Rear Caliper

[dean]

Hi all

Was in a world of my own last night taking the rear caliper off to paint the discs etc but i didn't put the pad retaining bolt back in before i removed it and the caliper fell in two .
I quickly did the bolts back up and I'm sure nothing in the caliper body has been disturbed as they only separated by a few mm but will it leak now or do i have to take it off, take it apart and re seal it, and if so what with?

Many thanks in advance
Dozy git

[Ciaran]

If you reassembled it and it appears Ok then its probably fine.

Guess you could put it back on and brake numerous times to test for leaks etc?

Reminds me, still waiting on rear discs for my S2, they were nicely resurfaced at the weekend thanks to the girlfriend not telling me the pads had worn down and were making a noise....


Ciarán

[techmanagain]

You will almost certainly find that you have air in the rear of the systm at least, and bleeding will be necessary.
If it works it way forwards, you will have a brake delay - a little bit nerve-racking experience- and the whole lot will have to be bled out at the brake calipers.

[dean]

Hi all

I'm just worried about it leaking and knackering the pads when i load the boot full of stuff to go on holiday because there is hardly any pressure in the rear braking system at the moment, or if there was any small components that can be disturbed within the caliper, i dont mind bleeding the brakes Ive done it many times before.
The main thing that made me think was in the Haynes manual it stresses that you should not let the two halves of the caliper come apart or the world could end, but i think they have been wrong before .
Thanks for the advise anyway gents, much appreciated.

Dean

[kenhall1202]

Hi,

No problem in splitting caliper halves unless the little O ring that seals the LHM ports fell out. Unlikely because it is mostly squished into a recess in one caliper half and seals by butting against the flat machined face of the other half. Any dirt that might have got between the machined faces could cause a problem. As suggested by techmanagain bleeding of the caliper is recommended.

Ken

[dean]

Hi Ken

Thanks for the reply, i cant believe i was daft enough to allow the calliper to come apart, i know the procedure for rear calliper removal and have done it many times but this time the mind was out wondering and the hands where just undoing stuff .
Knowing that its an 'o' ring that provides the seal has put my mind at rest, i thought it was some kind of silicone and that the two halves would have to be striped, cleaned and resealed.

Many thanks all
D

[noz]

Hi Dean,

Just to give you a little more confidence. There is absolutely no danger involved at all in splitting the rear calipers. I have done it many many times. As Ken says there's a little o-ring sitting in a recess at the point where the fluid transfers between one half of the caliper and the other. I've never known the o-ring to come out. It seals against a perfectly flat surface on the outer half of the caliper.

Cleanliness as usual with the hydraulics is your only enemy. Just make sure the faces are clean before reassembly. If you only separated them by 1mm or so then it will be completely safe to push them back together and reassemble. The caliper will need bled of course because if fluid came out then air went in. Just remember to set the suspension on high before bleeding the rear brakes. You won't be able to bleed them otherwise.

The message here is.... dont worry.

cheers

noz