Front caliper....

remove the brake pads. I know it can be tough to get the inner pad off of the big pins, but it is possible.  The carrier bar, which has those large pins permanently attached, can move somewhat in relation to the rest of the caliper.  Mine was somewhat frozen and very difficult to move at first.  I worked it back and forth and now moves quite well.

Spread the carrier (and the big pins that are attached to it) away from the caliper as much as you can.  Then pull the large, inboard pad over one of the pins and then the other.  Of course the outboard pad just sort of falls out.   

 

remove the spring clip thingie, and the plastic inserts from inside the hollow pistons.

 

Gently apply compressed air into the banjo bolt hole.  Keep your digits away from the pistons!  This is especially important with the front caliper since there are large immovable pieces of the caliper directly across from the pistons.  You don't want your finger pinched between a piston and the caliper body.

Since both pistons are being fed by the same air supply, one will likely pop before the other.  Once one pops, the air won't be able to build up enough pressure to pop the second piston.  What I did was to put a finger inside the popped cylinder and cover up it's air hole, thus diverting the air into the un-popped cylinder.  Did I mention to watch that your other fingers don't get pinched by the remaining piston?

 

They're out.

 

Remove the seals from their respective grooves.  In addition to the fairly large seal in the groove in the cylinder wall, there should also be a smaller seal right at the cylinder opening.  There's a sort of step machined in for just that purpose.  I didn't show it's removal because I didn't have any dust seals in there.  I guess a prior owner must've pitched them or something. 

 

Clean the cylinders, and clean/replace the pistons as with the rear caliper.

Put the 2 seals into each cylinder.  In the pic below, the main seal is already in place in the small cylinder, and the dust seal is going in.

 

After the 2 main seals and 2 dust seals go in, lubricate the pistons with fresh brake fluid and slide 'em in,  solid side down.   Install the 2 cylinder inserts into the hollow part of the cylinders.

Install the spring clip thingie and brake pads back into the caliper.  

I've found it helpful to first sand smooth the 2 big pins that the front pads ride on, as well as the 2 small pins the rear pads ride on.  I then gave them a light coating of Sil-Glyde by The American Grease Stick Company (http://www.agscompany.com), a high-temperature silicone-based lubricant designed for brake systems.   Some people warn about putting any sort of grease near your brake pads, so of course, this is entirely up to you and your comfort level.  Sil-Glyde is also available at NAPA auto parts stores using NAPA packaging.  It's listed under part# 765-1351.

 


If you look further at those big pins on the front caliper, they have rubber boots on them where the pins slide into the caliper housing.   The service manual  specifically calls for using a suitable silicone grease here, underneath the boots.  Make sure your boots fit snugly so the grease stays in and dirt stays out.  Giselle recently replaced her boots because somehow the original boots were stretched noticeably larger, making them sort of useless.  You can see the difference in size in this pic.

 

Here are the pins, naked.  Just pull that whole carrier out of the caliper and apply the silicone grease.

 

 

 

Back to main brakes page
Rear caliper removal
Front caliper removal
Rear caliper disassembly and repair
Front caliper disassembly and repair
Installation and testing