The only thing I knew about brakes was how to change rotors and pads until my Tiburon's braking performance started becoming unsafe. I thought that either my front calipers were worn out since they been on the car for the past 172,000 miles or my proportioning valve was defective since my front brakes were not involved in stopping my car even after I installed new rotors and brake pads. The other issue I had with the front calipers was the fact that you could grab onto the caliper by hand and wiggle it over the brake pads with about 1/8 of an inch play but if you stepped on the brake pedal, it would function like it should. Then as soon as you release the brake pedal the caliper backed off so far you could wiggle it again. The rear calipers did not do this leading me to believe the issue was just with the fronts. Bleeding the brakes would help out for about a day or so before the performance would diminish again. After driving the car around for a few hours you would be able to touch the front caliper or rotor with your hand and they would be cooler than the tires.

I decided to try rebuilding the front calipers since it was way cheaper than buying new ones or installing used ones that might be in the same condition. This was my first attempt at rebuilding calipers and I wasn't sure if it was going to work or not since I had to beat the piston out of the caliper using a screw driver through the bleeder valve hole after compressed air failed to eject it. The first caliper went together nicely but I had beat the piston on the other caliper back in when I was putting it back together. I think that one still could use a new piston but I figured if it didn't work I would go get used ones from the wrecking yard.

After putting it all back together and bleeding the system again, the front calipers appeared to be working way better especially when applying a lot of pressure to the brake peel but I was still able to wiggle the calipers back and forth. After driving the car around for about a month using my transmission like I usually do to help slow the car it was obvious that my front brakes still didn't work cause the rotors still had no wear on them. I started searching for used front calipers online when I ran across a TSB for my car talking about the front calipers making a rattling noise that was caused by improper clearance between the caliper and the guide rod. Hyundai released a new guide rod kit with new rubber bushings to help solve the issue.

I bought the new guide rods for my front calipers and saw a big difference. The old ones had like 1/16th of an inch free play and the new ones slide in nicely and had no free play. After putting the calipers on with the new guide rods in place the caliper sat on the pads without all that slop and the front brakes started working again. I also recommend using Permatex Ultra Disc Brake Synthetic Caliper lube on the guide rods and bushings since it seems to outlast all the other greases I had tried. After driving around for a while they performed better but the car still didn't stop like it used to.

By this time my rear rotors are worn down to the thickness of a paper plate so it was about time to replace them and I was just going to re-use the pads since they had about 50% of the pad still left on them. So I picked up a set of cheap rotors and was getting ready to pull my rear calipers off when I noticed my parking brake cable looked very tight and the last bracket that holds the cable to the frame was slightly bent causing the rubber flex tube to be pulled to one side. It was also full of water since it would drip water when I squeezed it. I then tested my parking brake strength and noticed that my rears tires would stop spinning with only 1 click the e-brake and when I released the e-brake the wheel took a lot of effort to move the wheel again which was basically applying my rear brakes all the time.

I adjusted the parking brake tension from inside the car and sprayed every piece of the parking brake handle that moved and all pieces of the cable I could see then sprayed what I could under the car and soaked the springs attached to the caliper with Royal Purple Synthetic Spray. With the new rotors on I noticed the caliper guide rods for the rear had the same free play issue as the fronts did only I didn't have replacement parts. I ended up packing extra lube around the guide rod to cut back on the free play which should last me until I order the right parts again.

I have put about 3,000 miles on the car since I last worked on it and it and my front and rear brakes are still working strong just like they should. The e-brake has been releasing properly and my car is way easier to push in neutral now. The car also coasts further with the clutch engaged and my gas mileage has gone up. I plan on getting the rebuild kit for the rear calipers and the updated guide rods to finish off this brake system overhaul that ended up costing me less than $50 for all the hardware required to rebuild the calipers and fix the guide rods.

Maybe someone will find this post useful since there isn't much talk about these cheap defective caliper guide rods on our cars and the issues they create.

 

I never heard of the problem and now I have something to check on MY car.

Pictures. Take them when you do the rear brakes. We love us some pictures.

If this is what we can expect out of you, you'll be a welcome content-adder on RD Tiburon.com.

 

im not sure there is a problem with the caliber guide bolts. if you dont grease them they rust (it happens on every car when you dont grease the sliders.)

and replacement calipers are only like 20 bucks from yards around town. i've had to replace mine before from not greasing the bolts and they rusted to the actual caliper. (and i change my pads seasonally, so this happened just from a single winter season) just make sure you inspect them before buying. its a god send for "they pull it" junkyards when you have 6 inchs of snow on the ground and it feels like 5degrees out.