Honda Caliper Issues

[sjrobinson]

So I replaced the front left bearing on my 97 accord ex. When I put the brake caliper back on I noticed the two pins were in the wrong spots. I tried switching them back according to the ‘G’ and ‘L’ but they wouldn’t fit. They’re in the wrong spots but the brakes work fine. Is it fine to leave them as is or should I rebuild the caliper?

Topic

[college man]

I believe L is lower. G would be top. did you put the caliper on wrong? the bleed screw should be facing up.
something is backwards. look at the other side of the car for reference.C8-)

[dreamer2355]

+1 on the above post. I would double check everything. Did you have to replace the caliper? If so, did they supply you with the correct side?

[sjrobinson]

As far as I know they’re the stock calipers, They definitely do not look replaced. I do know that the letters should match up but they don’t fit if they match up. Its only on that caliper as far as I have seen. Are there things inside that could break and make it hard to get the pins through? The brakes are working fine with them in the wrong way though.

[dreamer2355]

I am curious if anyone other than you has serviced the brakes in the past, possibly mixing up the parts.

The only way the pins would not slide through would be due to corrosion build up or lack or lubrication.

[Matt]

I’d watcth this video and make sure everything looks in order:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAviOGXzEUk

Good luck bud.

[EricTheCarGuy]

It’s likely that someone used the wrong lubricant on the pins at one time causing the rubber damper on the G pin to become swollen not allowing you to reinstall it. You may be able to clean out the bores and clean off the pins so that you can reinstall them, once you do that be sure to use silicone paste lubricant ONLY.

[sjrobinson]

I cleaned off the pins, how would I clean out the bores?

[college man]

spray some brake clean in the bores and wrap a rag around a screw driver and swab it outC8-)

[EricTheCarGuy]

Quoted From college man:

spray some brake clean in the bores and wrap a rag around a screw driver and swab it outC8-)

+1

[Matt]

What do you mean by ‘hammered’? You tried to use a hammer to get the pin in? If the brakes are working fine, I would probably leave it alone regardless.

[sjrobinson]

Ok, Ill try that but when I tried putting the pins in before I hammered one a bit and it would not go in so I’m not sure how much just cleaning it out like that will do.

[sjrobinson]

I tried forcing the pin in to get it to the point where I could screw it in. It would not go in that far.
There is an issue with the brakes that I did not think were related until now. For a while my braking showed the symptoms of bad rotors. I changed them and I still had the issues- shaky brake pedal and steering wheel, pulsing. So I changed that bearing. I’m still having the issue. It seems like something is wrong with the front left wheel when braking. Could the pins in the wrong spot cause the car to shake when braking?
And could it also related to another issue I had:
I bought new rims and could feel a rubbing feeling when I brake. Although there were no marks on the tires or rims, would a bad caliper contribute to all those things?

[BigC]

Hi sjrobinson,

Do we know if this caliper is for the correct side (left, driver’s side)? The caliper is usually side-specific. If you an unsure, the bleeder valve on the caliper should be located more on the top part of the caliper. Just a thought. Keep us posted.

[dreamer2355]

Is the caliper able to slide freely in the guide pins? Are the guide pins lubed correctly and all fasteners torqued down to specifications?

Vibrations at speed usually are down to issues with something rotating.

However, if you only feel this pulsation during braking, Id also be checking out your suspension components AFTER you have rechecked all your front braking system-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scFbb43f … wY_5_I4%3D

[sjrobinson]

I am sure its the correct caliper and I changed the rotors and bearings myself so I know it is not them. It happens when I brake and I can feel something funny in that front left wheel, this has been recently becoming more obvious after everything else has been fixed. The caliper is the right one, it is simply that the bottom pin will not fit.
So, could that situation with the caliper pins being in the wrong spot cause the braking to be rough?
And how would I clean it out to make sure it is completely free of anything that could be stopping it? Is there anything that is supposed to be inside the bores that I would have to replace or make sure is not in the way?

[Author]

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