Slider bolt problems

You should have used a silicon grease. im sure your suspension grease is what made your rubber fail. Silicon actually preserves rubber and poly parts. its great stuff.

[ProwlerGT]

Originally Posted by 3si.org

You should have used a silicon grease. im sure your suspension grease is what made your rubber fail. Silicon actually preserves rubber and poly parts. its great stuff.

Yeah, I didn't lose the rubber. It was new rubber boots and I only drive a couple miles like that till I realized the calipers were sticking. I've since found out what you said about the silicon grease (caliper glide lube - comes in lil packets at Autozone or Advance Auto -Permatex-) and applied it appropriately. Its a good note to add though that after the caliper is reassembled that you should put a coat of the grease on the OUTSIDE of the rubber boots as well due to the protective qualities of it.

[SUPERTOM]

well i dont have them on the car to test mine orginals are still on there. I noticed some rust in both of the guide holes so im going to let PB blaster soak in them overnight then clean out with parts cleaner. Regrease and try again. I can push them in about a 1/4 to half inch then they come out but I was under the impression they should move as much as the rears?? Maybe not.


Oh yeah I dont have an air compressor to push out the pistons will a gas station air pump work?

[ProwlerGT]

Originally Posted by SUPERTOM

<....>

Oh yeah I dont have an air compressor to push out the pistons will a gas station air pump work?

WOOF DUDE YOU ARE SCARRING ME! DO NOT ~ DO NOT ~ DO NOT ~ DO NOT ~ USE THE GAS STATION AIR COMPRESSOR TO BLOW OUT YOUR BRAKE CALIPER PISTONS! THAT WILL RESULT IN POSSIBLY MAJOR INJURY. Just at about 10lbs of air pressure they come shooting out with the right attachment on the hose and its best to have a piece of 2x4 wood or half that width of wood underneath them IN THE CALIPER so the wood catches them when they come out. **Also, even if you could use the gas station air compressor this is not a job to be doing there as it will take entirely too long.**

Wal-mart and Target sell fairly decent air compressors for everyday Joe garages for about $50 - $100. It is a very good investment if you have the money. Wal-Mart also has a Rockford air tool set that is $50 and also very well worth the money.

I am a little confused on your setup right now, but you should be removing the caliper brackets to clean them. I am not sure if PBBlaster or Parts cleaner will get rid of rust in the bores. If there is rust in the bore's walls you are going to need to have it dry and either use a drill with a round sanding tool (like a dremel end) and/or a nylon/plastic brush small enough to fit in the bores and hopefully bristle enough to get the rust out. For me what I did was twist some same paper till it spiraled and continually turned it till I had the results I wanted. May take several iterations of emptying the debris with the air compressor air gun tool before your bores are rust free. If there is ANY debris caked on the bore walls (RUST) at all the bolts will either not slide right or not at all.

If you can only get the front caliper's slider bolts in only 1/4 the way before they pop out then you either haven't cleaned the bores good enough and/or there is too much grease in them.

[SUPERTOM]

well i have a small electic air pump it says it goes to 250 psi but when i tried it in there only brake fluid shot out. So im supposed to leave it in there a while then they will shoot out??

Update and good news on the sliders. I let the bores soak with PB for an hour then I flushed it out with carb cleaner. I was close then. On one of the calipers on the Locking bolt the rubber tip was coming off. So I replaced it with one from the kit. Presto!! I did it to both calipers. Now the slider caliper sits about an inch away from the piston side caliper. I can press it in a good half inch and it comes back to 1 inch. I dont know how these work as Ive never seen a new caliper but this seems right to me. Anyways after I get them painted I will try them on the car hopefully this week

[ProwlerGT]

Do you have the shop manual dude? You should really read it before undertaking these projects or you could get hurt. IE: Shot in the eye with brake fluid etc... You got shot with brake fluid cause you are supposed to 1. Bleed the fluid out of the lines and 2. Advisable - Remove the caliper from the car and work with it on a bench/desk/table. Still there will be residual brake fluid in the caliper itself when you blow out the pistons so you should also put a rag or shop towels over it as you are blowing the air through to block splatter.

If you cannot SET the amount of PSI on your air compressing device then do not use the tool to blow out the pistons. If there's an air gauge on the air compressor you have that "builds up" as it charges with air perhaps you could time it by watching it build up to 10 PSI and/or no more than 15-20 psi and when the pistons come out pull it off immediately. Just be careful. I wouldn't use an air compressor though that I couldn't "set" the PSI for. On most air compressors you have an air tank "pressure available" gauge and an a "pressure to apply" gauge. Thats just what i'm calling them as thats what they are for. Once the available pressure gets low enough the tank kicks on to meet the "pressure to apply" gauge's demand.

[ProwlerGT]

I may be retracting my method of rtving the brake slider bolt boot edges as this may cause the brakes to scrape the rotor. I'm gonna find out tonight after I remove the RTV cause braking is still not satisfactory. Very sad too cause this is the first time I've driven in the car in I don't know how long. Oh well. Was a test run though. If removing the RTV (which was my own idea) solves it then I know for sure the slider bolts need air as they squeeze and release.

However since I know ALL 4 brakes were in perfect sliding condition before I took it out for a test drive I'm now suspect of the last brake system item I have not replaced. The proportioning valve. It would explain insufficient braking power.

[mikes2nd]

rtv?? um huh? you rtv'ed caps?

What caps?

dont rtv your brakes

Just put the lube in like normal. I know the 3s brakes inside and out.

Put the green grease on the sliders and go. I put a fair amount on the back also to make sure its doesnt squeak...

[ProwlerGT]

Originally Posted by mikes2nd

rtv?? um huh? you rtv'ed caps?

What caps?

dont rtv your brakes

Just put the lube in like normal. I know the 3s brakes inside and out.

Put the green grease on the sliders and go. I put a fair amount on the back also to make sure its doesnt squeak...

Ya know how the slider bolt rubber boots snap onto the bolts/caliper for a seal? Well where the boots meet the caliper/bracket I rtv'd around the edges of it so that outside elements can't get in the slider bolt greased area. Is that bad? I would think thats a good thing, but should I remove it and why should I?

[mikes2nd]

shouldnt be a problem then... RTV away if your want and just make sure you dont get rtv inside i guess... I just make sure the grease there is enough to make a nice seal. I clean them up during each brake job..