Front left caliper stuck, rebuild or replace?
 

I just wonder whether it's worth it to rebuild the OEM calipers (102.000km), or just replace them with a completely new caliper.

The Mazda 626 2001 of my brother had both his pistons seized up, and according to the mechanic they were so messed up, he had to replace them because the pistons were oval and this messed up the internal surface of the caliper.

I found a TRW caliper, new, for 70 euro. So either I rebuild my caliper, go through all that mess, or I just simply replace the caliper and call it a day.

I would rebuild before i buy a cheap caliper.

Just my two cents. I recently rebuilt both rear and will be rebuilding both front within the next few weeks actually. My 8 has 93k miles on it and the pistons were fine. The boots were just torn.

Way cheaper and not difficult if your willing to get your hands dirty.

Travis

Pics of how the boots looked? And do you mean the rubbers, the seal ring or just the dust ring?

Rebuild kits are cheap but doing it right requires some tools and know how so buying rebuilt caliper is the better option IMO. Or you could just half ass it and just install the rebuild kit.

Im sure i do somewhere but at the moment i have no idea where they are.

I rebuilt the whole caliper, all new seals, cleaned off the piston and cylinder and even painted em.

Over 7k boosted miles later, no leaks or issue's.

Travis

Good point 9k. The rear pistons require a "block" tool. It's a small square with a bunch of different ridges on it. It attaches to a ratchet so you can twist them back in.

It really isn't difficult to do and if you haven't done it before it would be a good learning experience. Im pro people working on their own shit.

The rear brake pads turned out to be stuck in their seats, we couldn't get them out with hand or even a screwdriver on them being hit with a hammer. I will clean the seats and see how the new pads will fit. I know that the piston of the rear calipers needs to be turned in order to be retracted. We managed with pliers, but I hope the Hobby Car Garage will have the real tool for it.

I have taken my own motorcycle calipers apart before and put them together, they worked fine. Getting those small pistons square back was a pain, but it worked out. Bleeding is not a problem, done it many times, as for replacing the cylinder and piston of a moped engine, done that atleast 5 times for friends. I've seen many videos too, so I should be fine. I'm mainly worried whether the caliper itself is still in good condition (no rust, no scratches), so it's rebuildable. I don't know how likely it is that the caliper so detoriated inside that a rebuild is unlikely.

What about the ABS? Will the ABS leak empty, or just the brake line? I know how to bleed brakes, but I don't know how this will affect the ABS when I detach the caliper.

It's basically, take caliper out, blow the piston gently in pulses out of the caliper with a compressor, remove the boot and seal. Place new seal, put boot over the piston, fit boot into caliper, slide piston square in. Mount the caliper, bleed the lines, done.

It depends, before I went to the BBK, my stock front left seized and could not be rebuilt. When I pulled it apart the pins and cylinder were pitted really bad. I could not rebuild them and I have never driven thru water and rust is a non issue here so I'm not sure how it happened.

I bled it at all four corners (because i put SS lines in) and then bled the MC. I did bleed all of the above twice but i Never had an issue after that.

But you are correct on your chain of events. Just make sure you clean everything before you put it back together. You dont want the seals sitting on dirt/ grime etc..

Take the time and do it correctly

9k, Something within the fluid itself?? Not sure about the pins, maybe due to the extreme heat and insufficient lube.. My car came from TX, i got it while i was stationed there. Even being in PA now since 2012 it has no rust but it's garaged as well.
However that it another good point. BUT, unless you take it apart and look, you wont know and you can't learn.

It's 9K's case with his frontleft caliper that I am talking about. Maybe I'll just order the caliper anyway, try to rebuild this one and send the caliper back if I succeed, or replace them when it's now possible. It will cost about 12 euro and some effort to send it back and forth, but atleast I am certain that I can drive away from the garage back home with a good caliper.

I don't think anyone actually manufacturers new calipers. Regardless of brand, you're buying a rebuilt Mazda caliper. Depending on your skill level, they may be better or equal to what you get doing your own rebuild. Whether you want to invest the time to rebuild yourself is up to you.

Brake fluid simply picks up water over time - nothing you can do about it. Water sinks or gets emulsified in the fluid and ends up in the caliper at the lowest point. Water starts the corrosion/pitting process and time wounds everything. Reaplcing the brake fluid in the reservoir + using that new fresh res fluid to flush all lines every 2 years for non-trackers and 1/year for track cars is essential.

I had only 1 set of calipers replaced on my Integra GS-R in 235000 miles. it was both rear ones. Front were fine. i did replace/flush every two years and replaced the fluid in the res about every 6 months after the 3/50 mi warranty was up. That GS-R was the most dependable car I've ever owned.

to those following this looking for calipers. i picked up set of fronts for the sport package from jegs. they are the same a the fancy ones with the red paint that cost 250 a pair.

total price 105 for the front pair shipped. no core.

beers :beer:

How many miles on em?

Travis

fresh rebuilt. you need one of each.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Power-Stop/419/L3248A/10002/-1

http://www.jegs.com/i/Power-Stop/419/L3249A/10002/-1

the same as these without the red paint.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Power-Stop/419/S3248A/10002/-1

i checked the #s with the power stop web site.

beers :beer:

I'd replace both front calipers and service the caliper bracket and slide pins while you're at it. If the pads are worn replace them and either have the rotors machined if they're within spec or replace them.

I rebuilt a few calipers before and I thought it was really easy. I rebuilt the front Honda civic calipers with a $2 kit from rockauto and turned out well, still using them 20-30K miles with no leaks.


I rebuilt a spirit R front brake caliper on my rx7, this was a little tougher as when you go to blow out the pistons using compressed air there are 4 of them, so you need to use blocks and what not to force only the ones you want out. Besides that easy. These calipers have seen some good use and no leaks and work fantastic.


If you have access to compressed air you can blow the piston out and its not too bad from there, it might take a little time to get the seals in depending on the caliper design but it just takes time.

So I rebuilt the caliper. The piston almost didn't want to come out and the local garage thought someone got shot once it flew against the piece of wood. Piston was pretty messed up from pitting. Caliper had some rust, removed the rust and placed new ring and seal. Getting the piston through the seal was a PITA. I had to stretch the dust seal at 3 points and push the piston through with just 2 hands. I've seen that you should put the dust seal on the piston first and squeeze the edge into the caliper and make sure it sits well. First of all, that doesn't work on these calipers. Second, it's much more easier if you just get a second pair of hands which stretch the seal so you can drop the piston in.

Car brakes perfectly again, I love it.

Great to hear that you got better brakes again. Did you replace the piston? It's usually not advisable to put a pitted piston back into the caliper as it'll damage the inner seal sooner or later.

rebuilding isn't tough, just takes time like you said. The civic I did took some time to get the dust seal into position. the rx7 took time getting the little pistons out but when it came to reinstall it was cake.
'
Looks like these calipers are closer to the civic, easier to pop out the piston but a pain to reinstall.

That is a great reminder to flush those brakes every two years starting with replacing the fluid in the reservoir then flushing each line with fresh fluid. One great thing that BMW (service) has on their list of PM work - it does save those components and allows them to last. Water is quickly absorbed into brake fluid and water leads to rust everywhere [there is metal] inside the brake system.

I replaced the piston. It was heavily pitted. Rest of the piston was shining like new. So it got pitted because of the rusted caliper...

Reinstalling them wouldn't be so difficult if you would have a tool that stretches the dust seal honestly. Would just be a piece of PVC through which the piston can fall, but still not wide enough to ruin the dust seal.

Exactly. It takes an hour to do so, but ideally done when you have to switch summer/winter tyres, so you get 2 jobs done at once. But it in my case, the caliper was alright, just the stuff outside of the piston seal got rusted, so it's more of a dust seal matter, more than a braking fluid one.