[Mk2] [Turbo] Help, caliper came off while driving.

[Chris Lynch]

Hi,

I have a 94 GTS turbo. About 3 months ago I changed the front brake pads, this is a job I have done loads of times before on other jap imports and one I have done once before on the tubby.

While driving home on a country lane at about 55 I went over a large bump and heard a rattle like a nut coming loose and rattling on the underside of the car. I slowed down (without braking, took my foot off the aceleator) then checked the brakes, I heard a large clunk and the brake pedal went to the foor. I pumped the pedal and felt the brakes again and came to a stop. I jacked the car up and found the front caliper was dangeling by the hose.

Anyway I jacked the car up in the garage and there is no sign of the bolts holding the caliper on failing, they have not snaped off and are just missing.

The caliper itself has one piston right out and the rubber seal is exposed, its leaking a little fluid.

What I cannot understand is fair enough 1 bolt may have shaken lose somehow with vibration and then the other would have failed under the added force but that does not look like the case.

My questions are: is the caliper fooked because the rubber seal is exposed and its leaking or can this be fixed?

If I need to get a new caliper do i need to buy a pair?

Where can I get a new set of the bolts that bolt the caliper on?

Is it possible I did something when I changed the pads which caused this. I am novice mechanic but have done servicing and regular maintanace to all my cars including 4 years of looking after the tubby.

The only thing I can think of it I did not tighten the 2 bolts up but I am usually over cautious about such things.

Where is the best place to get calipers for a tubby and how much are they likely to set me back?

Thanks

Chris

[JohnnyC]

Sounds scarey!!!

My questions are: is the caliper fooked because the rubber seal is exposed and its leaking or can this be fixed?

I can be fixed, Brakes International sell a caliper seal kit, as indeed to Toyota (Toyota's include parts for both sides I believe).

If I need to get a new caliper do i need to buy a pair?

You could go for the new caliper route if you felt a bit out of your depth replacing the piston seals. Don't think you'd need to get a pair though.
Refurbished calipers, from memory, are around £100 each - Brakes International do these, as I think Sbits still do?

Where can I get a new set of the bolts that bolt the caliper on?

There's a kit here that may interest you...
http://www.twosrus.co.uk/product_info.p ... cts_id=245
Or if that contains too much, then you could just order the exact bits you need from your local Toyota dealer.

Is it possible I did something when I changed the pads which caused this. I am novice mechanic but have done servicing and regular maintanace to all my cars including 4 years of looking after the tubby.

Sounds like the slider bolts weren't tightened and they worked themselves loose.

HTH

[Tiny]

Does sound like the slider bolts were not correctly tightened when you next put them on make sure you blue thread lock them too.

could have been much worse though

[Chris Lynch]

Are the slider bolts? are these the bolts on which the caliper bolts bolt into? the top one was loose in that I could pull it out with just hand strength, this part did confuse me as I cannot see how it bolts into the caliper bracket? The bottom one moves round with a socket wrench but have not had the time to try and remove it completely.

Thanks for the info, I agree it could have been much worse, I am so glad it was just me in the car driving and not my partner.

Is there a: "how to change the brake pads on an MR2" article anywhere with pictures so I can look at the brake assembly.

Chris

[Tiny]

ok the one you can pull out freely is supposed to be like that the one at the bottom you should be able to do the same. you can get slider bolt kits from Sbits even come with a nice baggy of grease but there are two bolt which bolt into the top of them holding the caliper so that it "floats" over the disk they need to be torqued and i would recommend that you put blue thread lock on them when fitting.

[Chris Lynch]

ok the one you can pull out freely is supposed to be like that the one at the bottom you should be able to do the same. you can get slider bolt kits from Sbits even come with a nice baggy of grease but there are two bolt which bolt into the top of them holding the caliper so that it "floats" over the disk they need to be torqued and i would recommend that you put blue thread lock on them when fitting.

thanks once again for the help. I will make sure I threadlock them in this time, the only thing I can think of is I did not tighten them up when I changed the pads, but its not like me to do such things.

I will buy some new bolts and a new seal kit.

Once again thanks for the help, this forum really is an excellent resourse.

Chris

[Bender Unit]

Have you reset the piston back into the caliper? The chances are its only leaking as the piston has fully extended, placing stress on the seal so your getting the leak. If you fully retract the piston you may find everything will retrun to normal.

Does sound like the slider bolts were not correctly tightened when you next put them on make sure you blue thread lock them too.

Did the caliper and carrier fall off or just the caliper? TBH I cant see how just the caliper could fall off due to its design of how its fixed, it would have to be the whole assembley which means carrier and caliper - and therefore nothing to do with the slider bolts.

If you didnt touch the carrier (unbolt it) when doing the brakes it would imply that it wasnt your fault; and was an unfortunate accident waiting to happen?

[Chris Lynch]

Did the caliper and carrier fall off or just the caliper? TBH I cant see how just the caliper could fall off due to its design of how its fixed, it would have to be the whole assembley which means carrier and caliper - and therefore nothing to do with the slider bolts.

No the carrier is fine, I cannot understand it myself, it does look like it should be impossible. I have a hydrolic lift and got the car up on it and checked everything and I just cannot see how both bolts came out, I expected they had some how failed but this was not the case, it seemed they had just come loose.

Chris

[Chris Lynch]

I took the caliper off last night, one of the rubber seals had fluid and air in it. I have managed to get that out and it looks normal again. Will this need replacing? or is it a case of put it back on and see if its leaking?

Chris

[JOHNM400]

Chris no offence mate but with what your saying it seems your not fully aware of the workings of the calipers. If you repair the caliper yourself then get someone who knows what they are doing to check it over afterwards. It seems like you didnt tighten the caliper retaining bolts and it could of proved fatal.

[Chris Lynch]

Chris no offence mate but with what your saying it seems your not fully aware of the workings of the calipers. If you repair the caliper yourself then get someone who knows what they are doing to check it over afterwards. It seems like you didnt tighten the caliper retaining bolts and it could of proved fatal.

No offence taken at all.

I am certainly going to get someone to check it, I just don't want to buy a new caliper if I don't need one.

As I said in my first post I have changed brake pads and disks many times including once on the MR2. I was sure I tightened the bolts up as I am paranoid about such things but its the only answer for what happened as far as I can see.

Chris