Post by myothercarsa2cv on Jun 4, 2017 16:32:47 GMT
Got a chance to replace the caliper today. Wish I'd checked the new caliper before I started... but more on that later...
Jacked up the car and got the wheel off. My 1.5t jack is so near its limit with this car! It just about manages and that's on the rear...
Spacer came off easy enough, and so did the caliper. That got dangled out the way, and the carrier was up next. The pads were well past their best...
The carrier bolts had probably never been removed as they were proper tight, and access was tough. Fortunately the big torque wrench just fit in the wheel arch and I could squat the bolts loose (that description makes sense in my head!). Off with the carrier!
The next challenge was getting the old disc off. Years of use had it almost fused to the hub. Whacking it with a hammer wasn't doing anything so I took a punt that I might be able to pop it off using a nut and bolt through the hub/carrier mount. After some serious tightening and the visual bending of the middle of the old disc (!) it popped off with an almighty bang!
The new disc went on easy as pie, and the carrier went back on fine too. The bolts were done up FT (19mm heads so beefy as) and the rubber brake line was clamped to minimise brake fluid loss. Off with the old caliper, again easy enough. I then offered up the new caliper and... it was different. The bleed nipple was at the bottom, not the top, and the recess for the banjo fitting was on the wrong side. I tried using the recess I was provided with but the line just wasn't long enough to have a loop put in it. Unfortunately I was beyond the point of no return - I had to get the car back on the road this afternoon, and I couldn't reuse the old sticky caliper. I got my drill out...
And drilled a new recess.
That was a little hairy to say the least. I took it super slowly all the way, checking the depth every couple of seconds. Painful progress but the safest way.
Anyway, the new caliper went on and I stuck it atop a length of 4x2 to bleed (so the nipple was at the highest point), released the clamp and gave the brake pedal a little squeeze. I've got a new nifty one way valve for this job, so no worries about drawing the bubbles back in.
I bolted it all back together and gave the pedal a squeeze to check for leaks. The nipple was weeping, not ideal, and having stripped nipple threads in the past I was cautious about over tightening these... off the caliper came again. I popped some ptfe tape on the threads of the nipple and tightened it as much as I dared. It seemed to work and time will tell. All back together again, wheel back on, back on the ground. Had a little drive to Brixton and back and while I didn't stamp on the brakes, it all worked as it should.
Phew!
In the next instalment I might clean those wheels...
but I will definitely be fitting a new BOV.
Jacked up the car and got the wheel off. My 1.5t jack is so near its limit with this car! It just about manages and that's on the rear...
Spacer came off easy enough, and so did the caliper. That got dangled out the way, and the carrier was up next. The pads were well past their best...
The carrier bolts had probably never been removed as they were proper tight, and access was tough. Fortunately the big torque wrench just fit in the wheel arch and I could squat the bolts loose (that description makes sense in my head!). Off with the carrier!
The next challenge was getting the old disc off. Years of use had it almost fused to the hub. Whacking it with a hammer wasn't doing anything so I took a punt that I might be able to pop it off using a nut and bolt through the hub/carrier mount. After some serious tightening and the visual bending of the middle of the old disc (!) it popped off with an almighty bang!
The new disc went on easy as pie, and the carrier went back on fine too. The bolts were done up FT (19mm heads so beefy as) and the rubber brake line was clamped to minimise brake fluid loss. Off with the old caliper, again easy enough. I then offered up the new caliper and... it was different. The bleed nipple was at the bottom, not the top, and the recess for the banjo fitting was on the wrong side. I tried using the recess I was provided with but the line just wasn't long enough to have a loop put in it. Unfortunately I was beyond the point of no return - I had to get the car back on the road this afternoon, and I couldn't reuse the old sticky caliper. I got my drill out...
And drilled a new recess.
That was a little hairy to say the least. I took it super slowly all the way, checking the depth every couple of seconds. Painful progress but the safest way.
Anyway, the new caliper went on and I stuck it atop a length of 4x2 to bleed (so the nipple was at the highest point), released the clamp and gave the brake pedal a little squeeze. I've got a new nifty one way valve for this job, so no worries about drawing the bubbles back in.
I bolted it all back together and gave the pedal a squeeze to check for leaks. The nipple was weeping, not ideal, and having stripped nipple threads in the past I was cautious about over tightening these... off the caliper came again. I popped some ptfe tape on the threads of the nipple and tightened it as much as I dared. It seemed to work and time will tell. All back together again, wheel back on, back on the ground. Had a little drive to Brixton and back and while I didn't stamp on the brakes, it all worked as it should.
Phew!
In the next instalment I might clean those wheels...
but I will definitely be fitting a new BOV.
le sigh