may free up and solve the problem without any new parts.

OE would have been 185/55/15's but people do fit 195/50/15's to them. That is a legit failure and one that there is no getting around. Does the spare match either size? Maybe swap the spare tyre to a wheel and the odd tyre back to the spare wheel.

Thats not really a bad result for a 9 year old car though.

 

Thanks for the advice Stu, and I guess you're right it's not that bad for a 9 year old car! I don't know why somewhere would have fitted a new tyre that is illegal, and there is loads of tread on it too so that is quite frustrating!!!

I'm not very mechanically minded to be honest so I'm not too keen on the idea of messing with the brakes - I'm also a little confused as to why they are not seized enough to work with the foot brake but too seized for the hand brake?

I guess it is all OK, I just wanted some opinions before I parted with my cash!

Cheers,
Dan

 

Thanks for the advice Stu, and I guess you're right it's not that bad for a 9 year old car! I don't know why somewhere would have fitted a new tyre that is illegal, and there is loads of tread on it too so that is quite frustrating!!!

I'm not very mechanically minded to be honest so I'm not too keen on the idea of messing with the brakes - I'm also a little confused as to why they are not seized enough to work with the foot brake but too seized for the hand brake?

I guess it is all OK, I just wanted some opinions before I parted with my cash!

Cheers,
Dan

slacken the handbrake off all the way so that the quadrants are at their stops first, before winding pistons back. sounds like auto adjust system ratchet is not working.. then when you have refitted calipers depress brake pedal several times before tryin handbrake . them take just the slack out of the handbrake cable usin the adjuster nut behind rear ashtray.. it is common to have between 6 and 9 clicks, due to cable stetching..

 

When I last checked the rear calipers were about £40 each exchange from Halfords or other motorfactors.

 

Like to add when i bought my vvc coupe it needed new calipers, disks and pads on the rear, cost me £301 including labour, the calipers were £56 each on the invoice, but i expect that was on an exchange basis. As for your tyre 195/50/15s are cheaper to buy than the 185/55/15. but then 3 195s will cost more than buying 1 185!!!

 

if the cable levers are not fully at their stops when handbrake released, calipers will not adjust.. same for 200, 400, 600, 800, basically all the range with rear discs, except those which have integrated handbrake shoes.