kaptainjack

Hi all...I brought the '03 TL-S in for inspection the other day...54K on her...front pads have about 25K on them (OEM pads)...would not have been surprised if the mech. said I needed pads, but he said I needed a front passenger caliper...what goes wrong with calipers?...car rides fine, brakes fine...no unusual noises (no noises at all)...can I change only one?...he says I'll save labor charge if I do both at once...never used this guy before...think I need second opinion?...he wants about $350 for both calipers (parts and labor)...thanx for any feed back

BaByBlAcKtYpE-s

iTrader: (2)

if your thinking about spending that much, you should look into doing the legend caliper swap and diy it. and get some ss brake lines while your at it you'll spend just about the same but you be much more happy.

01tl4tl

calipers fail due to hygroscopic formation of rust particles in the brake fluid and the thin oring seal inside gets cut and fails,
that allows fluid to escape, seen by pulling back the outer rubber dust seal and brake fluid is in there- should be dry
you have lost braking!!!- the ABS computer may be working to keep the car straight so you wont know
Ask the tech if thats what happened-

you are supposed to change brake fluid starting at year 3 then every year, but I have seen serious grey looking fluid after just 2 years-
so I change it every year regardless of cars age. My cars get the royal treatment and dont let me down when I ask 110% of them

25k miles on pads is not unusual- OE suck and so do the warpmaster rotors
Many better choices- even basic quality rotors with great pads will be a step up
Duralast seems to be making a good low cost rotor
RacingBrake.com makes ET300 pads for street drivers- they are awesome
vendor MrHeelToe sells them too

Calipers- rebuilt is all you need and those are about 75 dollars each,,
the labor half an hour each plus maybe 50-100 to flush the brake fluid a part of the job (required as part of caliper swap)== $350

You can DIY this job with help of any neighbor with basic skills and tools

Many of us opted to upgrade the calipers by using the ones for a 1995 Legend ls-c
they have 2 pistons instead of 1, better pressure spread to the pad and reduced stopping distance by approx 30 feet on my car--
thats more than enough for the wife to bring the car home the same length it was in the morning,,,
unlike the last car she stuffed into a stopped line of cars and brought home 3 feet shorter

SS brake lines remove rubber brake hose expansion under pressure- resulting in solid pedal feel in all heat ranges of driving- especially in the ~sprited~ realms
100-125$ well spent

01tl4tl

always replace calipers in pairs- otherwise the other side fails in a month and you pay again to flush/bleed the brake fluid
If fluid contamination was cause of failure- definetly in pairs

The tech should be looking at the rears also by taking a fluid sample from the caliper
If its really ugly you may need calipers there too- my 01 never had the fluid done till I bought it, so it did need all 4 calipers AND master cyl just to be safe ( I like to ~drive~)

kaptainjack

^^...thanks soo much for the info...don't know if I can DIY, but might with help from newphew (he's pretty good mechanically)...but at least I know the $350 isn't a ripoff..

JRhodes88

iTrader: (2)

I was going to say the same thing

01tl4tl

kaptin- its only a few bolts and the abilty to pump the brake pedal for the bleeding/flushing

if one can do each half the job- you are set

01tl4tl

most places have to order the calipers from the main warehouse, not stocked in local stores- but only a day away
Give your tech a few days to get parts if you want him to do the work- call and give approval so he can order