The night before the MOT ...

[Station]

My handbrake caliper mechanism seized.

Is there an easy way of freeing this off? Bleed nipple is seized and don't want remove caliper as I won't be able to bleed it.

It's had a new caliper one side, but this side the wind in piston is really rough to turn. When I bought it the caliper was seized on and the same has happened a couple if times since.

 

Would be a shame to have it fail as I've spent the past three days prepping it, including a 4am finish last night (and probably tonight as well).

 

It's a mk1 mr2 with the horrible single unit plungery disc handbrake

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

That's unlucky. I can't help unfortunately, beyond wishing good luck with it and I hope you can get it fixed without too much trauma.

[Asimo]

Good luck.

I spent months trying to fix the handbrake on my Mk3 MR2 last year. Both calipers rebuilt. Twice. By different caliper re-cyclers. New cables. MOT eventually but only just, the handbrake is still almost useless. Citroen could do disc handbrakes 40 years ago, why can't Toyota?

[KruJoe]

I have, once, successfully bled a caliper with a seized, broken bleed nipple, by unscrewing the pipe union just the right amount. I had an assistant of course. Not easy, but possible on some calipers. I cant remember if the caliper was bolted on at the time, but I think I had the caliper loose in my hand, with the disc zip-tied in between the pads.

[Station]

MGF has the same! I rebuilt those with good sucess