I am rebuilding my rear calipers on my Formula... and I came across something new to me...

On the rear piston, in the center, there is a little plug, and that piston had a lot of brake fluid in it.

1) Was it supposed to? I mean... I poured fluid OUT of the piston...!
2) When I reassemble... do I need to put fluid back in there?

--ALSO--

Are the rubber cup seals for the slider sleeves still available? 7 of 8 of mine are in 'ok' shape... but I'd like to get new.
These are the guys that hold some grease for the steel sliders in which the torx bolts run through.

TIA!
-blake (the hydraulic mess man...)

Bad news on both questions.

There shouldn’t be any fluid in the area between the inner and outer pistons. The valve in the middle of the piston is for venting air one way. The inner seal cannot be replaced so you need a new caliper.

The rubber boots aren’t available except as part of the sleeve kit, if you can find one. They are no longer listed on the ACDelco site.

The good news is that if you buy a rebuilt caliper, you can scavenge 4 boots before returning the core

good luck with the rebuild. i just replaced my calipers with some new ones that i got from the parts store
a couple months ago. over the weekend i was putting on some new S/S hoses, torque the banjo bolt down
and noticing that it wasn't getting tight. remove the banjo bolt and the threads of the calipers decided to
come out too. took the caliper back to the part store to see if they had another, the guy said he
had one and i can pick it up Monday. after work went to the part store to pick up my new caliper, and
to my surprise the caliper was for the right side but it was the front not the rear one that i needed.
after a discussion with PC and green87 on movie night about the non-existent of '88 brake calipers,
i'm SOL on finding a new one locally. i think they jinx me.
i guess i could call the fiero$tore and get one from them, or see if www.calipersonline.com can sell me just one.

anyway i digress, i have some of those slider boots if you need one. answers to your other questions
i don't have a clue that's why i buy new calipers hence my problem now.

[This message has been edited by Tom Slick (edited 12-04-2007).]

Spark...

What if I chose not to replace the caliper? Are we talking non functioning rear brakes or something?...
The e-brake is operational, and based on pad wear, I know the brakes were working.

Would I be okay to just re-assemble with the caliper kit and move on?

Tom, buddy... I feel your pain.
I am glad I ripped into all 4 calipers, one of my front pistons needed to be replaced.
If you can bring 2 of your little slider boots to the X-mas party, I'd be very grateful. I may only need one.

quote Originally posted by blakeinspace: If you can bring 2 of your little slider boots to the X-mas party, I'd be very grateful. I may only need one.

well we might have a problem, i probably won't be at the X-mas party.
so your options are as followed depending your priority
1. we can meet before or after work, since i'm on the west-s-ide.
2. you can wait until the next movie night.
3. i can mail them to you

Make sure to use a silicone brake grease that's rubber safe, most greases will swell the rubber the boots are made from, making them impossible to reinstall at a later date, and also making the sliders stickier.

JazzMan

blakey will you be roll'n in your new car.

for the price of boots you can tell me what car your getting

quote Originally posted by blakeinspace: Spark... What if I chose not to replace the caliper? Are we talking non functioning rear brakes or something?... The e-brake is operational, and based on pad wear, I know the brakes were working. Would I be okay to just re-assemble with the caliper kit and move on? .

If the leak is minor seepage you may be able to get by for a short time. The leak won't get better and may get worse in a hurry. Here's a drawing showing the problem seal on the inner cone.

Nice diagram. If your bar jumps by one... that's me. If not... I already got you

So... if 'they' are no longer manufacturing these rear calipers... (or the pistons)
How can one know if the rebuilds your getting from RockAuto/Fierostore/Autozone are really going to have good pistons?

quote Originally posted by blakeinspace: How can one know if the rebuilds your getting from RockAuto/Fierostore/Autozone are really going to have good pistons?

i guess i'll find out thursday, order one from AZ said it would be thursday.

Hey Tom I need one of those sleeve boots. If you get with blake on the exchange could you throw in one for me. pretty please.