Miata Mailing List: June 1996, Message #1713
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   From: JOHN SEIGNER 
Subject: Seized Brake Caliper
   Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 19:12:23 -0400

To:  Mark Taylor

The seized rear parking brake is quite common with older cars =
particularily in wetter climates.  There is a leaver on the rear brake =
shoe which, when activated by the cable, presses the brake piston =
against the disc.  This leaver has a rubber seal which will allow water =
and hence corrosion to occur in the shoe over time.  Naturally the =
leaver seizes in the on position.=20

IT IS CERTAINLY NOT NECESSARY TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE SHOE/CALIPER.

A rear brake shoe rebuild kit can be purchased from Mazda which includes =
a new seal for the park brake leaver (as well as all the other rubber =
parts in the shoe/caliper).  Unfortunately the entire caliper must be =
disassembled to un-seize and replace the seal.  The Enthusiast's Manual =
covers this operation very well except for replacing the dust seal on =
the piston itself.  Their suggested method is almost impossible but =
there are at least two other methods that work very well.  In addition =
there is a cir-clip that must be removed inside the caliper which is a =
bit tricky, but again there is a relatively easy way using a decent set =
of cir-clip plyers. =20

I would be happy to elaborate on these proceedures if you are interested =
in doing the job yourself. =20

John Seigner
Banff, Canada
jseigner@banff.net