Caliper leak? (1 Viewer)

[jatree]

Hi all, newbie here - Bought a used 80 with no real history a couple months back and haven't started baselining due to travel/many reasons. Last week before going out of town I thought I noticed something on the pavement below the Rear Passenger tire but it had just rained so didn't look further.

I crawled under it yesterday and it looks to me like maybe the caliper is leaking? Could it be anything else? It was visible from outside the wheel as well. I should probably confirm that brake fluid reservoir is low.

For context - a brake job is first on the list for this truck. Rear drivers side caliper doesn't work well and front pads are down to about 5mm. All four rotors have scratches but I haven't taken tires off to measure actual width. The rotor in question has a definite lip on it - not sure if resurfacing will work on these or if I'll be stuck replacing.

Added context - I don't really have place to work so while I think I could do the rears, I'm afraid to tackle the fronts...any friendly experts in the Seattle area?

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[george_tlc]

Brake fluid will be runny (hydraulic fluid) versus oil leak (stinky gear oil).

Pull the wheel - to verify if a caliper leak versus hose leak, then we'll take it from there. Caliper leak would be likely piston seals, not a particularly difficult R&R. Of course if you have no where to work and minimal tools, then a friendly local would be great...

Rears are actually a bit harder (rotor removal due to hand brake shoes) than the front rotors.

80 series tends to eat front pads more than rears - bias of braking effort is on the front and it's a heavy automatic beast with minimal engine braking (versus a manual/diesel).

cheers,
george.

 

[jatree]

Thanks for the response and information, George. I forgot about the hand brake shoes in the back (not that mine works well, hence the wheel chocks since I park on a slight incline). Am I understanding correctly that the LSPV is what controls the amount of braking in rear vs front?

During my test drive I felt a lot of heat coming off this wheel which I attributed to the caliper being stuck. Are rear bearings pretty solid on these? I know the front axle should be rebuilt at some point but not sure on the rear.

Is there some conventional wisdom on fixing the pistol seal vs replacing a caliper? I did some reading and it sounds like many people are happy with the re-manufactured NAPA calipers though I did see @beno post to maybe use a Toyota gasket in there... Is there any difference between CAL SE2206 and CAL SE2206A?

 

[jatree]

It was definitely runny so thinking brake fluid. Level is also below MIN in the reservoir.

Thinking to replace the entire caliper and pad with NAPA (Eclipse) and Akebono ceramic pads...slightly less expensive than OEM where I am. The rotors are scored, am I dumb for wanting to do caliper/pad work myself before taking it somewhere to get resurfaced?

 

[george_tlc]

Yes

I'd get the rotor resurfaced (or just buy a new one online) before I put new pads on it. Or replace caliper and run the old pads until you resurface/replace the rotor. You can buy rotors/pads online for not much $...


cheers,
george.

 

[jatree]

Ah ok the latter makes sense to me. Don't want to drive with it leaking as that seems bad so I'll replace the caliper and leave the old pad. Then get rotor resurfaced (or replaced) and add new pad. Thanks!