Another brake problem

[rdbacote]

Purchased a ‘71’ 300 sel 3.5. The car appears to have been sitting in the open for several years. The problem is that it seems that all four wheels a partially seized. Jacked the car up, removed tires and can only turn the right front by hand with some strength but not the other three. Attempted to check for blocked hoses got fluid and the caliper still wont release. Removed the pads from the front (with a little effort) and unable to get pistons all the way back in. My question is, can all the calipers go bad at the same time from just sitting? Any suggestions out there?

[Mark DiSilvestro]

Old calipers + old brake fluid + parked for several years = Yes, all the calipers could be bad now. I'd expect to rebuild or replace all the calipers and replace all the rubber brake hoses on any old car that's been sitting for several years.
And possibly much more!
Does it run? Does the air suspension work?

Happy Motoring, Mark

[Tomguy]

I had a similar problem with my 4.5.

Fortunatley, putting them in a vise and using the old pads as a buffer between the piston and vice jaws, I was able to press the pistons into the calipers (be careful when doing this, brake fluid will shoot out from the inlet hole!). So far I've not seen any adverse affects of doing this. I WAS planning on replacing the calipers, since I figured this meant that they'd go bad sooner or later, but I haven't lost a drop of fluid nor have my pads been dragging. Your luck and results may vary, depending on how rusty the pistons are.

If you need to do this though, you can be sure that the old rubber seals are beyond shot and that's how water got into them in the first place, so buy some rebuild kits!

[rdbacote]

For a few hundred dollars I think I'll go with a complete brake redo. I think the car and my life is worth it. There is very little rust on the car and it does run well after warming up. The car does seem to drop in the fron after about three days but when I crank it up the, nose rises without hesitation. I guess there is a leak in the suspension someplace.

[vox_incognita]

I had the same problem-3 of four pistons refused to move-I soaked the calipers in brake fluid for a week,then a gentle tap on the pistons pesuaded them to give in...Needless to say,when I removed the pistons,I saw the seals had almost disintegrated I got the rep.kit(seals,anti-dust seals and heat shields) and since the bore and the pistons weren`t pitted,I reused them.They work great now.All hoses and rear brake tubes changed too.Next time when I repair them I `ll change the pistons ,they aren`t that expensive...Good luck!
Vengerov,w110