Passenegr side front caliper seems to be dragging. Sometimes you get a loud, rough grinding type sound noise that seems to stop if you out your foot hard on the brakes. Other times it's a constant squeal that'll stop when you put your foot on the brakes. Either way, that wheel has more brake dust then any other wheel and when I came home from a 40 miles highway trip today, I noticed that there was tremendous heat coming from that rotor, while the other front (driver's side) as well as the rears were basically cool. I therefore duct that the caliper is dragging intermittently, if not all the time. Is there a way to fix it (greasing the pins perhaps adn then reinstalling them) or is it better to go to FCP Groton and buy one of their rebuilt calipers for like $38? The clips.springs will cost another $5 and then $15 for the PBR Deluxe pads. What do you guys suggest?

It's usually the inside lower pistons that stick on my front calipers.

What I do is try pushing the all pads back by squeezing with a 12" Channellock. The stuck ones won't budge, it's usually just one cranky piston.

I remove the pad (a fence pliers hook is excellent for prying the pad out) from under the stuck one, leaving the other pad in. I put in a totally worn pad (you can make one by prying all the pad material from a backplate, hammer claw does this nicely), and start the car and pump the brakes. This will usually extend the stuck piston out further, exposing the stuck part.

I then gently pry the rubber boot open with a small screwdriver and spray a bit of silicone lube in there, not grease, the stuff I use is runny like WD-40 and I use the little red tube to get it on the top so it will run down around the piston.

I then compress the stuck piston with a c-clamp. This can take some force, sometimes it'll give and then hit intermediate stuck places. Get it retracted as far as you can, repeat until it's free.

If you can free it up, then put some waterproof grease under the boot with a cotton swab. I like Phil's Waterproof Grease for this, made for bicycles, doesn't appear to harm rubber or plastic.

This may seem like a lot of work, but it's nothing compared to trying to get those brass fittings loose to replace the caliper, then bleeding eight circuits.

I still like the PBR Deluxe, even if they are messier than the old compound.

if you have sliding pins, check those. they may be seized. my 740 has them, but i don't know too much about 200s.

if they're seized, unseize them. use lots of penetrating fluid (pblaster, kroil, etc.) and patiently unseize them.

then relube them with some silglyde from autozone. don't use grease that is not specifically for brakes.
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Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'

Jimbo,
I bought some cheap pads once and they did the same thing you're talking about. I've had really bad luck with anything other than Volvo brake pads. Anybody know the OEM vendor for the pads?

It's Jim

PBR Deluxe pads have generally been good to me through the years...decent stopping with far less dust then other pads I've used. The new PBR Deluxes aren't quite as dustless as the old ones though. Anybody have any recommendations for similarly priced low-dusting pads? Groton sells PBR Deluxe for around $16 an axle by the way...IPD sells for around $22 or so I think.

hi.

I experienced the same problem. After much thinking, I decided to change front calipers and rotors. I'm a DIYer and always looking for the best way to save hard earned cash. But when it came to brakes, I thought that stopping the car is much more important than 0-60 times. I don't care that some guy in a honda or even a kia can beat me off the line, what's important is stoping at the next red light next to him. ;)

Before doing the whole front brakes I tried greasing and... It helped some but I then decided to change the front calipers, discs and pads. So, no rapid or easy fix will do. (my opinion) I do not regret it at all. Brakes like new.

Calipers you can find rebuilt and as good as new. Rotors, pay more, some china made discs will warp.

Just my experince, others could offer better ideas....

So you're saying that the rebuilt calipers, new pads and new rotors cured the issue? I kinda felt like that's what I'm gonna have to resort to. I've been using PBR pads that I've been buying from IPD for years (the deluxe...NOT the metal master). The new PBR deluxes aren't as good as the old ones - they dust more, but they're still pretty light in comparison to other pads which dust like mad and make my Virgo wheels look like crapola in no time flat. Anybody know a pad that'll dust less then the PBR deluxe (and still be cost effective) cause if you do then please fill me in. FCPGroton seems to have rebuilt calipers for $38 each which beats the IPD price (IPD always was kinda pricey). ANybody have any experience with these rebuilt Groton rotors? On another note, the Bentley Bible says that you must replace the two mounting bolts found on each caliper because they're designed to be used only once. Does anybody re-use them or should you go ahead and buy the new bolts like Bentley says?

Hi.

Changing calipers cured the dust problem in my case. One side was sticking before and dusted more than the sahara. The rebuilt units and new rotors applie even presure so dust is no longer an issue.

As for the bolts, I never changed them. This is my third 240 and it was never a problem.

The Bentley guide has you resorting to new bolts, nuts, screws, etc... on almost everything you do. The problem is that many of these (if not most) are dealer-only items and I have to drive 30 mins each way to the dealer and then pay relatively high prices for all that stuff. I learned this the hard way when changing my shocks and rear springs...I must have had $80 in new bolts, nuts, and two new lower shock absorber bushings which didn't look much like bushings to me (a hollow tube is a more apt description). I thought I'd ask though anyway with respect to the calipers since I wouldn;t want them coming loose and maybe even off which would be disasterous.