Stradale offside front caliper seized

slay

Member
Messages
409
Hi all,

Anyone know if this is a common issue on the Stradale? I had the nearside front caliper replaced under warranty just before the warranty expired, and then the offside one developed a similar issue a couple of months later.

Has anyone had a similar issue and does anyone know of an alternative solution without replacing the whole brake caliper ?

Thanks.
 

StuartW

Member
Messages
9,306
Yes, I had a problem with mine but was just a partial seize. It was as a result of the caliper pistons suffering from corrosion as they have very little protection from the elements, and they were not freely moving within the calipers. My pads were shot and were worn right down to the copper pins which hold the pad material to the backing plate (word of warning - they are super long pins and you lose out on plenty of pad wear, as you reach the pins when the pads only appear to be half worn). Fortunately, they were caught just in time before the pins started to scratch & wear the carbon ceramic discs. The discs were removed and weighed, and they were still fine, so the pads were replaced and the OEM pistons were replaced with better quality steel pistons supplied by Hills Engineering.
This work was all carried out by the magicians who are AV Engineering in Kent
 

slay

Member
Messages
409
Hi Stuart, I think I have the same issue here, so there was no need for you to replace the brake caliper itself ?

How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking? I may actually give them a call.
 

azapa

Member
Messages
1,300
Yes, I had a problem with mine but was just a partial seize. It was as a result of the caliper pistons suffering from corrosion as they have very little protection from the elements, and they were not freely moving within the calipers. My pads were shot and were worn right down to the copper pins which hold the pad material to the backing plate (word of warning - they are super long pins and you lose out on plenty of pad wear, as you reach the pins when the pads only appear to be half worn). Fortunately, they were caught just in time before the pins started to scratch & wear the carbon ceramic discs. The discs were removed and weighed, and they were still fine, so the pads were replaced and the OEM pistons were replaced with better quality steel pistons supplied by Hills Engineering.
This work was all carried out by the magicians who are AV Engineering in Kent
Awful! How many miles had you done? Was the car used on a track?
 

StuartW

Member
Messages
9,306
Hi Stuart, I think I have the same issue here, so there was no need for you to replace the brake caliper itself ?

How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking? I may actually give them a call.

It was a part of a quite a program of work so you would need to contact them to get a price but the labour wan't too bad, however the pads do not come cheap. The calipers themselves are fine

Awful! How many miles had you done? Was the car used on a track?

The car had done around 27k miles at the time and yes, it has had the occasional track use but it's more down to the design of the caliper itself and the lack of protection from the elements down there. The caliper pistons are very exposed and the steel used is not the best.
Before my ownership, my car was looked after by the Maserati GB master techs and wanted for nothing, it is really a design issue and maybe the UK climate that mine fell victim to. The pad wear was down to the brakes binding for a period of time when the calipers seized but it is not down to a lack of use
 

outrun

Member
Messages
5,017
The pads are about £800 a set. Best check long before they damage the discs.....
 

azapa

Member
Messages
1,300
I understand a little better now. My car in general still looks like new because it's a baby and hardly seen rain. Hardly rains here anyway. I'm worried about those long rivets though, a wrecked CCB disk would spoil my weekend!...

Any chance of a photo (and part numbers) of the pads when they are swapped?

Good luck.
 

StuartW

Member
Messages
9,306
The part number for the pads is 980145359. The kit to upgrade both sides of the front caliper pistons is around £500 + VAT including the seals.

And here are some photos of the new & old pistons plus the pads showing the exposed pins which had just started to wear away, fortunately not doing any damage to the discs

60969
 

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slay

Member
Messages
409
Thanks Stuart, I was told this is a common problem with the Stradale due to the lack of piston dust seal because the high temperature of the carbon ceramic break if taken onto the track, and corrosion then becomes a problem if the car is taken out in winter with salt on the road.

It was a part of a quite a program of work so you would need to contact them to get a price but the labour wan't too bad, however the pads do not come cheap. The calipers themselves are fine



The car had done around 27k miles at the time and yes, it has had the occasional track use but it's more down to the design of the caliper itself and the lack of protection from the elements down there. The caliper pistons are very exposed and the steel used is not the best.
Before my ownership, my car was looked after by the Maserati GB master techs and wanted for nothing, it is really a design issue and maybe the UK climate that mine fell victim to. The pad wear was down to the brakes binding for a period of time when the calipers seized but it is not down to a lack of use
I was told this is a common problem with the Stradale due to the lack of piston dust seal because the high temperature of the carbon ceramic break if taken onto the track, and corrosion then becomes a problem if the car is taken out in winter with salt on the road, the corrosion is then just a matter of time. This is probably not an issue for cars in drier climate. I think I have seen it somewhere that this can be reconditioned, with aluminum pistons replaced with stainless steel so that they do not corrode, is this recommended?
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
Thanks Stuart, I was told this is a common problem with the Stradale due to the lack of piston dust seal because the high temperature of the carbon ceramic break if taken onto the track, and corrosion then becomes a problem if the car is taken out in winter with salt on the road.


I was told this is a common problem with the Stradale due to the lack of piston dust seal because the high temperature of the carbon ceramic break if taken onto the track, and corrosion then becomes a problem if the car is taken out in winter with salt on the road, the corrosion is then just a matter of time. This is probably not an issue for cars in drier climate. I think I have seen it somewhere that this can be reconditioned, with aluminum pistons replaced with stainless steel so that they do not corrode, is this recommended?

That’s exactly what Stuart has done, and it is something I am going to do this winter as recommended by AV.

It seems like a fairly cheap way of resolving a potential (or in your case, and actual) issue.

I think Hill also sell dust seals which seems sensible.
 

azapa

Member
Messages
1,300
The part number for the pads is 980145359. The kit to upgrade both sides of the front caliper pistons is around £500 + VAT including the seals.

And here are some photos of the new & old pistons plus the pads showing the exposed pins which had just started to wear away, fortunately not doing any damage to the discs
pretty sure that wouldn't happen with the proper red calipers! :cool:

thanks for the valuable info though!
 

outrun

Member
Messages
5,017
The brakes are Brembo units so I’d be looking for parts that don’t come with the Maserati cardboard box tax. They must be on a couple of other cars, maybe the California?
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
The brakes are Brembo units so I’d be looking for parts that don’t come with the Maserati cardboard box tax. They must be on a couple of other cars, maybe the California?

Oddly enough, they don’t cross reference to any Fezza pads shape......
 

azapa

Member
Messages
1,300
Oddly enough, they don’t cross reference to any Fezza pads shape......
I remember that somewhere laser etched on the disks are the brembo part numbers (of the disk, of course). Maybe looking for that and googling would find matching pads outside the Maser/Ferrari web of expense?
 

StuartW

Member
Messages
9,306
That’s exactly what Stuart has done, and it is something I am going to do this winter as recommended by AV.

It seems like a fairly cheap way of resolving a potential (or in your case, and actual) issue.

I think Hill also sell dust seals which seems sensible.

Yes, I had the Hills dust seals fitted at the same time by AV
 
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slay

Member
Messages
409
That’s exactly what Stuart has done, and it is something I am going to do this winter as recommended by AV.

It seems like a fairly cheap way of resolving a potential (or in your case, and actual) issue.

I think Hill also sell dust seals which seems sensible.
I called AV, but they would only accept local customers because they are so busy and do not have the space to have customer cars parked there for days, obviously must be doing something right. The labour quoted was very reasonable of 2 hours as well.

This sounds like a sensible upgrade, not sure why Maserati decided to have aluminum pistonswhich are susceptible to rust and corrosion, and with no dust seal... obviously there was a solution as Hill Engineering had produced them.

Anyone who could recommend a garage to carry out this work in Richmond or surrey area?
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
There are a few places. I would obviously suggest starting with forum sponsors and working from there.

2 hours is a really good number so they have done a few.

It’s not just Maserati who chose those pistons, the kit was developed for Ferrari’s that also seem to suffer the same fate...