Rebuilding calipers

[RandallNeighbour]

Due to a warped rotor, I'm going to rebuild my front calipers while I'm in there swapping out the warped rotor for the new one.

Porsche only sells the dust boot, not the all-important pressure seal, but this company has them.

http://www.zeckhausen.com/Brembo/Consumables.htm#Rebuild

Scroll to the bottom of this page for their toll free number. They're located in NJ.

BTW, if you find that your high mileage 2.5 boxster needs a caliper rebuilt, then ask for the proper sized kits. Your calipers are four piston Brembos, and the pistons in the leading side of the caliper are slightly different in size from the pistons in the trailing side.

Ask for one 36mm kit and one 40mm kit PER WHEEL.

____________________________
This public service announcement was brought to you by a frustrated boxster owner who would like to enjoy a couple of months of repair-free months of Porsche ownership in 2008.

[SilentThunder]

i feel real bad for you randall. ive only had to clean my MAF once in the 2 years/30K miles ive owned my 99 boxster with 95K miles on it. i would have jumped ship and found a different one by now if it was always needing repairs. do you know how much you have put into it so far?

[RandallNeighbour]

Splitting out repairs from mods and enhancements, I'd say about $4000 so far. The list of stuff that required replacement is long:

Rear struts (one was bent from a previous owner's spinout into a curb)
Oil filler tube
coolant overflow tank
Transmission
Control Arms (2)
Instrument Cluster

I know there's a lot more but I can't remember them all right now.

I'd have bailed on this particular car a long time ago, but I would be forced to go without a boxster for many years while I saved enough for a low mileage 3.4 987S... the only boxster I would want to drive at this point.

[insite]

randall -

when you rebuild the calipers, soak the EPDM (inner) seals in brake fluid for 30min prior to reassembly. after you remove the pistons, clean everything out with denatured alcohol & let it dry for several hours. then blow them out w/ compressed air prior to reassembly. i think i posted a DIY on the boxster racing board or even on this board somewhere. glad you found the zeckhausen link useful; they're the only people i've found who offer a reasonable deal on this stuff.

i'd found two other suppliers, but they were wanting upwards of $25 PER SEAL for the inners. i tried to have a bunch made last year but couldn't meet their minimum quantity requirement. in bulk (100+) they get pretty cheap.

[Lil bastard]

@insite...

Good Stuff!!... Thanks!!!

[RandallNeighbour]

Anyone have instructions and pix on how to rebuild calipers? I'm going to tackle this project as well as swapping out my warped rotor this Saturday and would like some guidance.

[RandallNeighbour]

Never mind the request for caliper rebuild instructions. I just found where Lil Bastard wrote them out on my other thread. Thanks again!

[insite]

don't forget to soak the inner seals in brake fluid for 30min prior to assembly. no lubricant is required, just use brake fluid.

[RandallNeighbour]

Well, a buddy and I tackled the project today.

Swapped the rotor out because it was indeed warped. 6 millionths or whatever of warping... enough to create a lot of vibration when driving at freeway speeds as well as braking.

We also rebuilt the caliper. Getting the pistons back in required a C clamp and a lot of praying so as not to tear the dust boot, which we did on the aftermarket boots I bought. They're not as thick or durable as Porsche ones.

Getting the dust boots seated without tearing through the rubber isn't easy either.

Now I must buy new bearings for the front wheels. One is tight and the other is loud. Hans will have to do this job though. I don't have the equipment to pull them and replace them.

BTW, tore up my nice red painted caliper and the porsche decal doing this job. Now I have to buy the G3 paint system and more decals when I get the other side done.

[blinkwatt]

Randall,

Where the rotors that warped aftermarket?

[RandallNeighbour]

Yes. Zimmerman cross-drilled.

However, I don't think it was a faulty rotor. It was the fact that an original caliper piston was not retracting properly due to the age of the seal, which I replaced. It must have become "stuck" when extending under hard braking and overheated the rotor, warping it.

Hopefully, I won't have any more brake-related issues any time soon.

The lesson to learn in all this is that when you start replacing original brake rotors after 105k, you should probably consider replacing the caliper seals to save time and money later.

Of course, my caliper problem might have been unique, but my thinking is that if I'm planning to keep the car for an indefinite period of time and it has 100+k on it, I might as well do what might go out later.

In hindsight, I should have sent off all four calipers to the company I saw somewhere that rebuilds them and powder coats them any color you like for $250 a set or thereabouts. The seals for all four wheels would be nearly this amount anyway.