I plan to take apart my rear brake caliper on my 98integra to inspect whats wrong with it. Maybe rebuild it my self. I took a look at a tub of brake caliper grease at autozone today. It cleary said in bold letters. "DO NOT USE FOR INTERNAL PISTON PARTS. USE BRAKE FLUID FOR INTERNAL PISTON PARTS" Is this right? Can I just take apart the caliper, inspect it, and reassemble it with brake fluid?

I have a feeling the threads might be stripped on the inside since it was hard to turn out. (When i replaced pads on the rears months ago, I used a C-clamp and pressed hard. later found out it needs to be turned, and I belive that this caused the damage. Only the drivers side rear did i do this to, and only the drivers side rear is hard to turn back out or in. ) Since Autozone charges $67 for a rebuilt caliper, and the parts to rebuild it my self might cost $20, im opting for a rebuild.

Those rubber boots in there, and anything rubber, do they NEED to be replaced? Acura doesnt sell them, I dont see a number on there parts pages (acuraautomotiveparts.org) Can I just inspect, and if they are intact, clean and reuse?

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

 

what makes u think it needs to be rebuilt? what is it doing?
brake fluid eats through rubber real well. do not use brake fluid for any type of lubrication purpose. it would be fatal if you did.

heh ive seen someone accidently fill a motor up with brake fluid. you honestly can not tell the diffrence by smelling or looking at it. only when it was drained you noticed it was a rather tad to thin.

the rear brakes are actuators. they have to be screwed back in with a special tool, needle noses, screwdriver. you probably damaged the threads on the actuator. why didnt you do this on the passenger side as well if you didnt know? i would just get a rebuilt one if you damaged it. thats just me.

no the rubber boots shouldnt have to be replaced as long as theyre good.

itd be a better idea to get a rebuilt one.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IVI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what makes u think it needs to be rebuilt? what is it doing?
brake fluid eats through rubber real well. do not use brake fluid for any type of lubrication purpose. it would be fatal if you did. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I understand it eats the rubber, but what other grease would I use to rebuild the caliper? I know my helms says to use a special grease, but that tub at autozone said to use brake fluid for internal parts.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IVI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

the rear brakes are actuators. they have to be screwed back in with a special tool, needle noses, screwdriver. you probably damaged the threads on the actuator. why didnt you do this on the passenger side as well if you didnt know? i would just get a rebuilt one if you damaged it. thats just me.
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I know they get screwed in now, and I think I did damage the threads. Its cheaper to replace the threads, then it is to buy a rebuild caliper. Why didnt I damage the passenger side too? Well, after it wouldnt clamp in... I opened the helms, read about it, hit my self on the head, and preceeded to turn the calipers the proper way. It was turning fine right after i clamped it, but its not now. The rear drivers side brake pads wore out VERY quickly. NO they werent install incorrectly, I know about the tabs in the back and how they need to be lined up. I read about that while i was reading to turn the caliper piston

 

im not sure what grease you have to buy
i usually use lithium grease for all brake jobs i do
but i never rebuilt a caliper

do they even sell the parts you need?
i think to save yourself the 40 dollars or so your going to end up costing more later. if it was me id just get the rebuilt one to make sure my brakes are properly working, i dont wear out my rotor prematurely as well as the pads.

if you can find the parts and your up to it knowing the risks then go for it.

 

Bump for the afternoon crew. About to take it all apart, and just need to know what to rebuild it with. Ill take tons of pics if you guys like.

 

I'd get a rebuilt caliper, unless I knew for sure that a rebuid kit comes with the threaded parts that are damaged. I'm guessing the rebuild kit only includes what you 'normally' replace; the rubber seals. Not necessarily all the handbrake adjuster parts.

Brake fluid attacks 'normal' rubber, but the rubber parts inside the brake system are compatible with it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JimBlake &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'd get a rebuilt caliper, unless I knew for sure that a rebuid kit comes with the threaded parts that are damaged. I'm guessing the rebuild kit only includes what you 'normally' replace; the rubber seals. Not necessarily all the handbrake adjuster parts.

Brake fluid attacks 'normal' rubber, but the rubber parts inside the brake system are compatible with it.
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Thanks, I landed up with a rebuilt one. Goin on today. But I was never expecting a rebuild kit to have the threaded parts. I was going to order those from len, after I inspected it to find whats wrong. Either way...Ill be takin the old one apart, and takin pics for all of you pic loves

 

i think that was the smarter choice.

 

Ok, I got it on, all bleeded too. I painted this one too (flat black to match the others ) The pedal seems a lil soft. I bleeded the new caliper till no air came out. Then went all the way around, and back to the new one again. I never had to bleed my calipers twice (Im no noob to caliper bleeding, I always did it right the first time) so im guessin just cause its a new caliper? Ill bleed them again in like a week or 2. Let it break in a lil. Other then that, Im satisfied with it. Lifetime warrenty, cant beat that.

I got pics of the old and new one. Ill post all of them up in a few day. I will take apart the old one too in a few days to see what went wrong, and post pics so you all can learn from this.

 

You could have rapped the caliper with a screwdriver handle to dislodge bubbles from hanging on the walls.

Also, new pads make the pedal feel a little soft until they wear perfectly together with the rotor.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JimBlake &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You could have rapped the caliper with a screwdriver handle to dislodge bubbles from hanging on the walls.

Also, new pads make the pedal feel a little soft until they wear perfectly together with the rotor.
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I used a hammer and tapped on the caliper already

As for new pads, I stuck my oem ones back on a week and a half ago before the new caliper. They still had meat left on them.