caliper rebuild question

I took the green Riv to the local Buick dealership today to get an oil change and inspection. I normally never get this type of work done anywhere, especially not the dealership, but the riv needed an oil change and it was cold and snowing. To top it off I had coupons to get the oil change for $19 vs 40 (w/ ACDelco filter) and the inspection was free vs. $60 (rip off).

After many of the techs assembled to gawk at the riv I got verdict for the inspection: "this car is mint"
They did try to get me to agree to a t-stat change ($124!!!) because they claimed mine was leaking. I told them it had less than 10k km and that the baked on "drip" was probably from when I changed it. Regardless I'll pull the housing this spring and replace the gasket AGAIN just to be on the safe side.

They also told me that the caliper boot is torn in one of the front calipers. So the tech wanted to replace the assembly and do a complete brake job (at over $400), even though the pads and rotors all have less than 10k km, which he acknowledged because he measured them all. He just wanted to remove the pads and scuff them a bit to restore their bite... The pads seemed to have even wear. The tech was saying that due to the torn boot, my caliper could seize any time because crud can get in the piston, and that it could be failed right now and be responsible for the steering wheel being just slightly off centre (I don't see how this is possible). Also, keep in mind he didn't actually remove the caliper to observe this.

So my questions are:
how long do GM calipers typically last in terms of years / mileage ?
Is it possible to replace just the boot, or is this not worth the effort vs a complete assembled new/reman caliper ?
any actual danger of driving around with the torn boot until spring ?
What are the symptoms of a seized caliper ? The car currently stops straight with no judder.

I guess if I'm going to be replacing the calipers it'll time to upg to the f-body ones...

Jason, screw anything they said... except for their admiring glances.

However, IF you're still using the paper gasket for the stat, or using both, get yourself a good (STIFF) gasket scraper for $10 and clean off all the old paper and reinstall the stat with just the chamferred rubber ring... I've been using that for 3 swaps now.

As for the caliper boots - they ARE correct in that bad boots are the way to screw up the caliper... The boots not only seal out dirt & salt, but also provide some of the 'release' that retracts the pistons when you're not on the brake. However, if anyone can obtain just the boots, it should be a GM dealership. Even buying an aftermarket "hardware kit" and installing new boots yourself would be cheaper than the idiotic job that they were trying to sell you...

Right! and trying to replace the caliper boot...OMG get ready for the job of your life! it aint easy! the caliper piston has an o-ring that has to fit into the piston housing which has as close a tolerance as anything ive ever worked on. and to get the piston into that bore is allmost impossible. But it might not be for you. But take my word for it,its easyer and less of a mind f..k to get a remaned unit... you can smear the caliper boots heavy weight bearing grease(the really thick stuff) and the boots will last through the canadian winters. come summer,wipe them off....

The guy's right to be concerned if the piston boot is torn. My sister's Suzuki Ario's front caliper seized even with the boot in good shape. I've seen a fewl caliper pistons seized from old age or extreme heat.

My OEM caliper was fine when I replaced it at over 100k miles and 10 years old. I still have the pair if you want to buy.

It is possible to rebuild the caliper. It's a job though, involving removal of caliper, line, and fluid. You should be able to buy a rebuild kit for the OEM caliper, But I'd just replace it with a used or refurb. I'd replace both fronts if you can afford to.

The danger is, if the caliper drags, it will cause lots of heat, and ultimately causing you to ruin the rotor, boil the fluid, and destroy the pad(s). And it could pull a bit, which is bad in snowy conditions. If you had to get buy for a couple thousand miles, I'd put some RTV the boot to prevent dirt from entering. Make sure it's not leaking fluid. If the brake warning bell goes off, game over - fix asap.

After saying that, brakes are the most important system on the car, period. I would get it fixed if you can afford or have time to do it yourself. I'm getting up early tomorrow to install new pads because my old ones are near the end. I don't want to take any chances, especially in the winter weather.

F-Body mod is for these reasons: you want to have some fun with the car with regard to braking, you want the confidence to guarantee stops from 150+ km/h, you want ultra-long pad life, or you want to take the car on track. F-Body calipers help remove some heat for high speed repeated stops, but even more useful they will allow a bigger variety of pad options down the road. If you are just driving the car daily and want to stop better, replace/rebuild the OEM calipers and slap some performance pads on.

PS - I'll give a good price on my OEM caliper(s) if you're interested.

Okay, I admit I'm going from distant memory here, and I also admit that when the rears get funky I will give up and buy a reman unit... But - on a GM front, single-piston caliper, can't you just blow/pop/grab/suck the piston out of the bore in order to install a new boot into the groove in the bore, and then put the piston back in?

This is for F-Body, but here's a write-up link for caliper rebuild (ours should take half the time?:

http://www.installuniversity.com/install_university/installu_pages/donations/brake_caliper_rebuild.htm

Thanks for the input gents.

Eldo wrote:

However, IF you're still using the paper gasket for the stat, or using both, get yourself a good (STIFF) gasket scraper for $10 and clean off all the old paper and reinstall the stat with just the chamferred rubber ring... I've been using that for 3 swaps now.

interesting. Yes I am still using the paper gasket.

Eldo wrote:

Okay, I admit I'm going from distant memory here, and I also admit that when the rears get funky I will give up and buy a reman unit... But - on a GM front, single-piston caliper, can't you just blow/pop/grab/suck the piston out of the bore in order to install a new boot into the groove in the bore, and then put the piston back in?

This would be good to know. I'll look through the shop manual tomorrow.

AA wrote:

This is for F-Body, but here's a write-up link for caliper rebuild (ours should take half the time?:

http://www.installuniversity.com/install_university/installu_pages/donations/brake_caliper_rebuild.htm

thanks for the link. I'll pass on your calipers.

The caliper lasted a while but finally seized yesterday, fortunately very close to home. Now I have to do the F-body brake upgrade... I have all the parts except the caliper paint so I should get around to it in the next 2 weeks.

Thanks for the update.

I have no idea how long the GM caliper boots last.

On general principle I overhauled the brake system on my Riv at 150K regardless of "need" and wrote about it on this site. Soft lines, calipers, rotors, pads, master cylinder, fluid all changed for new or reman as made sense.

Albertj

While doing the F-body brake mod, I decided to paint my F-body calipers. I foolishly cured them in the BBQ at the lowest temp without dis-assembling the caliper. The rubber boots melted. LFMF. If you want to cure the caliper paint, the caliper has to be completely dis-assembled.

I brought them to a local caliper rebuilder in Chicoutimi, Qc (les Étriers du Saguenay). They charged me $30 TOTAL to rebuild both F-body calipers. I also brought them the seized G-body caliper since it was off and they rebuilt it for $30. The cheapest I had found the rebuild kit for ONE side was $20.

Jason wrote:

While doing the F-body brake mod, I decided to paint my F-body calipers. I foolishly cured them in the BBQ at the lowest temp without dis-assembling the caliper. The rubber boots melted. LFMF. If you want to cure the caliper paint, the caliper has to be completely dis-assembled.

I brought them to a local caliper rebuilder in Chicoutimi, Qc (les Étriers du Saguenay). They charged me $30 TOTAL to rebuild both F-body calipers. I also brought them the seized G-body caliper since it was off and they rebuilt it for $30. The cheapest I had found the rebuild kit for ONE side was $20.

That sounds fine. For that money I'd do the same thing. No rebuilders near me though. Kind of like saying "This is a Job for the Masked Avenger!!! but since he ain't coming I guess I have to do it myself" [- Bugs Bunny]

By the way did you look on RockAuto.com? they have kits. I admit, though, I don't like buying those kinds of things by mail though because it's too easy to sell stuff which while it's OK to use just barely meets spec, and because different sellers (Dorman vs Delco) sell different mix of parts in their "caliper kit" and I really like to see what's in. Except for the kits with pictures no way to tell form the Rock site what's in - so I passed. What I mean is some kits for instance will have enough parts to do both sides on one (front or rear) axle. Some kits will include bolts, some not. Last time I did this (some years ago) I got some parts at the local CarQuest. Cost a bit more but I knew what the ^#*@&^$*# was in the bag. Oddly, they did not have seal kits, just bolts, rattle clips and bolt grease/dust boots. Point being that sometimes the only way to get a complete enough kit **is** to order it by mail, though. You are lucky you have a rebuilder in range, they'd have all the needed stuff, no guessing and no drama.

By the way last time I painted calipers what worked for me was setting the paint with a heat lamp then installing and letting the paint cook on with use. I used engine paint from a rattle can left from another project. Baking the paint in the BBQ **will** look better in the long run, though. Sorry about your meltdown...

I painted my calipers with a few coats of Duplicolor spray caliper paint. The curing process involved bedding in the pads with 10 hard stops from high speed. This raises the caliper temps to between 300-400ºF, possibly higher. The paint has stayed on the calipers for a year and a half so far. I've chipped some on the fins when changing wheels and the paint doesn't seem to be peeling from these areas - Very durable, good product.

I used the duplicolor caliper paint and heated them up with a few hard stops.
I was able to actually bake the black coating off a set of powerslot rotors but the paint on the calipers remained in tact.

If i had to do it again i think i will clear coat them with a high temp clear. When i acid wash the rims it mars the paint a little. Also when i wax my rims i also like to wax the calipers a little to make them shine a little more, but it makes my wax pad turn red. clear coat will fix that