Mk 2 Rear Brake Calipers

[SirToppamHat]

Hello there.

 

I got a warning about my brakes on the dashboard and decided to change the rear disks and pads today.

 

All very straightforward, everything came off like a dream and for once, the motor factors had even supplied the right parts.

 

Unfortunately, I was unable to open up the caliper and have refitted the old parts. The lid was off the reservoir (interesting location Ford - God knows how you're supposed to check the levels),

 

I have given up for the day but before I go back tomorrow I have 2 questions:

 

1. Is it necessary to rotate the caliper to get it back into the cylinder?

 

2. Should I be expelling brake fluid from the bleed screw rather than trying to force it back up into the reservoir?

 

Many thanks for any assistance.

 

Regards

 

STH

[chromedome]

You need a tool to rotate the pistons back into the calipers and yes to should expel the fluid through the bleed nipple. Pushing the fluid back through the system can mess up the ABS and flip the seals in the master cylinder.

[SirToppamHat]

Chromedome

 

Thanks for the quick response. I think we have the same model of Galaxy.

 

Found these (presumably the right ones); I am posting here in case anyone else needs same.

 

Caliper Tool

 

Regards

 

STH

Edited October 9, 2010 by SirToppamHat

[gregers]

yep thats the jobby,halfords do it aswell irrc for 20 quid.

[SirToppamHat]

OK, I'm back with an update.

 

Firstly, Halfords are a bunch of to""ers. Having ordered the item on line to collect from Halfords at Bedford, I turned up to find they didn't have any in. "Computer says no", so I knocked it on the head for the weekend.

 

Anyway, I bought the correct tool for about £20 from a proper motor factors the next day, but have not had time to tackle the job until today.

 

The rear passenger side went OK. I attached a bit of fish tank tube (70p from the local aquarium place) to the bleed nipple and fed it into an old drinks bottle to collect the fluid. Clamped the tube and slackened the nipple, tightening it again as soon as it was released and only loosening when I actually started to wind in the caliper. The tool worked very well, but was a bit fiddly. The screw thread didn't precisely match the rate of wind of the caliper, so I had to keep unscrewing the collar a bit at a time. Took care not to wind in too far as others have had problems. Check the combined width of 2 pads and the disk and stop winding when youve got a couple of mm over this width. Disk and pads fitted and Toppam happy bunny.

 

NB BOTH SIDES REQUIRE CLOCKWISE ROTATION TO WIND IN THE CALIPERS, SO YOU ONLY NEED THE ONE TOOL!.

 

The driver's side didn't go quite as well, but I now know why I had a warning light! There had been loads of wear left on the LH pads, but on the RH ones, the outer was fine, but the inner was worn almost to nothing, breaking the sensor wire and triggering the warning light. I thought this was odd, but went ahead with winding and fitting the disk and pads. It was only when I went to re-fit the caliper that I noticed the traveller within the caliper frame (is that the right term?) was seized. I can't free it and don't want to risk sheering it as I neeed the car tomorrow (Sunday). Anyway, the new pads and disk are on and I will have to accept uneven wear until I can get a new frame (the bit held on with big bolts that you only need to remove to get the disk out).

 

Anyone know where's best to get one of these and the likely damage? I don't suppose you can get it from Ford without the whole caliper, which I absolutely don't need!

Edited October 30, 2010 by SirToppamHat

[sparky Paul]

Anyone know where's best to get one of these and the likely damage? I don't suppose you can get it from Ford without the whole caliper, which I absolutely don't need!

 

I would have thought the caliper mounting bracket and new guide pins should be available separately, but Willie Krashitt is your man for availability and Ford part numbers.

 

That said, you should be able to free the old one off. Remove the bracket and get it into a vice if possible, with the pins pointing upwards. Peel back the rubber gaiter, and flood with penetrating oil... you may need to leave it for half an hour or so, and repeat several times. Keep trying to wiggle the pin with a ring spanner inbetween oilings, you may need to give the spanner a small tap each way at first but try not to rush it - give the penetrating oil chance to work, it should come out eventually. Once the rubbers are detached, the pins should come out - they should rotate freely and there's nothing retaining them, so there's nothing to break only the pin itself.

 

I did a front caliper on another car a few months ago which had one pin siezed. It was absolutely solid, and even I was doubtful... but it eventually came out using the method above. As a last resort, you could apply a bit of heat to the bracket, but this is obviously not going to do the rubbers any favours.

 

Once you get the pins out, make sure the pin and the bore are as clean as possible, before greasing liberally and reassembling.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited October 30, 2010 by sparky Paul

[Bigjeeze]

Anyone know where's best to get one of these and the likely damage? I don't suppose you can get it from Ford without the whole caliper, which I absolutely don't need!

 

I would have thought the caliper mounting bracket and new guide pins should be available separately, but Willie Krashitt is your man for availability and Ford part numbers.

 

That said, you should be able to free the old one off. Remove the bracket and get it into a vice if possible, with the pins pointing upwards. Peel back the rubber gaiter, and flood with penetrating oil... you may need to leave it for half an hour or so, and repeat several times. Keep trying to wiggle the pin with a ring spanner inbetween oilings, you may need to give the spanner a small tap each way at first but try not to rush it - give the penetrating oil chance to work, it should come out eventually. Once the rubbers are detached, the pins should come out - they should rotate freely and there's nothing retaining them, so there's nothing to break only the pin itself.

 

I did a front caliper on another car a few months ago which had one pin siezed. It was absolutely solid, and even I was doubtful... but it eventually came out using the method above. As a last resort, you could apply a bit of heat to the bracket, but this is obviously not going to do the rubbers any favours.

 

Once you get the pins out, make sure the pin and the bore are as clean as possible, before greasing liberally and reassembling.

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

I had this fault on my MK2 - you can get the bit you require as a separate item from the calliper - it costs about

[SirToppamHat]

My final post on this subject I think.

 

I needed it in a rush this morning and ended up going to the Ford dealer for the part.

 

£90 inc Vat for the whole bracket. I am sure I could've got it cheaper or even freed the other one with enough time, but we have one car, I'm in the RAF and we're about to move house, so time is not something I have much of. Ford's at Shefford had it within about 3 hours of ordering and, because I had recently had all the parts off, there were no other snags and it went on easy peasy.

 

At the end of the day, it's a brake and I don't want to take any chances - when it ceased, there was no indication until the pad wore almost through (and if it had been the other side there would have been no indication at all until the whole thing went bang!).

 

Anyway, thanks for all your help; I hope others can learn from my experience.

 

Regards

 

Toppam

Edited November 1, 2010 by SirToppamHat