Rear caliper seized. What now?

[Evans Ward]

Dremel with wire wheel attachment.

[m in sc]

yup. ^ works every time. 

[rd400canuck]

Bought some and put them in the drill press... worked like a charm :)

[SoCal250]

Dremel with wire wheel attachment.

yup. ^ works every time. 

Need to clean out some stubborn corrosion/deposits on a caliper seal groove so I'm going to pick up some Dremel bits. The ultrasonic had no effect on it.
What do you recommend for wire wheel type? Brass, steel, or stainless?

[pidjones]

Dremel with wire wheel attachment.

yup. ^ works every time. 

Need to clean out some stubborn corrosion/deposits on a caliper seal groove so I'm going to pick up some Dremel bits. The ultrasonic had no effect on it.
What do you recommend for wire wheel type? Brass, steel, or stainless?

Brass. There was a vendor at an auto show I went to last year selling brass Dremel brushes cheap I bought a handful and used them up over the year. They did a great job along with my 90 degree 1/8" chisel I made out of some spring steel.

[Djg8493]

This is going to sound ridiculous but,  note when using wire dremel brushes, only use on low speed.  They will rip apart rather easily and the small wires are a pain to clean.  I recently had one get stuck in my foot and had to have a surgeon remove it.  (I know ridiculous) but when I looked I found those wires all over from cleaning up rusty parts.

[m in sc]

this is a good point. ive had them fly apart as well. low speed for sure. ever had a needle stuck in your eyeball to remove material when they find the rust ring? (steel wheel)  even when you were wearing safety glasses? i have. don't recommend it. 

[Yamaha 179]

The wire brush treatment is good for the interior walls but for the seal lands I use stainless dental picks and scrape the lands by hand.  Does a better job and gets all the rust out.
Lyn Garland

[pidjones]

I only use a $9 Harbor Freight wall-wart powered tool for the brushes. Not enough speed or power to do real damage. I even use it with a sanding drum to do the Bert Munroe thing to a gnarley toenail.

There is a product used to hold fiberglass insulation bats between floor joists called "lightning rods" - VERY stiff spring steel with sharpened ends. Bend one to a 90 and shape a blade on about 1/8" sticking out. Makes a great tool for getting into the seal recess. Just don't get carried away and gouge the aluminum.

[Diablo007]

I use dental picks like Lyn.  Found them at a home show years ago for cheap as they were factory seconds, completely stainless.  You may be able to get used ones from your dental hygienist, but in my experience they were pretty worn.  I've found similar picks at hardware stores but they had plastic handles which didn't hold up well at all.

[RDFL]

Can get dental picks on ebay.

[SoCal250]

Thanks for the advice. I have stainless dental picks so I'll give those a try. The caliper I'm working on is completely clean and smooth in the piston bore, but the seal groove is another story.

[Diablo007]

Also heard/read somewhere to use Simple Green and a green Scotch pad to remove the crystalized brake fluid.  Seems to work well.

[forexer]

This has worked for me as well.  Try and make both pistons come fully out at the same time otherwise you will no longer be able to put pressure on remaining piston.

My caliper is also frozen heat and air won't move it.

I was going to try a grease gun but the standard zerk fitting threads are too small to fit the bleeder bolt hole /threads.

Do you happen to know what size zerks I need to order to get these suckers out?  Thanks

"DISREGARD" I found some stuff in my stash and was able to get them out with grease - now the fun part cleaning the seal grooves.

[pidjones]

This has worked for me as well.  Try and make both pistons come fully out at the same time otherwise you will no longer be able to put pressure on remaining piston.

My caliper is also frozen heat and air won't move it.

I was going to try a grease gun but the standard zerk fitting threads are too small to fit the bleeder bolt hole /threads.

Do you happen to know what size zerks I need to order to get these suckers out?  Thanks

"DISREGARD" I found some stuff in my stash and was able to get them out with grease - now the fun part cleaning the seal grooves.

Great! I made a tool with very stiff ~3mm wire bent 90 degrees, cut, and ground to a chisel point. I use it to clean the groove and press Scotchbrite in to polish it. Then make sure plenty of brake cleaner and rags to clean out ang grit.