Rear caliper replacement

[mjh112]

I have brake fluid leaking from the right rear brake caliper on my 00' LS. It appears to be leaking from a place that cannot be tightened or repaired ( where the emergencybrake cable lever? meets the caliper). obviously I'm not the most mechaniclly inclined person on this site, but I think I can do this with a little help. If anyone has any advise or experience with this it sure would be a big help. thanks.

 

[cammerfe]

.It's not too hard to do. As an oversimplification---
1. Remove caliper from 'cage' mount--two bolts
2. Remove cable from caliper
3. Unscrew hose from caliper
4. Reverse above instructions to install new caliper--using new pads
5. Do other side the same way
6. Bleed air from lines and calipers r rear first then left

 

[mjh112]

thanks cam. Info is definitely appeciated. Will I be needing any special tools? Any PITA steps i should expect or is it really that simple?

 

[owlman]

Here is the 06 manual, it should be similar if not the same for the 00
you will find sections for caliper replacement, brake bleeding, caliper repair etc

 

[NateRW21]

You will need a special tool to get the piston back into the caliper; NAPA carrys it and it's not expensive. Be sure to put on new pads... both sides! And don't forget that the nipples on the back of the pad have to index into the piston. You'll be one mad dude trying to get it back together without it being indexed!!!

 

[mjh112]

Thanks to everyone for the help. Big help with the manual owlman. Big help. Picking up caliper today. Probably try it on monday. Thanks again.

 

[milehighmikey]

You will need a special tool to get the piston back into the caliper; NAPA carrys it and it's not expensive. Be sure to put on new pads... both sides! And don't forget that the nipples on the back of the pad have to index into the piston. You'll be one mad dude trying to get it back together without it being indexed!!!

Solid advice, but he's changing the whole caliper.

Use a torque wrench on the brake hose bolt, to both a: avoid snapping the hollowed bolt from too much torque and, b: get it tight enough to compress the copper washer so that it seals properly. It is a fine line that only a torque wrench can define. I know I thought for sure that I would be snapping my bolt on my first caliper change because it kept turning while feeling fairly tight enough, and that is where you have the bolt in its crush-the-washer zone. It is very close to tight enough when it is in that zone, but it is deforming a copper washer and creating a seal during that phase. IIRC, the setting is 35 ft-lbs on those bolts and it went from deforming the washer to "click" on the torque wrench without changing its resistance very much. Don't quote me on the setting, but it should be in your manual link.

Also, where there is smoke, there is fire, and it would not hurt to change the caliper on the opposite side soon. When my first caliper went on my LS, the failure mode was a stuck parking brake, which a: cooked the rotor, b: delaminated the pad on that caliper, and c: fried the wheel speed sensor, setting the check ABS light and requiring that sensor to be replaced. All that happened on a 5 mile drive on the one day of the year that the wife had to use my car to get to work.

 

[NateRW21]

Solid advice, but he's changing the whole caliper.

Yes, but he's replacing one; you buy pads in pairs, it would be dangerous and stupid not to replace the other side's pads as well. So, he'll need the tool. Also he'll need it to get the nipples on the pad to index the piston.

Also, where there is smoke, there is fire, and it would not hurt to change the caliper on the opposite side soon. When my first caliper went on my LS, the failure mode was a stuck parking brake, which a: cooked the rotor, b: delaminated the pad on that caliper, and c: fried the wheel speed sensor, setting the check ABS light and requiring that sensor to be replaced. All that happened on a 5 mile drive on the one day of the year that the wife had to use my car to get to work.

I'm not sure the price of the rear caliper's off the top of my head, but if they are inexpensive (rebuilt i assume?), then yes. But, a good inspection can tell you the condition too. One of the most important things people fail to do is flush and refill their brake fluid. This fluid, through heating and cooling gathers condensation; mixing water with the hydraulic fluid and not only providing poor performance when it heats and the water boils (making gas; which will compress, unlike fluid)... but also can be a cause for internal corrosion. If your fluid is anything other than clear or the color of a light beer... it should be flushed. (keep in mind it takes a lot to flush all the lines and the actuators for the advancetrac/trac-control/anti-lock brakes).

 

[milehighmikey]

Nate, I paid around usd $90 for my rebuilt calipers.

Good point on the replacing the pads in pairs, what was I thinking?

One other thing that I do whenever replacing pads is that I open the bleeders while returning the pistons to home in the calipers, which both prevents master cylinder overflows and minimizes the reverse travel of contaminated fluid. Afterwards, I flush a lot of new fluid through, to ensure that any contaminated fluid is indeed removed.

Thanks for the feedback.