Sheefa Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Hi all Well after purchasing new pads and discs what turned out to be a simple job has become a larger ballache than anticipated. Saying that I'm damn grateful for it......! See enclosed broken seals and stuck, rusty Pistons on my front calipers. To be honest I didn't notice any real problems under braking, yes the brakes were no comparison to my new company car, but I thought this might just be the lads initially. Good job I did purchase pads/discs and noticed these. They were falling to bits. Definitely worth sticking your head round the calipers and checking the rubber boots and seals too. Thankfully Glanza_Mike helped me out today in removing the very stubborn siezed piston and replacing all the seals and cleaning up the bores and Pistons themselves. We used a lot of wet and dry, brake cleaner and rags! Made sure each piston was smooth with no raised imperfections? One caliper is now all shiny and fitted back on to the car. Massive thank you Mike as I was screwed without another person here (pumping the brakes, removing siezed piston, bleeding system, cleaning etc!). Too man Got to deep clean the other one tonight, joy oh joy. Bought a new set of seals and boots etc for the rears from the good gentleman Chris Wilson so will be doing those next at some stage very soon Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glanza_Mike Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 What a handsome chap!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellonman Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 One of mine was so bad the pistons where pitted and I had to replace the pistons too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheefa Posted April 3, 2016 Author Share Posted April 3, 2016 Your guide was brilliant, thanks mate. Yeah bought a set of new pistons which are 2mm smaller in length but shouldn't make a massive difference. Only using them as replacement for badly pitted ones. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashloys Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 I'm painting mine atm, the insides of the front pistons seem quite rusted but the seals look fine and the brakes were working 100% before removal. Reckon it'll be grand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_b Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 I'm painting mine atm, the insides of the front pistons seem quite rusted but the seals look fine and the brakes were working 100% before removal. Reckon it'll be grand? It's normal for the insides to be rusty. Check the rubber seals around the neck of the pistons. To do a thorough job, I'd recommend removing the caliper from the disc, put some wood where the disc would usually go, and pump the brakes to get get the pistons out (not too far, you don't want any of the pistons to pop out though!). You can get a good look at the rubber seal/dust boot, check for splits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_jza80 Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Get some of the stainless pistons that CW does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellonman Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Your guide was brilliant, thanks mate. Yeah bought a set of new pistons which are 2mm smaller in length but shouldn't make a massive difference. Only using them as replacement for badly pitted ones. Cheers. Glad it helped mate here is the guide I do some years ago for others http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?244873-uk-brake-refurb&highlight=brake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheefa Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 It's normal for the insides to be rusty. Check the rubber seals around the neck of the pistons. To do a thorough job, I'd recommend removing the caliper from the disc, put some wood where the disc would usually go, and pump the brakes to get get the pistons out (not too far, you don't want any of the pistons to pop out though!). You can get a good look at the rubber seal/dust boot, check for splits. Yep agreed. To be fair you can see the condition of your rubber boots without removing the caliper just be looking without the pads, still with caliper in situ on disc. When I removed all my seals they were actually in great condition, it was the boots that were badly corroded and pistons needed cleaning up properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheefa Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 Get some of the stainless pistons that CW does Going to probably do that for the rears mate as due to time constraints I ordered a new set of front pistons as an emergency. They all fit perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_jza80 Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 I wonder if the pistons you've got are LS400 ones? They're the same diameter as the UK ones, may explain why they're slightly shorter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheefa Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 I wonder if the pistons you've got are LS400 ones? They're the same diameter as the UK ones, may explain why they're slightly shorter Oddly mate the engineer/manufacturer stated that they are suited for an NA? Not heard of them being shorter before but unlikely anyone has done a side by side comparison. Diameter is spot on and literally 2mm difference in length. I've taken the two best Pistons from each caliper and cleaned and re-used these and then added the two new ones to one side of each caliper. Looking forward to testing them out soon........once Mike gets his ass round here again and helps bleeds my brakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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