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Accidentally separated front caliper halves

2K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  zebani 
#1 ·
Kind of a newb at the DIY stuff and thought I'd tackle replacing the front wheel bearings on my 1995 E320 wagon. When I was taking off the brake caliper on the first side I was working on, I accidentally loosened the four bolts that hold the caliper halves together before I figured out I only needed to undo the two 19mm bolts. The FSM says to never do this because they are torqued a certain way at the manufacturer and if you do they will maybe leak. OK. So my questions: should I just give up and get a remanufactured caliper for this side, or is the torque spec for these bolts available somewhere? If I can get away with reusing what I have, do I need to bleed the system somewhat (and if so, please tell me what would be necessary) as a few tablespoons of brake fluid leaked before I figured out I was an idiot?
 
#2 ·
Though the factory frowns on splitting the calipers I have been
doing it for 20 years when I rebuild them so................


If you only loosned the bolts slightly snug them up evenly
and torque to 25 ft lbs.

Otherwise remove the bolts and verify the 2 o-rings are in place
on the half with the recess. Then carefully set the onther half
on top and tighten as above.

Bleed the system after.
 
#4 · (Edited)
You need a pressure bleeder, regardless if your car has ASR or not.

The old bleeding using a helper method does not work on these cars.

I suggest you buy a Motiv bleeder kit (check Amazon) making sure it has the right cap for Euro vehicle applications.

Then bleed at 2 bar (30 psi) pressure starting from right rear, right left, front right, front left. Use a good brake fluid such as ATE SuperBlue or ATE Typ200 fluid. Both are virtually identical, other than dye color. Makes for easy changes, as soon as the color changes at the bleed nipple you know there is fresh fluid in the caliper.

Splitting the calipers is a big no-no, and if you see any signs of seepage or wetness after bleeding I would recommend getting a new rebuilt caliper.
 
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