Well 6 months ago my rear driver's side caliper froze and my brakes were dragging. I replaced it with a used one from the junk yard and it has worked perfectly since. I just noticed today that now my other side is dragging (rear passenger side). So rather than replacing it with a used one I decided to buy the rebuild (seal) kit for it and do it myself. My question is, do I just need to clean the piston inside the caliper and replace the seals or do I need to buy a new piston and sleeve for it?

I have not seen anybody else with this problem so I am wondering why both of them failed within 6 months of each other. By the way my car has 178k miles.

 

178K - yo ugot more than average life from the calipers
The only rebuild kits I have seen are standard Honda seals only
no piston replacement- just clean it out - new orings and go
When a caliper fails- it should be replaced in pairs
Makes sure to watch the brake fluid color on the fronts when you bleed them
If old fluid- you may have contamination that goes all the way to each caliper and the master cylinder

 

One of the reasons for dragging is failure of the boot skirt to cover the extended piston. Consequently, the exposed piston surface corrodes and cannot retract at all. When brake is applied, the piston cannot completely relax and partially pressure (dragging) arises.

Be sure to get new boots for the caliper pistons.

good luck

 

The Honda and aftermarket kits I have seen had the outer rubber cover boot, the piston oring and NO piston. The prob is when corrossion has eaten the cylinder surface inside.
If thats the case- toss it and get a fresh one instead. The piston oring is so small and fine, it will make you understand why the fluid must be changed annually to prevent grunge inside

 

Alright, I just got the Honda Seal kit today. There are a bunch of o-rings and boots and some grease. In fact, three types of grease, pink, orange, and clear (very colorful). Each type of grease is labeled for where it is supposed to be used except for the clear one.

Pink= "Dust cover of caliper" I assume this goes on the inside of the big boot that covers the piston assembly.

Orange= "Pin moving portion" I assume this is for the two big pins/bolts that hold the brake pads in.

Clear= No explanation. I assume this is just a silicon grease that goes on all of the little o-rings that are inside.

Are my assumptions correct?

 

I finally finished rebuilding it. Piston was frozen good! I had some trouble getting it out since it would not turn. I spent a good solid day doing this since I had to the tool store twice.

A few hints for those that try it themselves:
1) Once you have the whole assembly removed and you are ready to remove the piston. Use the parking brake lever to push the piston all the way out. It will require several iterations.

2) Tap it with a hammer if it won't turn once you get it out this far.


There was a lot of dirt and debris that I cleaned out. My piston was marred some but I did not replace it since I would have had to wait a week for the parts.

In the end I think I would have just bought a new caliper assembly since they are relatively cheap compared to spending a whole day of frustration on it.

 

When its that bad- go for the new caliper- the surfaces must be perfect for those orings to stay intact

 

I am having trouble getting all the air out of the brake line. I assume it is air because all the fluid drained out of the reservoir while I was rebuilding the calipers. Now the brakes feel mushy and the pedal nearly goes to the floor while braking.

I have bleed them twice (all 4 corners) and I am not seeing any bubbles. Is there any tricks for bleeding them? Do I need a special tool?

 

No special tool -- just a special order
Start at the driver front= LF and go clockwise around the car
LF RF RR LR
then if the pedal decent, go do 2 full effort braking with ABS thumping the pedal from 45 mph.
If the 2nd ABS brake use gives better pedal, you had air in the controller that is now headed for the LF (usually) caliper.
Now you can get it out~
Rebleed in the correct order LF RF RR LR and you should find a few little bubbles then all clear.

For others- zone and other parts stores sell a $1.50 rubber plug that seals the end of the brake line so all the fluid doesnt drain out and cause the above problem.