Rear caliper’s piston’s boot twisted

[NoName]

OK, so I replaced rotors and pads on all 4 wheels, but ‘managed’ to twist the piston boot while pushing/turning the piston back (Honda Accord). Now what?!
Brakes works perfectly fine, no issues, but do I need to correct this and if so – how?

Thanks.

Topic

[college man]

Two choices. Rebuild the caliper or replace the caliper.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/brake-videos/710-how-to-rebuild-a-front-brake-caliper

[NoName]

[quote=”college man” post=146240]Two choices. Rebuild the caliper or replace the caliper.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/brake-videos/710-how-to-rebuild-a-front-brake-caliper%5B/quote%5D

OK, what happens if I leave it like this?
Re-building a caliper (Note: it’s the rear one) is out of my league, so obviously if/when I’ll just have to replace them. How do remove the rear caliper with the hand brake cable attached to it?

Thanks.

[Mike]

If it was straight before, it’s still probably fine. You can take the caliper back off and use a pick to run under where the boot goes on the caliper piston. At the same time, spray some penetrating oil between the boot and piston and walk the pick around it to get it all the way around the little ring land that the boot sits in. You should then be able to rotate the boot around the piston somewhat freely to untwist it. You can probably get away with leaving it, but you shouldn’t. I’ve been able to do that and untwist a boot that been twisted since the last brake job, and the caliper is usually fine. You should fix it though, it sometimes doesn’t seal after and will allow moisture in there to seize the pistons.

[college man]

[quote=”sbi” post=146242][quote=”college man” post=146240]Two choices. Rebuild the caliper or replace the caliper.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/brake-videos/710-how-to-rebuild-a-front-brake-caliper%5B/quote%5D

OK, what happens if I leave it like this?
Re-building a caliper (Note: it’s the rear one) is out of my league, so obviously if/when I’ll just have to replace them. How do remove the rear caliper with the hand brake cable attached to it?

Thanks.[/quote]

You risk getting water or dirt in the system or dirt on the piston which may cause the seal to leak.

[Paul]

I’ve done something along the lines of what Fopeano suggested. I cleaned the area around the piston boot, and applied a small amount of silicone paste around the boot’s edge. Then, I worked the piston back-and-forth (maybe 10 degree rotation) with the piston retraction tool until the piston moved freely without twisting the boot. Finally, inspect the boot for tearing or other damage.

I don’t know if this applies to your specific caliper, but check the backside of the caliper where the parking brake cable is located. Remove the clip that secures the cable to the assembly. This should give you enough slack to unhook the cable from the actuator arm. It might need a little persuasion (or penetrating oil) if corrosion is a problem.

[Author]

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