I need help on a fix...I need to replace my left rear brake caliper for my 99 civic si. My
Caliper is leaking brake fluid and every shop I go to wants to fix both and not the one I have to replace. They are also trying to charge me about $400+ to get it fix. I have not brakes, I try driving it around the block to see how is braking and I have nothing, I can't stop for sh*t. I know I have to replace the caliper and do something to the brake lines. I was thinking of buying the caliper fix it myselft but I need some guidance...please help...

 

When one caliper goes, it's usually a good idea to replace both. I know I had to do that this last summer on my '93 civic hatch. The rear driver's side caliper was locked shut, and tore something awful into my rotor. The whole job was not as complex as I thought it would be.

I would say to buy, or maybe check a library for some sort of Helms', Haynes, or Childen's repair guide and do the job yourself. I didn't need any special tools aside from the dremel I needed to make the screws holding my rotor into flathead sockets instead of the phillips they were originally. (In retrospect, I REALLY should have used an impact screwdriver instead of trying to unscrew them the conventional way, and strip all the screw tops)

If you can use a socket wrench and a screwdriver, you can probably do this job yourself. Just give yourself plenty of time, and don't forget to bleed your brakes after you're all done!!!

 

I guess my next question is...Is bleeding my brakes a two man job or can I do it myself. Finally what is the proper way to bleed the lines.

 

Yeah, it seems to be a two man operation. I guess there's tools out there to be able to do this job by yourself, I'm not really familiar with them though.

So what I have done is connected a little piece of tubing to the bleeder valve of the caliper and ran it into a container to catch the used brake fluid. This is optional, depending on how neat and tidy of a mechanic you are. I then looped the box-end part of a wrench over the nut at the base of the valve. I had my brother pump the brake peddle until it became firm, then as he held the pressure down, I quickly loosened the nut and tightened it back, all within the time it took to let the brake peddle come down, but not to the point that it hit the ground. It's a quick flick of the wrench. I did the wash, rinse, repeat thing a few more times until I was satisfied that there was no more air bubbles coming out of the tube.

Do this for all four brakes(assuming you have 4-wheel discs. I got nuthin' when it comes to drums)! Even though you only changed two calipers, make sure there is no air in any part of the system.

Also, CHECK YOUR BRAKE FLUID OFTEN WHILE PERFORMING THIS OPERATION!!! I don't want to scare you away from doing this yourself, but you will save yourself a LOT of time if you make sure your master brake fluid resevoir has an ample amount of fluid in it. You do NOT want to have to sit there bleeding tons of air out of the system because you drained your resevoir and started sucking in air. Every so often, stop the bleeding and make sure you have enough fluid in there. Brake fluid is cheap. And it will tell you on that resevoir cap what brake fluid to use, DOT 3 or DOT 4 or DOT 5 or something like that. I don't really know what numbers are out there. Just use the right one.

If you don't know what the bleeder valve looks like, check around the caliper for a small nut with a little metal nipple-like thing poking out. Sometimes they're covered with a piece of plastic or rubber that look like the cap to a valve stem.

That's the way I've done it. Maybe someone else has a better way than that.

Hope I've helped ya'. No one else seems interested.

 

I recomend two people to do it. it's easy. pump til it's hard, hold, and release

 

since its a 99 SI, i doubt the other one is bad also. just replace the one caliper, shouldnt be too hard.

bleeding brakes is definately a 2 man job unless u get that speed bleeder valve thingy. not sure how great it works.

 

Speed bleeders kind of suck...trust me I have used them on my brakes. If you don't have a second person you can get a vacuum pump from Sears that works pretty well.

Just don't do what I did the first time I changed my calipers and over torque the damn bleeder valves.