2001 Acura TL 5sp AT

Ok i have to replace my rear calipers. one of them is locked up, so i will replace both of them. What kind of calipers should i get factory reman or after maket.
I have EBC rotors and pads on all four wheels so not much of an upgrade but better them factory (I think). I do not want to spend a fortune but i will pay good money for a good product.

Thank for your help

 

u could always get the rotora bbk (not gonna be cheap tho), i have some 03 tl-p calipers for sale.

 

the TL calipers in the rear are the same for several years of acura and honda.
Rebuilt units are about 75-100 each,plus a refunable core charge when you bring the old ones back. Kragen is a good source for them. No one will stock them- not a popular seller so it takes a few days to get.
make sure to put brake fluid in caliper before install
Remember the bleed order is LF driver front then clockwise around the car LF RF RR LR

 

I've replied to other brake caliper issue threads and here's my two cents.

I took my 99 TL to a garage to have the brakes done and was told that a rear caliper was seized and needed replacing. I called the dealer up to get a second opinion and was told me they have NEVER replaced a caliper in a TL. After some discussion with the garage, I asked them to "service" the caliper and move on.

So guess what happened ? After six months the right rear caliper chewed through a set of pads ! Feeling stupid (and clearly bored with life), I decided to take the thing apart and see for myself.

I now have a full understanding of the TL brakes and what makes them "seize". It turns out (in my case) that the piston was not seized at all, but the pads would not freely move back and forth in their raceways causing the pad to drag on the rotor.

The brakes have two major parts, the hydraulic piston and the traveler which houses the pads that move back and forth against the rotor. After much flopping around getting things apart, I simply could not get the new pads to "sit" back in the traveler. After scratching my head and trying for literally hours to get new pads into the traveler, (including trying to use a hammer and liberal amount of bad language to get the pads in ?!!?) I found that RUST on the bottom and top of the traveler assembly was just enough to bind/sieze the pads. A little filing on the top and bottom of the traveler to remove the build up of rust and PRESTO, the pads just slid in to place. Who would have guessed that a little rust on a machined surface would cause the tolerances on the pad "height" to be so dramatically affected.

So, it seems that taking the brakes apart and cleaning up the travelers to ensure the pads move freely will resolve the “seized caliper” problem. I wonder how many TLer’s have been told to replace the calipers for this problem ? Keep in mind that when you replace the "calipers", you will get both parts and will undoubtedly resolve the issue !

Smartypants

 

Once again smartypants- you have only HALF the information and are not personally a tech with decades of experience. You are basing this thread on 1 guys opinion and your brakes.
So what!

The main problem is failure to change brake fluid every year. That lets moisture in the system which get compressed and pushed into the calipers. There tiny rust particles eat that small oring on the piston. That will cause siezed piston, I can name a few of us with that particular failure.
The piston can get cocked in its sleeve and cause sticking
Several other versions of the failure can be listed- but your guy has never encountered them.
On the bracket- the metal sliders must be cleaned and lubed- if not, the pads will not have freedom to move the 1mm back and forth that they need to operate.
Thats why Synthetic caliper grease is applied to them and the pad back where it has contact with the caliper and the bracket.

Calipers on TLs are now getting enough miles to just be worn out-
think of the pressure they must hold back in order for the hydraulics to even work,
now add some upgraded rotors and pads- you expect the master cylinder and calipers with - lets say 100k miles on them- to perform like brand new and better than new~

I agree that full inspection of brakes is in order on any job- I measure stuff with a digital caliper, my pads are currently 5.7 mm remaining with the end of the slot at 3mm
What would your guy say that is in life remaining with a basic visual- oh you can see the slot its fine- 50 percent left!!

 

Well i have personally seen the caliper go bad with no rust where the pad sits.

 

fsttyms didnt just have a caliper with perfectly clean good fluid changes "fail",
his RR got stuck in the partially ON position, pushing the pad against the rotor for an hour or so on the freeway until he got home and found smoking brakes.
Baked the material off an EBC pad- burned the paint off the pad backing it was so intense of a sustained heat.

Many things cause failure of the actual calipers. Proper cleaning and greasing SHOULD be normal maitenance IMO.
How many people here have over 50k on the rear brakes and the pads have never been off the rotors for inspection and lube of all the parts- 75k? 100k?
Show of hands please~

 

i had about 55k when i changed my rear rotors, and pads. i lubed everything up. and at about 58k i changes my front rotors to ebc dimpled and slotted rotors with hawk performance street pads, also lubed everything thing up good.

 

I'd just replace them with OEM. But then again I'm cheap.

 

for the rears thats fine- aftermarket has many good basic rotor for the rear- where only 30 percent of the braking is done
Brake cost vesus the insurance deductible when the wife brings the car home 3 feet shorter= no contest

 

lol not to mention increased premiums.
Brakes Good. Hitting things bad. Killing folks cause of it unacceptable.

 

Not sure if I am allowed to put external links here but I use to check this site when I owned a Vigor a few year ago www.car-part.com

they will list all the wreck yards in your area who might have the used parts you need. Sometimes you can find something very useful depending on the application of the part other times you are better of buying new parts.

 

DO NOT BUY JUNKYARD CALIPERS

they dont cost that much to rebuild or replace versus buying something that important - which should be rebuilt before use on your car- how is that saving?

If it were a fender or ballast or something- yes- auto recycler yards

TL rear calipers fit many models of honda products and every parts store can order them overnight from their warehouse

 

gotta stupid question..ok so i just recently replaced all pads & rotors. I did NOT grease the metal portions where the pads sit. from reading it sounds like i should do this asap when i get home?? there is a strange sound coming from the rears. sounds either like i have a warped rotor or the caliper is partially seized. it sounds like the pads hitting the rotors occasionally. anything else that could cause this? def not coming from the front. seems to be both rears. please help. even dumber question...how can i tell if the rotors are warped? lay them out on a flat surface and do a visual inspection? any help will be much appreciated! btw just rolled over 110,000 miles.

 

What brand of pads in the rear?
Some have been found to have a middle tab on the inner pads backing plate- there is 1 that holds the squeeler tab at the end, and 1 at the other end that does nothing- thats the correct setup.
The 3rd tab is in the top center and hits the caliper piston, makes funny wear, noise and other issues.
Remove pads and inspect- if tab present- use grinder- hacksaw- whatever, to remove that center tab from the pad back. Make it flush/flat!!
Clean off any surface rust from rotor and spray clean with brake cleaner-
Clean and regrease the metal "slider" plates top and bottem of the bracket- where the pads slip in.
Grease the back of the pads where they will make contact and the end tabs where they fit in the sliders. Anything that moes should be lubed and checked for free movement- just a tiny bit- but all moves on the grease easily

 

^^ damn your good! thanks i will inspect asap when i get home! They are EBC red stuff and EBC slotted/dimpled rotors. thanks again!

 

fsttyms has ebc and said they were not at issue on the tab
hows the brake fluid look in the master- ever flushed the fluid?
Once a year is good practice

 

i will still check them just in case. never flushed the fluid. should do that. i have never done it before. difficulity level? is there a DYI? i know to you it may be easy but im still a noob but i have the proper tools and basic know how. just need a little assistance. thanks again!!

 

easy to do- tools required:small wood block for under brake pedal, 1 helper, 1 turkey baster, 10mm closed end wrench, piece of clear plastic tubing- empty plastic soda bottle to catch and store old fluid- thick plastic kind preferred-
1 qt Synthetic DOT4 brake fluid
search here for brake bleeding and my name, there will be several post with full instructions
bleed order is- LF= driver front then clockwise (right) around the car
LF RF RR LR

 

ok so the flaming shall begin once i say this.....had the rear rotors on the wrong effin side! what a dumbass! so yeah took them off and switched em around and re bedded them. no more noise. has to be one of the dumbest mistakes i have made in a LONG time! lesson well learned! i will not ever rush or have that ASE certified friend help again.....

 

Did your rotors have a directional arrow on the hub like this --------->
Or did you look at EBC site to determine direction- some makers have the slots facing forward and others go rearward

 

no directional arrow(other than the obvious slots on the rotors ) but after inspecting them and looking at them like i was stupid for about 5 min i realized that at the end of the part number whatever had an L ar R on each, and the slots were opposite of the fronts....i felt like such an idiot! now i need to flush and bleed the brakes!!

 

now my question is did i eff them up by having them on the wrong sides? dont seem to have any problems via visual inspection....

 

dont sweat it- they were not on that way for long

 

my guess is i could have just used a little more pad than normal. now no noise so im happy! thanks for your help 01tl04tl!

 

Realistically on a solid rotor, direction is pretty much negligable other than to match slots to front. The reason there are directional rotors usually pertains to the vanes for venting in the center of the vented rotors. Solid means very little on direction.

 

He has slotted rotors not solid sides- and every maker uses a different theory of cooling for which way the slots point - some lead it some follow
The only rotors I have personally found to have curved INNER cooling vanes is RacingBrake brand, I think they have a few patents on it too

 

Right, but on solid, even if slotted (like mine), really is of no consequence. Easing the mind of pizz. Even on the paper I received, it said this (match to front if they are slotted, {explaining the L and R to match that brands vented fronts}, or put them how you like the look). The only time it matters is if the vanes are not straight. Whether curved (which is not patented, used very widely), or convergent (Racingbrake patent), etc. This is where directionality becomes more important (think of a centifugal compressor jet engine). When ther are no vanes, there is MINIMAL consequence if any.

Slotting is well know for its ability to keep surfaces clean and good for friction. Drilling is more where cooling takes place. If there were any notable difference in which directions the slots faced, all manufactures would use it (computers figure this stuff out well. Like you said it is theory).

Anyway, You caused no damage. For sure.

 

Right, but on solid, even if slotted (like mine), really is of no consequence. Easing the mind of pizz. Even on the paper I received, it said this (match to front if they are slotted, {explaining the L and R to match that brands vented fronts}, or put them how you like the look). The only time it matters is if the vanes are not straight. Whether curved (which is not patented, used very widely), or convergent (Racingbrake patent), etc. This is where directionality becomes more important (think of a centifugal compressor jet engine). When ther are no vanes, there is MINIMAL consequence if any.

Slotting is well know for its ability to keep surfaces clean and good for friction. Drilling is more where cooling takes place. If there were any notable difference in which directions the slots faced, all manufactures would use it (computers figure this stuff out well. Like you said it is theory).

Anyway, You caused no damage. For sure.

http://www.racingbrake.com/v/main/rotor_vane_design.asp