I was changing my front pads and rotors on my '07 TL-S today without getting a refresher on how to do it, and I disassembled one of the calipers by mistake (took out the four allen head bolts holding the assembly together instead of the retaining bolts). When I got the bottom bolt out, brake fluid started running out. I put everything back together and it stopped leaking, but is there a seal or anything there I should be worried about? Should I bleed the brakes now, or just top off the fluid?

 

if you pulled them apart, its recommended that the caliper be re-built.

I dont have experience with taking apart the brembo, but I'm sure there are seals that you need to replace.
Google how to re-build brembo calipers.


with that being said, I'm not sure if you can get away by just putting it back together.

Dont worry, I make boneheaded moves all the time.
my friends make fun of me.."Justin, your car is on jack stands AGAIN!?"

 

well, you should worry. the piston boots can be purchased from the dealership but why replace them if the piston didnt pop out fully or if theyre not worn, however there is a small o ring that lies between both halves of the caliper(thats where the fluid was coming from) and this is the only area that allows fluid to be transfered from one half to the other. this small o ring is not in the acuras parts catalog. ive looked and couldnt find it, granted this was about three years ago. hopefully the parts have been updated.

and its better to be safe than sorry, bleed bleed bleed. well after the replacement of the o ring that is. you can take a chance and retorque the caliper halves and bleed them without replacement of the o ring,but why take a chance on your safety.

 

^because its a brembo caliper.
you'll have to find a "brembo rebuild kit"

 

from brembo?
anywhere local?

 

I had that happen and tightened them back up
bleed entire system
special TL order and special brembo order
LF driver front, outside bleeder then inside
RF, same as above
RR
LR

 

The split calipers are not to be taken apart as in the FSM:
4-piston caliper type
Note: Do not disassemble these calipers, they can not be rebuilt

I'd put it back together and see if it leaks. If it does you'll need to fix, probably another caliper as the rebuild kits only contain the piston seals and dust boots, at least what I can find.

 

Thanks all. The pistons didn't come out, and it stopped leaking as soon as I tightened everything back up, so I'm going to let it sit for a couple of days while I work on some other stuff, make sure it's still not leaking, then bleed. If air only got in at the one caliper, do I still need to bleed the entire system, or just that one spot?

 

It never hurts to bleed the entire system to get fresh fluid in there. I do the "one man bleeder" thing at it takes about 15 minutes. No more pumping the breaks and needing to find another person to help. See this Youtube video for an example:

 

I wouldn't let it sit, I'd bleed the entire system then drive the car to see if it leaks under pressure as there will be zero pressure when the car sits.

 

OK, I'll have to fess up. The reason it's sitting is that after I had already replaced the rotor on one side and got the pads off, I found out that I had ordered rear pads instead of front, and now I'm waiting on the fronts. I'm usually much better at this kind of thing.