Leaky brake caliper.... Is this unusual?
Discussion
This might be better in home mechanics but it's a bit quiet in there.
Fitted a recon rear caliper to my mk3 ford galaxy last Friday night. All went well until today when the brake fluid level warning came on.
Anyway it's been leaking fluid obviously and I though it might have been from th brake line connection or bleed nipple but these are both dry. It's actually been leaking from the rear handbrake lever seal which is the left most rubber but on this picture.
The motor factors want it back but will only refund after they send it back to their supplier to confirm it's a manufacturer defect and not me messing up th installation.
The thing is, how can you mess up fitting one of these, it's just take the old one off, pop this one back in, bleed and off you pop. Have I b
ksd it or what?
Fitted a recon rear caliper to my mk3 ford galaxy last Friday night. All went well until today when the brake fluid level warning came on.
Anyway it's been leaking fluid obviously and I though it might have been from th brake line connection or bleed nipple but these are both dry. It's actually been leaking from the rear handbrake lever seal which is the left most rubber but on this picture.
The motor factors want it back but will only refund after they send it back to their supplier to confirm it's a manufacturer defect and not me messing up th installation.
The thing is, how can you mess up fitting one of these, it's just take the old one off, pop this one back in, bleed and off you pop. Have I b
ksd it or what? You're right, they're fairly straightforward to fit. It just depends on your level of diy aptitude about this sort of thing. Most likely it's a dodgy seal at time of refurb, only one way to find out and that's to send it back. Worst case (financial) scenario is that they accuse you of being a bit of an animal and charge you for a new one.
Whatever the outcome, you can't carry on driving with leaky caliper.
Whatever the outcome, you can't carry on driving with leaky caliper.
I was pretty gentle I think. I've got a proper wind back tool but didn't need to use it as the piston was back enough to clear the pads.
I've put the old one back on for now as it was only replaced due to a sticky handbrake mechanism, fine as long as you leave the handbrake alone. Trouble is the bleed nipple on the old one was seized solid so I couldn't bleed the sodding thing. Now I've got a lot of pedal travel... Stops OK though til I sort it out.
Pain in the arse though, really wish I'd just booked it in for someone else to sort now.
I've put the old one back on for now as it was only replaced due to a sticky handbrake mechanism, fine as long as you leave the handbrake alone. Trouble is the bleed nipple on the old one was seized solid so I couldn't bleed the sodding thing. Now I've got a lot of pedal travel... Stops OK though til I sort it out.
Pain in the arse though, really wish I'd just booked it in for someone else to sort now.
dave_s13 said:
I've put the old one back on for now as it was only replaced due to a sticky handbrake mechanism, fine as long as you leave the handbrake alone. Trouble is the bleed nipple on the old one was seized solid so I couldn't bleed the sodding thing. Now I've got a lot of pedal travel... Stops OK though til I sort it out.
Pain in the arse though, really wish I'd just booked it in for someone else to sort now.
Your car is unroadworthy. You now have 2.5 working brakes as well as no handbrake.Pain in the arse though, really wish I'd just booked it in for someone else to sort now.
dave_s13 said:
I was pretty gentle I think. I've got a proper wind back tool but didn't need to use it as the piston was back enough to clear the pads.
I've put the old one back on for now as it was only replaced due to a sticky handbrake mechanism, fine as long as you leave the handbrake alone. Trouble is the bleed nipple on the old one was seized solid so I couldn't bleed the sodding thing. Now I've got a lot of pedal travel... Stops OK though til I sort it out.
Have you tried bleeding it through the hydraulic connection, i.e. slacken off the tube nut? You can often do a fairly reasonable job of getting the air out like this if the pipe goes in somewhere near the top.I've put the old one back on for now as it was only replaced due to a sticky handbrake mechanism, fine as long as you leave the handbrake alone. Trouble is the bleed nipple on the old one was seized solid so I couldn't bleed the sodding thing. Now I've got a lot of pedal travel... Stops OK though til I sort it out.
HustleRussell said:
Your car is unroadworthy. You now have 2.5 working brakes as well as no handbrake.
??? I'm not commenting either way on its roadworthiness (depends how much travel there is and whether handbrake doesn't work or just binds on a bit after being used), but how do you figure 2.5 brakes?Unless there's so much air that one circuit is running out of travel in the master cylinder then surely he's got 4 working brakes with a longer than normal pedal travel? Although I guess if that half of the master cylinder is running out of travel then you've got a point and 2.5 might well be fair.
Mr2Mike said:
Have you tried bleeding it through the hydraulic connection, i.e. slacken off the tube nut? You can often do a fairly reasonable job of getting the air out like this if the pipe goes in somewhere near the top.
Good tip, I'll try this in a bit as I think I can get a spanner on it without having to get the wheel off. Thanks for the replies anyway. Plan now is to take it back for a straight refund, don't want another from them. Going to pay extra and get one from ECP,twice the price but you'd hope it'll be sound.
I Bought 2 front and 2 rear calipers for my Cortina restoration, these came from e bay as re manufactured. By the time they were fitted and bled some 9 months had passed. One rear caliper leaking from the handbrake seal and one front caliper leaking from a piston seal.
Fitted another new rear and bled brakes then discovered front leaking. This is in addition to the new brake master cyl leaking, which came to light after fitting the new rear caliper.
No more rebuilt calipers from e bay for me. Currently waiting for a new front then bleed the bleeding brakes a bleeding gain
Fitted another new rear and bled brakes then discovered front leaking. This is in addition to the new brake master cyl leaking, which came to light after fitting the new rear caliper.
No more rebuilt calipers from e bay for me. Currently waiting for a new front then bleed the bleeding brakes a bleeding gain
e600 said:
I Bought 2 front and 2 rear calipers for my Cortina restoration, these came from e bay as re manufactured. By the time they were fitted and bled some 9 months had passed. One rear caliper leaking from the handbrake seal and one front caliper leaking from a piston seal.
Fitted another new rear and bled brakes then discovered front leaking. This is in addition to the new brake master cyl leaking, which came to light after fitting the new rear caliper.
No more rebuilt calipers from e bay for me. Currently waiting for a new front then bleed the bleeding brakes a bleeding gain
Do Cortinas have rear calipers? Fitted another new rear and bled brakes then discovered front leaking. This is in addition to the new brake master cyl leaking, which came to light after fitting the new rear caliper.
No more rebuilt calipers from e bay for me. Currently waiting for a new front then bleed the bleeding brakes a bleeding gain
spaximus said:
If it is Shaftec, they are a spot on supplier we use them, they will pay up no problem if there is no damage done. Hard to see how you could do that so I would not worry.
Cheers for that :thumbsup:I've just ordered one from ECP and used a 15% code so not too bad (£100 vs £65).
Got it booked in tomorrow morning for the garage to do it while I'm at work as although I managed to get a bit of air out of the brake line this morning it's still spongy in the pedal. It's just going to be much easier all round to get the pro's on the job and get it bled out properly.
It's a ball ache of a job with one trolley jack, a bit of pipe and a bottle, an unenthusiastic wife and 3 kids constantly asking me "what are you doing daddy?"......"why?".
Edited by dave_s13 on Thursday 5th May 09:19
It does seem that they don't always refurb these things very successfully then doesn't it!?
I'm not surprised really given how cheap they are.
The shaftec one I got was £105 exchange - so £43 quid back for my old caliper which leaves them with £62.
It then has to be shipped to the refurb outfit, stripped, shot blasted, painted, new seals/pistons etc then sent back out to be retailed. In this little dance there is £62 "profit" changing hands, how much of that goes to the retailer and how much to the refurb shop? Who knows. It's not much though is it.
I'm not surprised really given how cheap they are.
The shaftec one I got was £105 exchange - so £43 quid back for my old caliper which leaves them with £62.
It then has to be shipped to the refurb outfit, stripped, shot blasted, painted, new seals/pistons etc then sent back out to be retailed. In this little dance there is £62 "profit" changing hands, how much of that goes to the retailer and how much to the refurb shop? Who knows. It's not much though is it.
Edited by dave_s13 on Thursday 5th May 09:36
Think that's bad, the GSF refurbs with discount come out at about £45 each 
I've had much better luck with their stuff than much more expensive ones, so it just appears to be down to the monkey on the other end than the price.
Mind, the same family/design of caliper is fitted across a lot of Fords, Jag's, etc - even genuine ones tend to seize and leak easily, really poor design - I'm sick of changing them.
I've had much better luck with their stuff than much more expensive ones, so it just appears to be down to the monkey on the other end than the price.
Mind, the same family/design of caliper is fitted across a lot of Fords, Jag's, etc - even genuine ones tend to seize and leak easily, really poor design - I'm sick of changing them.
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