DIY: Sport Brake Caliper Rebuild
 

DIY: Sport front Akebono Brake Caliper Rebuild

Time: ~ 4-5hrs (your first time, ~ 3hrs thereafter)

Special thanks to Mike for advice and Adam for a helping hand.

Required Tools:
1) Jack
2) Jack stands (2 min, 4 ideal)
3) 21mm socket (wheel removal)
4) 10mm combo wrench (caliper bleeder valves and brake line-to-caliper screw)
5) 17mm combo wrench (caliper bolts that hold the halves together)
6) 22mm combo wrench (caliper mounting bolts)
7) needle nose pliers
8) ice pick (or similar pointed tool)
9) phillips screw driver (brake pad removal)
10) two flat head screw drivers (the wider the better)
11) 1 quart of brake fluid
12) 1 can of brake cleaner
13) LOTS of paper towels
14) 2” x 4” wood block (for blowing the pistons out)
15) Sport brake caliper rebuild kit (SEAL KIT-DISC BRAKE - 370Z (Z34) 2009+ 3.7L V6 (B/SPORT+T/SPORT) :: Nissan Parts, NISMO and Nissan Accessories - Courtesyparts.com). One kit will do BOTH front calipers.

Recommended:
1) torque wrench
2) Motive power brake bleeder
3) brake pad grease (if you haven’t swapped pads recently)
4) air compressor
5) extra person to help (piston reinsertion)

Instructions:
1) Crack all the wheel lugs to make removing them easier when the car is on jack stands.
2) Jack up the car and place either the front two or all four corners on jack stands. Having all four corners up makes bleeding the brakes at the end easier.
3) Remove the front two wheels (and rear wheels to simplify bleeding later)
4) Turn the wheels full lock to whichever side you’re going to do first
5) Place a small catch bin below the area where the brake line enters the caliper.
6) Use the 10mm combo wrench to unscrew the the brake hard line from the caliper
7) Use the 17mm combo wrench to crack the four bolts the hold the caliper halves together. Do NOT take them out, just get them so they can be loosened later.
8) Use the 22mm combo wrench to remove the two large bolts that hold the caliper in place. Hold the caliper while loosening to prevent dropping it. Once they’re out, the caliper is free. Just wiggle it off the rotor (you can leave the brake pads in place for right now).
9) With the caliper free, remove the cotter pins from the cross bars that hold the brake pads in place. Push the end of the cross bar with a Phillips screw driver to push the opposite end out a bit. With gentle pressure on the center part of the brake pad spring (bronze colored metal piece that the cross bars run through), grab the free end of the cross bar and remove with needle nose pliers. Repeat to other cross bar. Place pad spring in safe location with rest of previously removed parts.
10) Slide the brake pads out of the caliper and place with rest of parts
11) Place the wood block inside the caliper so the pistons will hit the wood when ejected.
12) Using compressed air where the brake line enters the caliper, blow air into the caliper to extend the pistons agains the wood block.
13) Once the pistons are extended, use the 17mm combo wrench again to remove the four bolts that hold the caliper together.
14) Remove the PROTECT the small O-ring inside the caliper halves near the top of the caliper. This is NOT provided in the rebuild kit and you will need it later.
15) Using the two flat head screw drivers, gently place the blades under the lip on one piston and pry the piston evenly out of the caliper. You may need to work your way around the caliper a bit. Avoid scratching the piston, but they pistons are pretty tough.
16) Once the piston is out, remove the dust boot from the piston and the outer grove in the piston chamber. Use the ice pick and needle nose pliers to remove the retaining ring that holds the dust boot in the caliper.
17) Using the ice pick and needle nose pliers, remove the inner piston seal in the piston chamber.
18) Repeat for second piston in the caliper half.
19) Thoroughly clean piston chambers, seal grooves, and inner caliper with brake cleaner. ENSURE THERE ARE NO DUST OR DIRT PARTICLES IN THE CHAMBERS OR GROOVES. The chambers should be spotless and pristine before you proceed.
20) Using the RED grease in the rebuild kit, grease the inner piston seal and insert into inner chamber groove. The two pistons are different sizes so match the seal diameter to the proper caliper chamber (the pistons sizes are marked on the inner piston surface).
21) Through trial and error, the following is the simplest way we found to reinsert the dust boots and pistons:
22) Seat a new dust boot in the outer groove of each piston chamber. All the boots are the same size, unlike the inner seals.
23) With the boot seated, insert the metal retaining ring to hold the boot in the caliper.
24) Apply a bit of RED grease to the piston sidewalls to simplify reinsertion.
25) THE MAGIC STEP (AKA TOUGHEST): one person should use four fingers to lift the inner dust boot lip up and out. The second person takes the appropriate size piston (check the sizes before attempting to insert) and ‘air drop’ it into the held-open dust boot. The smaller piston is more challenging, but two people make this much easier.
26) Once you have the dust boot fully around the piston, slide the dust boot inner lip upwards to seat in the piston’s groove.
27) Gently and evenly push down on the piston to insert fully into the caliper. As the piston slide in, the dust boot with neatly fold on itself and tuck into place. This is a tight fit which ensures a leak-free inner seal.
28) Repeat for other caliper pistons.
29) With all pistons rebuilt, replace the O-ring you set aside previously. Apply a bit of RED grease to ensure a leak-free seal.
30) Realign caliper halves and reinsert 17mm caliper bolts. Use a bit of Locktite to keep them in place. You will torque them on the car.
31) Replace caliper on car and tighten 22mm bolts to 98 ft-lbs.
32) Screw brake line back into caliper and gently tighten. (20-30 ft-lbs)
33) Torque the four 17mm caliper assembly bolts (I couldn’t find a spec so did 80 ft-lbs)
34) Remove the two bleeder screws from the top of the caliper (either side) using the 10mm combo wrench, replace the black seals with new ones from the kit, and screw them back into the caliper.
35) Replace your brake pads in reverse order from Steps 9 and 10 above.
36) Congratulations! You just rebuilt one caliper. Repeat for other side and remember to turn the wheel to the opposite lock to simplify caliper removal.
37) Once the calipers are rebuilt, it’s time to BLEED THE SYSTEM.
38) Starting in the RIGHT REAR, bleed both the inner and outer nipples until no air flows from the caliper. Then move to the LEFT REAR, RIGHT FRONT, and finally LEFT FRONT (think farthest to closest to brake fluid reservoir). Please see the separate DIY brake bleed for more details.
39) Replace your wheels and hand tighten the lugs.
40) Lower car and torque wheel lugs to 85 ft-lbs.
41) Start car and depress brake pedal 4-5 times to get pads flush with rotors and system primed. You may need to top up the brake fluid reservoir. Note: the car will give VDC, BRAKE, and SLIP warnings if the brake fluid reservoir is anything below MAX...so fill it up!
42) Go for a cautious test drive to ensure things are working correctly. Check for leaks.

YOU’RE DONE!

***pics to follow once I go through them all***

:pics:

:worthless:

Good job! Sounds like it went smoothly.

Yeah, your advice definitely helped. Do you install the dust boot on the caliper and then push the piston through it and into chamber or do you approach it differently? That seemed to be the most challenging step. I tried a bunch of ways and the one posted above was the only one we could get to work (dust boot seated, retainer in place, piston in place).

Thanks again.

the way you did it is the way I always did it for the larger pistons, but my wife isn't always here, so I figured another way.

I lubricate the dust boot so it is a little slippery, then put it on the piston, and slide the piston all the way in the cylinder. Once its in, I use a curved pick to work the edge of the boot completely into the seal, make sure its fully in, then add the retaining ring.

Hmmm, tried that method but felt that I couldn't squeeze the retaining ring into place. Maybe I need to extend the dust boot along the length of the piston to get enough room around the piston base to seat the boot in the caliper. I'll try that method again next time, especially if I don't have an extra set of hands to help.

Love that you make your wife help! :)

Mmm, think its worthy to note: the rear 2 bolts holding the caliper on, are 19mm...not 22mm...

Im kinda stuck right now cause I didnt have a 19mm wrench and I went at it expecting a 22 8P

Bummer. Yes, the rear bolts are smaller. I should have specified that I was only doing the rebuild on the front calipers at the time. Sorry the the PITA it must have caused.

Nahhh, its alright. But it was a slowdown - I had everything apart and ready to go up on the jacks, and the first one I started w/ was the rear calipers :(. Was like, "what the hell, he said 22! I'll find him and kill him! I'LL WEAR HIS SKIN LIKE A CLOAK!" True story btw, I said all those things.

:inoutroflpuke:
And then you said "F it. Who needs rear brake calipers anyways?"

Yup, I just used 2 clamps and pinched the lines. I'll be cool.

Can the brake line that connects to the caliper be plugged easily? I am going to take mine apart and have coated and will be down for a week or so.

You'll have to bleed the whole system again regardless. I'd just wrap a plastic bag around them to prevent grit from getting in there. You can shop around the hardware stores for little threaded plugs but I don't know what size you'd need.

Yeah I know, just dont want the whole system to drain out...

ask your powdercoater for four small silicone plugs. He should have them available. The stock lines don't use banjo bolts, but the regular style brake line end fitting, so once you remove them from the caliper, you can put the silicone plug in to keep them from leaking.