99 v70 Front brake calipers - both sides failed recently

[juggles]

About a month ago, the left-front brake caliper on my 1999 V70 wagon gave out. I was driving it at the time and didn't realize it until it was too late -- the rotor was cherry red and smoking. Took it to my mechanic and had it repaired including replacing the rotor (a little over $600.) Today, the right side appears to have failed as well -- same smell, heat etc. although I realized it much sooner and stopped before the rotor got as hot.
I've done a little brake work in the past although not on a Volvo, and I found a tutorial on this site on doing the caliper. Something I haven't done before, but it looks like a repair I should be capable of.

So two questions -- is there a simple way to tell if the rotor is damaged? And should I be concerned that both calipers failed at nearly the same time? Does that suggest some other problem with the brakes that I need to address?

Also, any additional tips on replacing the caliper would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[abscate]

Mine both froze up within 3-4 months of each other - its pretty common for that to occur.

Take the wheel off and post a pic of your rotors.

They should be badly discolored from overheating
They should look like mirrors - no scoring
They need to be thicker than minimum Volvo Spec - which is 23.0mm, no more than 0.04mm runout on hub.
The variation of thickness spec is 0.008mm which you won't meet, just ignore it.

[rspi]

I was surprised to find both of our S70 calipers stuck about a year ago.

Usually you will feel a bad rotor while braking. Makes the steering wheel shake.

[KurtL]

I noticed a couple months back that I was getting a burning brake smell from the 01 V70's driver side plus the rotor was very hot from driving a few minutes.

I removed the slider pins and noticed they were corroded and scored. I thought this was causing one side of the caliper to drag on the rotor.

So using a drill and sand paper I cleaned them up. After greasing them on reassembly everything seems to be working fine now.

[abscate]

Reminder....a 2 year schedule of brake fluid flushes will keep Pistons from rusting up, as well as keeping the bleeders from rusting in place. You can do this without bleeding as long as you keep fluid in the reservoir

[j-dawg]

Brake calipers are typically replaced in pairs for exactly this reason. If one failed, it's likely that the next is coming soon.

[theWIFES_S70]

Both my front calipers froze up last winter at the same time. One was red hot and glowing and the other one was hot to the touch. I replaced both at the same time. So this is not out of the ordinary. I decided against putting in some Autozone calipers and instead ordered mine through FCP. Though, I believe they were the same brand?

I will say, I wish I'd painted them before installing them. The rebuilt calipers get pretty rusty pretty quickly. Within weeks they looked old... If I remember, I'll take a picture of these 1.5 yr old one against the rear calipers that are older, and possibly original.

When I bleed my brakes and relube everything in the spring, I might spray them down a little.

[erikv11]

The ones at FCP are from Cardone. You can step up to the next-higher quality level from Cardone, which is pre-painted, for cheaper if you buy from RockAuto instead. That's what I did this fall when one caliper stuck on my 95. Here we are more than halfway through a midwest winter, not a speck of rust on them. Well, probably a spec somewhere, but you get the idea.

[abscate]

I used Cardones on my 1999 3 years ago when they seized. They were rebuilt ATE

[erikv11]

Ditto, the Cardone calipers I bought were also rebuilt ATE.