I doubt they have suddenly seized, they've been gradually getting worse, possibly the sliders seized first so the braking was increasingly by only the 'leading' pads, eventually things got so bad the brakes didn't release at all.

Regular brake maintenance is an ongoing thing, the pads should be removed at least every other year, inspected and then if in good condition everything cleaned and then lubricated as neccessary with the correct (usually red) brake grease on any sliding mechanisms, pins etc, and reassembled.

I also exercise the pistons with the help of an assistant, by removing one pad at a time and getting the assistant to gently operate the brakes pushing the piston out to roughly the distance of the lad backing plate, so a reasonable lever held between the piston and disc as the brake is operated so the piston can be pushed back in...gently..because if you are too hasty it issupposedly possible to flip the seals in the master cylinder with the back pressure....there is a school of thought that you should open the bleed nipple as you push back the piston so fluid doesn't go back into the system, but i've been doing it my way for ever on literally hundreds of vehicles and never yet had a problem.

If when the piston is extended, you carefully lever up the dust seal and see what condition the piston itself is in, if it moves freely and all is well you could wipe a little of that correct grease onto the piston under the seal, and that will also help it have a life as long as the vehicle lasts.

Every few years (depending on mileage and general condition) it makes sense to renew the brake fluid, it attracts moisture anyway so if left in situ for many years you could have a nice moist mixture helping the pistons and calipers to rust from the inside.

Clean up brake pipes and grease as necessary whilst there.

If you have drum inside disc parking brake design, then just as with normal rear drum brakes, the drums must come off at the same time and slave cylinders checked just the same, then pivots and self adjusters checked and cleaned and minimally lubed.

If you have auto adjusting parking brake operating on (normally the rear) calipers using the standard pads these need lubing every year without fail.

I'm not surprised at the calipers seizing this year because we had a serious winter and thousands of tons of rock salt were dumped on the roads, this muck finds its way into everything and has wreaked its havoc on the brakes during the dry spell, i mentioned this issue several times earlier in the year.

Some main dealer service regimes sadly do not include correct brake maintenance, too often their idea is to inspect and then spray brake cleaner in the general direction of the brakes, which handily helps to dry any lubricant some chap might once have used...this IMO is almost a scandal, because if properly serviced (others will have their own views so take what i say with a generous pinch) the brake calipers should last the life of the vehicle, but cheap servicing (an oil change and general look about) helps make new cars look cheap to maintain when they aint, and yes they are cheap to maintain doing the bare minimum during the warranty period, but by the tme warranty is up those 3 to 5 winter salt baths will have done their worst and no preventative maintenance hasn't helped things.

I'm also not sure how thoroughly the usual fast fit joints might service brakes, generally this is a job best left to a trusted indy.

I cover a lot of miles, and one of my little tricks is when on a long motorway run and approaching a suitable service area or uphill layby if dual carriageway, if i can safely allow the speed to drop off meaning i come to halt without touching the brakes until the vehicle is almost stationary, i then go round the vehicle feeling all brakes hubs and tyres for any signs of excess heat, i do this regularly with my lorry in Leigh Delamare M4 MSA and will probably be doing exactly this tomorrow morning (before Gregg's calls to me and bacon roll and latte time it is :-), its a handy way of spotting any dragging brake or overheating bearing issues.

Edited by gordonbennet on 18/09/2018 at 22:57