|
Back in 1986, I saw an ad for an '84 240 at a ridiculously low price, so I had to take a look.
I met the wife/owner, who told me that she just wants to get rid of the damn thing -- turns out her husband tried to save money by taking the car for a brake job (it had 70,000 miles) to a local Midas shop instead of the dealer (and contrary to her preference to go the dealer for the job)!
From that point on, the car had spongy brakes -- she says that she's afraid of driving it. They had taken the car back to Midas, where they checked everything (supposedly), including another fluid flush, and finally declared that "this is the way their pads are, and everything is normal and safe". They then also took it to another independent brake shop, and after flushing it also couldn't find anything wrong!
So (and no doubt, probably in part to spite her husband), she was selling it for literally half what the market price would be for that 2-1/2 year old car. It was otherwise in perfect condition, so I took it for a test drive (confirming the very soft pedal, not at all the rock-hard pedal of 240's that I'm used to), but everything else in the car was perfect and I couldn't resist buying it. After all, even with a complete brake overhaul, I'd be way ahead at that ridiculous price.
So I took it home (driving very carefully), then put it in my garage and up on jackstands, and started by taking off the front wheels. Within seconds of looking at the calipers, I saw that the dust shields that are supposed to be around the pistons were rolled off and pinned under the brake pads -- i.e., two or three or maybe even more layers of rubber between the piston and the back of the pads. This was on both front calipers! Obviously this happened when the Midas techs (calling them that is really way too kind) inserted the pads!
I couldn't believe that this was missed by mechanics at two different shops, when I saw it so fast!
I pried out the seals, and voila, the brake pedal was rock hard.
Okay, I had to install new seals in both front calipers, but that car was a gift -- and I've still got that car today, albeit now a rusty "winter beater" in salty New Jersey, but for many years it was our family primary car for vacations as well as commuting. It's got about 240,000 miles, and has been trouble-free all this time.
So take a good look behind the pads.
Good luck.
|
