Rebuild Rear Brake Caliper (Overhaul)

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This is base on an ST185 rear caliper. St165 and facelift 182 is identical, early 182, 162, 202, ST200 all have a different bottom slider bush, but it's pretty easy to figure that out yourself! Fronts are very similar too.

I'll assume you can get the caliper off the car.

Start off by removing the piston caliper from the carrier, then push or pull the bottom slider out (it will be a bugger but it will just go straight through either way.

Now then take the piston out. For those of you without compressed air, you can do it this way:

http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/oo86/alanandlexie/caliperrebuild013.jpg

Take an 8mm rod and pop it through the banjo bolt hole, then just clamp it up in a vice and tighten, it will push the piston out nicely!

Now peel back the dust boot and you'll see the shiny circlip. Prise it out with a screwdriver.

Prise out the piston seal too.

Now then you should have a nice set of component parts:

Clean everything up, inspect the bore, piston etc and with a new caliper kit start rebuilding!

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^ Empty Caliper bore

Grease the new piston seal with lithium glycol soap grease or clean brake fluid, and install in it's groove. This is a fiddly job as it's slippery and square section. Press it all the way round so it seats properly.

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Coat the piston in clean brake fluid/glycol grease and press it into the bore. It is easiest to press it into the bore by clamping it in a vice. Push it all the way in.

Reduced: 39% of original size [ 1024 x 768 ] - Click to view full image

Press the new dust boot into it's groove all the way round the piston, make sure it's the right way up, the circlip goes inside the lip on the dust boot.

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Insert the circlip and press it into place all the way round, making sure it goes inside the lip on the boot.

Reduced: 39% of original size [ 1024 x 768 ] - Click to view full image

Reduced: 39% of original size [ 1024 x 768 ] - Click to view full image

Extend the piston and pack the dust boot with glycol grease.

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Piston done.

Fit the correct slider boots into the bottom slider. The ribs go inside the caliper, one each side. squeeze them together and press them into the hole, then insert a screwdriver through the hole and press the ribbed portion into the groove in the caliper.

Reduced: 39% of original size [ 1024 x 768 ] - Click to view full image

Reduced: 39% of original size [ 1024 x 768 ] - Click to view full image

Fill the boots with glycol grease or copper grease (glycol grease preferred!), and press the slider itself into the boot on one side, so that the boot sits in the groove in the slider.

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It will now push easily all the way through, engage the other boot in the groove on the othr end of the slider.

Pop the remaining boot over the lip on the caliper, fill the hole with grease and slide the caliper back onto the carrier.

Fit bleed nipple, etc, make sure it slides nicely job done!

Bleed nipple is M7x1 thread (same as some VW's)

Reduced: 39% of original size [ 1024 x 768 ] - Click to view full image