Discovered something while bleeding brakes
 

Finally decided to bleed my brakes because since I've owned the car, the brakes have acted like they had air in the lines and I know that at least one wheel was dragging the brakes. My car had broken down once with an ignition problem and my dad and I couldn't even push the car when it was out of gear and my dad is 240 lbs of muscle. Discovered that three out of four calipers were seized. With each wheel raised off of the floor, it took a lot of effort just the turn each wheel if I could turn it at all. Took some brake cleaner and a rubber mallet and managed to free up each caliper. I couldn't believe how much crud came out of each caliper with each tap of the mallet. Took it for a test drive today and it was like a new car. It was much quicker and the brakes, once bled, felt like new. Nice and firm. Total investment was two cans of brake cleaner and a container of brake fluid. Sure beats a brake job.

Gotta love that! My favorite kind of mechanical adventure is the Neanderthal/Kamikaze type. The kind you do when you break down in the middle of nowhere. For example, emergency brake fluid can be pretty much anything except a petroleum product or a carbonated beverage. But I digress.

Some folks will tell you that your pistons should be removed, cleaned, nes seals, etc. and they'd be right. You should consider that, really. But for now, congratulations on the two-cans-of-brake-fluid micro brake job.

Just keep in mind if you do overhaul the calipers. Do the smart thing and don't take the calipers apart. You will never keep the halves from leaking after you assemble them. Just change the seals and call it overhauled.




bob 80SC

You are not home yet...

Caliper rebuild, hose replacement, and new pads for the ones you have that are now glazed. No use playing around here. Might also consider checking front bearings, but I am sure the glow that your rotors showed while running around town may not have damaged the bearings? (That is a leading question!)

The cleaner simply drove the dirt into the caliper pucks. If you score them you are looking at rebuilt units. This is a very easy job and a good time to get it right.

John

I'm going to concur with the rest of the folks - rebuild your calipers. It's an all day job for an inept schmuck like me, but I'm sure you could do it in a couple of hours.

It's not at all hard - just remember to block the brake pedal with something so you don't get air in the lines. Plug each hardline after disconnecting it.

I actually took the time to completely polish out my cylinders with a scotchbrite pad - which is a tough reach without disassembling the calipers - but as outlined above, you don't want to disassemble them. They'll leak.

Once you get everything back together, it's a wonderful difference. I did my calipers last fall, and this past weekend I did the front rotors, which was also a huge difference. Brake work is pretty easy, if a little messy at times, cheap, and makes a huge difference in the feel of your car.

Everyone who works on their car should have a full complement of bludgeoning tools. Here's a tonque-in-cheek quote from a tech friend of mine:

"Hammer to fit, File to shape, Paint to match" :)

Everyone have a nice day,
Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars
www.seinesystems.com

Hah, that's a good one about the hammer. Actually, the bearings are fine, no noise at all and the wheels have no play in them moving them side-to-side and top-to-bottom. I think (hope) that I've dodged a bullet this time and I'm glad since money is tight right now due to a new house. But, one day I'll replace the calipers and lines. Thanks for the replies fellas.

Right - brakes are not to be messed with. The inside of the rubber lines has a tendency to break down after all of the years, and get clogged inside the line or the caliper. Kindof like your arteries after eating bacon for 30 years...

-Wayne

No one said you had to replace the calipers. Money has little to do with the decision to rebuild your brakes. I bet that if you drove a similar 911 with brakes in good condition you would see that what you have is still quite lacking from original function. Roadside “repairs” are just that get you going; then when you have the time and materials to do it right, you do it right.

You find that after years of neglect the brakes are in bad shape. Rather than performing an inexpensive (read under $50, add $50 more for lines if needed) caliper rebuild on all 4 you have just proudly postponed the inevitable. If you spend a day and rebuild your calipers now you might not need to do a $$$ caliper replacement later. Rebuild the fronts, drive the car for 2/3 weeks and then rebuild the rears. It is a good idea to not rebuild all 4 at the same time if you can, as you will get reduced pedal response until the seals bed in.

Whoa!!! Gentlemen, what do you mean "NOT TO TAKE IT APART"? I rebuilt my front (rears pending) and I removed the caliper, used compressed air to push the cylinder out, replaced the rubber seals, used appropriate grease, put parts together, etc., etc.,.....

Other than the above, what 'else' would constitute taking the caliper apart that would cause it to leak?

HEEEEEEEELLLLLLP!

Cab83,
Don't panic.........you have done well!
Some ultra enthusiastic guys have been know to split the calipers. It won't buy you anything, and its almost [?] impossible to reseal the halves. Expensive mistake.

Targa77 -

Here's something to consider: having just done some brake work myself (see separate thread) I know that some of the "crud" that came off my calipers just before I pulled them were parts of the seals and cir-clip.

My vote would be to do the rebuild now (w/o splitting the calipers) in an attempt to save them.

I know that the correct thing to do is to rebuild them and I will do so as soon as my finances recover from the house my wife and I just purchased. But for now, the brakes work great, don't leak brake fluid, don't squeal and the car feels like it's gained 50 hp. As seldom as I drive it now (it''s summer and I need to recharge the a/c), it will have to do for now. I do agree with each and every one of you though and thanks to all for their words of wisdom.

It's only about $50 to 70 dollars to buy the rebuild kits. I don't know that charging the A/C will matter much once you go to push the brake pedal and find yourself eating the ass end of the guy in front of you. But then again think of the money you'll save when you don't have the car anymore and don't have to pay for any repairs or insurance. You may find yourself going from saying that they work great today and aren't leaking to holy crap where's the barkes!!!! Sorry for the "strong" opinion but you're really flirting with what could be a very dangerous situation and unfortuenately you won't find out until it's too late.

Tough love from Dan, but I have to agree that the brakes come first. It is a very satisfying job and by repainting your calipers a nice silver or otherwise you add a nice touch to the car overall.

It is mostly labor as the kits are very inexpensive. You can push the caliper pucks out with a bicycle floor pump. Lots of instructions in the archives.

John

I agree with the fix them right and fix them now philosophy on the braking system. The brakes are the most powerful and most important system on the car. Next is tires and steering. A/C is down there with the music system in terms of priority. Cheers, Jim

JDUB -

I can't imagine using only a bicycle pump ... on mine we had to go to 100 psi to break 2 of them free.

Maybe it has worked for some but I'd have a compressor handy as back-up.