Brake Caliper Rebuild - Honda Front & Rear Brake Conversion

This episode, my longest so far goes over the process of rebuilding the interior components of my brakes. Both the front and rears receive new seals and parts to make them function and refurbished. The front brakes were much easier to rebuild as they only consist of two seals. Also the front brakes that i have for my brake conversion were much cleaner then my rears. It is partially my fault as i did submerge the rears completely without the piston on, basically allowing dirty liquid to sit for month. Luckily the rears cleaned up nicely and replacing the pistons and seals, the whole process went smoothly. I spent roughly 100 dollars to replace all the necessary parts for both the front and rears. The rear calipers refurbished would have run me 75 plus tax each. Part of me wish i just spent the money and got them new pretty much but for me this was a huge learning experience. They are functioning which is most important. Hopefully my tutorial and installation process of the brake caliper pistons and calipers themselves were helpful. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions.

[@TheCheezysause]

One of the best indepth tutorial on rebuilding calipers I've ever seen.

[@GarageSpeCivic]

thank you!

[@TheCheezysause]

@@GarageSpeCivic you really want me to continue working on my ek sedan but I'm stuck with trying to get it to fire up

[@Patrik2166]

I'm about to refurbish mine and wow... That trick with the 15mm socket is just jaw dropping. Will keep that in mind :)

[@thomasreddinger1606]

Got my kits at O'Rilley for 6 bucks each. They includes a new spring type retainer not shown in this video. It goes on the top groove over the seal. Good video also, he did it right and payed attention to the cleaning.

[@egorzolotov9278]

If you can't get the cap with 2 pins (rear caliper hand brake) wash it with hot water - worked for me.

[@bairroalegre]

My congratulations I have a Civic Vtec 96 and I didn't know how to install the dust guard rubber on the plunger. You avoided me a big problem thank you

[@JosephDungee]

4:25 Where is the CirciClip? Did you already put that in? for the Boot Seal?

[@C0R0NAH]

4:18 it is greatest tutorial, cose showing real situation when on the otherside mostly you see everything running smooth instead of your own situation trying to do yourself :-D

[@RonaldFinger]

And I thought FIero rear brakes were annoying to rebuild... Great work man! It's exciting seeing this car come together

[@peteragurkis3590]

it's annoying to rebuild them, and just as annoying to buy reman calipers because you have to buy 3 before you get a "good" one. I dont use the brakes in my fiero i just kinda ease er down with the gears as much as I can.

[@davidwilson8010]

Good job man and like the way you put in the dust seals ..nice nice..

[@donnieyork1939]

Thanks for posting this.. best tutorial on the rebuild and the only one I;ve ever seen for those rear Honda " screw in pistons" Great Job..!

[@GarageSpeCivic]

Thanks

[@PeterHernandez-lg2eh]

Agree best video out there

[@TheHeatingEngineer]

A very good tutorial and a nice piece of work. I struggled with the piston dust covers and found another way, but now that I see the way you inserted the pistons I want to try that myself. And I was also impressed the way you stripped the internals of the rear callipers. I stopped short for the lack of long reach C-clip pliers. I may well try to make some "for the next time"! Indeed I agree with your comment that when you have rebuilt them yourself you can be more confident that they are working properly - or is it more that 'we know there isn't "something going on we don't understand"?' (sorry about the double negative here). One thing I feel is going on with these Honda callipers is that rust forces the seals onto the pistons and prevents the pistons retracting which leads to binding brakes. I wonder if anyone agrees? The seals fit into grooves within the piston bore. This means that water can try to run between the casting and the rubber seal. As more water seeps in, the cast iron rust and as we know rust expands. So the rust pushes the seal onto the piston. I think this can lead to the piston not retracting when the brake pressure is removed which contributes to greater brake friction and lowering fuel economy. I think this this is a bad design. I have fitted Girling callipers here in the uk and noted that the dust covers don't have a combined piston seal and so this effect can't occur. I have had fuel economy issues with my Jazz ('Fit' in the USA) and noticed hot wheels and brakes. The brakes must have been binding and the above is my explanation until disproved. Reader's comments would be welcome.

[@shahrulnizam4713]

one more reason I wish they didnt came up with rear disc brake at all, brake drum ftw!

[@NikeDattani]

Can you go into more detail about why you think the fuel economy was bad?

[@spacemonkey0077]

@@NikeDattani I know this is an old comment. I was thinking the same thing about my wife's car recently. The fuel economy has gone down and I attributed it to a brake that is dragging because it is seized. I tried spinning the wheel hub and it moves but with more effort than the other side. I just assumed that the extra work to turn the hub would result in reduce fuel economy.

[@PeterHernandez-lg2eh]

Excellent video I may need to do this on my 1998 Honda prelude rear calipers. 71 retired lineman diyer also drive a 2006 Subaru sti

[@AbyssalTenacity]

Seeing how easy it was for you to pop the front piston back in, i need to redo mine. Good tips on the dust seal install too--turns out I installed them incorrectly and likely damaged the seals. So gonna get new seals (aka new kits). Follow the video's install method!

[@racerx2084]

Good video. I just replaced the rear brakes on my Acura ILX. And this time when I was turning the piston in the seal got a messed up and tore. I painted my calipers also bc the the Oem calipers are bare and started to look corroded after I purchased the car. Instead of buying a new caliper and repainting I’m just gonna buy the seal kit and replace the torn seal. Luckily it’s the outer part so I can drive the car to the auto store to pick up the parts. Just don’t want to drive it like that for long.

[@nathanielnetzke8758]

Where did find your parts? Especially the rear caliper pistons?

[@sangaz8249]

This video is a god send

[@JMRSplatt]

Thank you so much. One rear piston has a torn dust boot and this should help me get that installed! Not exactly looking forward to disassembling a caliper being new to car repair.. but hey.. it's a good learning job I think! Edit - Yeah, after watching, my goal is to replace the dust boot and square seal. I don't have all the tools for a deep snap ring, nor the patience after freeing up two seized pins (opposing types) in the fronts. Luckily they were opposing types and one pin kit was sufficient. As you start buying caliper parts, at some point it makes more sense to just buy a new caliper.

[@AbyssalTenacity]

Cleaning the slide pin bores helped smooth my frozen caliper; recommended if your caliper is opened anyway! I used a bottle brush and a rotary sanding bit.

[@rolandoc.s537]

Dude such a great video, also kinda satisfying jaja but I just wondering if u could tell me where did u get those new piston ? A got the Nissin rear brake calipers from a Acura gsr on my Honda Civic and looks pretty much the same as your brakes so I’ll be pretty grateful if u really could tell me where can I get those new pistons, thanks and awesome video!

[@georgele872]

The best video the rebuild and installing the boost awesome... very informative .. thanks for sharing

[@ignatiusk2684]

How long did they last after you did all this work? was it worth the rebuild or would you have rather bought new ones?

[@mrbagins3774]

Great job! Struggling with the front boot but or any more !!👍👍

[@alexrusate1544]

Hey, if I have springs and ball bearings loose in my piston and my better off. Just getting a new one?

[@RobertMorodan]

Cool video. Do you know if on the 4th gen preludes the rear calioers are the same as yours were? Thanks

[@janoss1989]

After dust seal change, if caliper is not removed do i need to air bleed system? if yes only on that wheel or for all?

[@miguelargueta2473]

If you were to install the spring for the piston in wrong instead of facing the bigger ring down then up. Would this cause the piston to sit out more ?

[@notmycupotea]

Very Nice, thanks for sharing, I was hoping you would explain how the cam works together with the bolt. But I guess baggers can't be choosers.

[@davidaspinall5544]

Why use brake fluid to lubricate everything then cover the calliper in it? It will remove all the paint! Not be better using the correct spec grease to lubricate the parts? Great video though mate!

[@GPx1]

Thanks for the video m8. Now, ti see if i can find another piston popout method as i do not have compressed air.

[@kahvac]

Great video. I was wondering if the adjusting bolt that screws into the piston can be adjusted to make the parking brake engage earlier. Seems my parking brake handle position seems to vary depending on if I use the brake or not. almost like there is air in the caliper. Sorry for the poor description. Thanks in advance.

[@Mindkiller9669]

So in the front the dustproof seal goes in from both sides.

[@Ricardolsoto03]

Where did you buy those seals for the calipers ?an where can you buy the piston calipers for it it is rusty an no good

[@GarageSpeCivic]

Rockauto is where you will find pretty much everything

[@HunTomiBp]

It's a shame that none of the small black parts were visible on the big white table. Even so, the video helped a lot. Thanks for uploading.

[@QuanQ99]

Hi. May I know what is the seal rubber size for the front set.. thanks

[@bradm1508]

was that the rear breakes with the elctronic system for the brakes or the non-electronic ebrake?

[@tobyknows3021]

Keep up the good work my friend! Giving me motivation to finish my k swapped ek and also learn off you as I go!

[@numberpirate]

How do you not have more subs? This was extremely helpful and you di9d a good job explaining everything. It makes me sure abOOt being able to rebuild mine. One thing though, more light.

[@GarageSpeCivic]

Thanks for your feedback, glad it could be helpful

[@LucidAutowerks]

Awesome! There’s something satisfying about rebuilding and refreshing brake calipers. Did you rebuild the carriers too? I enjoy doing them as well.

[@patrickcandler1330]

Thanks for making this video! Very detailed!

[@danstandish370]

What size is the circlip inside the piston?

[@apolovzla_ccs]

Are you sure about using brake fluid on rubbers?

[@Bandit-md3ss]

Awesome, thanks ❤

[@jonichin4661]

Mate, my honda rear caliper leak at the seal for handbrake spring. It is at the back at the caliper. If i want to change the seal, should i take a part the caliper from the front side, or just take out the handbrake spring bolt? I hope you understand want i mean, cause i don't really know how to describe it. Thanks bro.

[@GarageSpeCivic]

You would need to disassemble it completely I believe since the small pin locks into the lever and hold it there. The cam boot seal wouldnt slot in easily in my opinion, u could try and back off the lever/spring bolt to allow some up and down movement which might give you enough room to fit one over and in, but u may risk ripping the new boot. If u gotta fix it start with spring bolt. Might get lucky

[@jonichin4661]

@@GarageSpeCivic ok, i'll try it. Thanks a lot, mate.

[@gamerdiydad]

Thank you for the video.

[@chriscaron9530]

What year are these? I have a 2001. Are they the same

[@livedeliciously]

You nicked your calipers when you were wire brushing! Maybe do the painting last next time.

[@kimquyluu6771]

Thank you share clip

[@norbertsliwinski6858]

Hi liked the video, however having black gloves and black parts was somewhat difficult to see. Your verbal explanation helped.

[@GarageSpeCivic]

Thanks, yes i noticed that too when editing. I'll stick to the blue gloves.

[@polygamous1]

Help guys anyone please, I recently bought a Jazz 04 model everything works fine But the breaks are way over sensitive at Any speed even at just rolling couple of miles an hour once I touched the breaks it feels as if I bumped into a break wall n came to a standing, this can't be right i cannot imagine Honda designing the breaks like this what maybe wrong guys anyone?thanks

[@woilly69]

All you need to know for caliper rebuilt.

[@marrolm]

How did you unlock the part of the min 7:32?

[@GarageSpeCivic]

Once that adjusting bolt goes out. A smack downward, the rest should come out. If the caliper is in better condition then mine was, ideally gravity should make it slip out on its own

[@marrolm]

@@GarageSpeCivic thanks dude, i just put out of the caliper. But i found the bearings of the brake stoo lever broken. I don't know if there are spare parts of this

[@johnnykurplutzo6789]

I left my e-brake on last winter. I'm in trouble.

[@GarageSpeCivic]

Maybe

[@mohammedalbaghdadi1400]

Or you can buy 2 new calipers for under 100 on eBay shipped to your house and save the Time and effort ( not everyone have the special tools and the place) for it ,I like the work ! you did it like you do this for living 😅

[@kahvac]

I have a 2006 TSX

[@grunherzjg-5443]

👍😎👍

[@norbertsliwinski3355]

Nice video but everything being black it was hard to see....

[@GarageSpeCivic]

Yup, I agreed, noticed that when editing. Blue gloves from now on

[@tomaszbielski6380]

good job but its tottaly not worth to rebuild it if some1 has neither skills, nor proper tools, unless u are gonna spend half of a day and a lot of nerves. And also you need a rebuild kit. So better to just buy a new caliper for like 50$.

[@ll-rb7or]

Very good , thank you 👍🏼