Re: I'm in deep pooh

Does that mean you pay £30 if you don't return the old caliper, or you have to pay £30 regardless?

If you don't return the old ones.

It's like that with most (all?) places who supply rebuilds.

yeah, I know.

Neos had a brand new off side (nearside is that bad one) for £45, but no nearsides. Best they could do delivery was Monday.

TBH, if it were me, I'd drive it like it is for a week or two. Yes there will be a small imbalance in the braking efficiency, but probably no more than you had before. Remember, the MOT only requires the two sides to be within 25% of each other. With calipers that old, you'll often have at least 10-20% difference.

Order the bits, and fix it when they come in.

I think the Piston (or atleast the self adjust) is foobared on the nearside.

I've ordered them from Eurocarparts, costing me roughly £35 extra for Saturday delivery, but that is the only time I'm home anyway.

Ordered a set of the ATE cast iron disks as well.

The 2 cross head disk mounting screws look pretty clean, so hopefully they won't be too seized on. And a liberal dose of plus Gas and some brute force will do the job. If not, It's big hammer time.

One of the rubber bellows had a small hole in it, which is why I said the garage "if it needs discs or caliper, no problem".

I really hope there are not any more nasty surprises other than those I have already spotted. Doing the calipers and discs will take me most of the weekend, I'm really cack handed when it comes to mechanical stuff.

I've ordered the parts to be delivered tomorrow AM, do you reckon I'll need an impact driver to loosen the disks?

Ah, ok.

Excellent.

They're the only screws I've ever had to use my impact driver (no my air gun, a little driver you hammer on) on.

As long as you get the little screws off, the disks will come off fine (after whacking). Just use the right size bit on the screw heads.

Start soaking them with penetrating oil *now*. Also give a tap with a hammer when you do, the vibration helps the oil move into any gaps. DO it again every few hours that you can. With luck they will be removable by Saturday.

Bob

I guess I will have to start soaking Tomorrow AM, and do the job on Sunday then.

Car is still at the garage as I had to leave it on the way to work and catch the train, won't be back home till after they shut. not picking up till tommorow.

Make sure you've got some copperslip for the disk mating surfaces and the pads. Make sure you have plenty of brake fluid

- there's nothing worse than running out halfway through.

yep, got a large pot of copper grease from halfords, had it for ages, lasts forever.

Going to see if local auto factors does brake fluid in anything bigger than 1 litre.

Have a couple of bottles unopened, but if I am going to use a lot, I would rather keep them for topping up, and use a biggy for the change.

Going to see if I can find a flexi hose clamp too, to minimise fluid loss/mess.

oh yeah, and an impact driver.

My local mechanic was willing to think about jobs if I brought along the service manual relevant to the job in question. Usually it was just easier to do it myself, though.

(Side note: Carl is in England...)

Yup - do you know the trick to bleeding these, or should we talk about that?

Yup, once it's stuck, the piston is probably shot, and as that's also going to make fluid leak at some point, well, it's time for a new one (or two). 60 quid sounds high for a rebuilt, but maybe the USA'n market for rebuilt parts is different.

The good news is, you've already done most if not all of the work required. You might want to have a large gear puller on hand to help get the rear disks off if you're doing those...I don't recall if they got stuck for me like the fronts did, but better to have it & not need it...

Dave

I wouldn't clamp the hoses if you're removing the calipers - if you do, any crud will get washed into your nice new calipers. I usually run 1/2 a pint of fresh fluid out of each hose before putting the new calipers on.

I left the haynes on the passenger seat deliberatley after I finished messing things up last night. Don't think they took the hint.

England that has been basking in 30+ C temps for the last 2 weeks, and last night, as I tried to fix brakes, had the first rain in 3 weeks.

Please give any info that might help a very cack handed mechanic.

£59GBP seemed to be the going rate among the nationally know Saab and euro car specialists.

I'm leaving the rears, until I can find a Saab indy locally when I get on with. The nearest Dealer is Manchester or liverpool, and both mean a Motorway journey. And the indies are even further a field. Don't fancy

70mph with only 3 brakes for at the far end. Doesn't appeal somehow.

Will bear that in mind, and find a large jar to catch it in.

What I like to do is to flush it all with the old calipers on, one at a time. Put a hose on the bleed screw, open it up, pump the pedal a few times, refill the res, move on. After a few rounds you should have mostly clear fluid coming out. Try not to push the pedal out of the normal range too much. The only gotcha is if the bleeders break off... then you have to disconnect the hose and go it that way.

Then replace the calipers. Use something to hold the hose in an upright position after disconnecting, get the new cyl on as promptly as possible. This will prevent the master from draining down and save you some work. Flush one more time to catch any remaining residue, then bleed.

I just did a couple of cars by myself and rigged up a one way valve for bleeding. It worked very well. I still had my wife come out so that I could do one more bleed test while I watched the fluid come out and confirm there was no air, but it was clean. It also only took three minutes of her time to run the last round of bleeding... she hates that job so it's in my interest to make sure it is quick. If you are interested in the "one man bleeder" I can post a few details.

Bob