Cleaning brake calipers

[zcacogp]

That looks like a nice job but - as you say - some unguent underneath those plates is essential. Copper grease, silicone sealant, anything at all. Chewing gum, perhaps ...

I have split my calipers in the process of cleaning them up. There are dire warnings in the manual bout not doing so, but it was no biggie and I couldn't see what the fuss was about. I called my indie up to make sure and he couldn't explain the dire warning either. My calipers have worked fine for 7 years / 70,000 miles since, so I presume I didn't ruin them.


Oli.

 

[Monkeythree]

My plan is to fill in the pitting with some sort of suitable putty then paint the exposed areas so they are not exposed to air or water then use a layer of high temp sealant under the plates. As per your prior thread on the subject really.

I expect that someone in the Porsche engineering department probably recommended that sealant was used as OE but then someone in the Porsche finance department did the sums and proved that the additional cost in production was higher than the probable lifetime warranty costs of omitting it and therefore won the argument. That's usually the way it works in automotive!

 

[robdimond]

I read the dire warning about not splitting the calipers and so avoided it when doing mine. There is plenty of access to weld a nut on without splitting the caliper and that's my preferred method for getting the bolts out.

That said, the calipers clearly don't explode into a million pieces if you do, and a professional outfit probably has the torque settings/jigs/know-how to do it properly.

You are lucky to have the later calipers with the rubber dust boots. Worth considering replacing them (and the pistons if corroded) because they are not too expensive, as opposed to the early scraper seal calipers which are basically unserviceable.

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: robdimond
You are lucky to have the later calipers with the rubber dust boots. Worth considering replacing them (and the pistons if corroded) because they are not too expensive, as opposed to the early scraper seal calipers which are basically unserviceable.

The early ones aren't unserviceable but are very expensive to service. I bought a new piston for one of the front ones on my S2 and baulked at the £40 price tag. Pistons for the booted-type are nearer £10.


Oli.