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[DIY] DC5 Brake Caliper Rebuild

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    [DIY] DC5 Brake Caliper Rebuild

    [DIY] DC5 Front Brake Caliper Rebuild

    I recently rebuilt my front pair of calipers on my DC5R so I thought I would share the general process I went through. The process should be the same for most Honda single piston slider calipers as fitted to nearly every modern Honda car. The only front calipers that would be significantly dissimilar are anything Brembo, like JDM DC5R, and some NSX and Legend calipers. DISCLAIMER: Myself and clubITR take no responsibility for any misadventures that may befall you if you attempt this DIY. Please only proceed if you have adequate mechanical knowledge.

    Stuff you will need:
    Caliper rebuild kit (Part No. 01463-S2A-000. Suitable for EP3R front, AUDM DC5R front and S2K front calipers. 1 per caliper)
    Scissors
    Gloves
    Assorted screwdrivers
    Brake fluid
    An old aerosol can cap
    Brake clean
    12mm spanner
    19mm spanner

    Stuff you will also need if you are removing the caliper from the car or installing it after rebuild:
    Jack
    Jack Stands
    17mm socket
    19mm socket
    14mm socket/spanner
    Breaker bar
    Brake fluid
    Torque Wrench

    Figure 1: Caliper exploded view




    Step 1: Removing the caliper from the car

    I have no pictures of this part because I rebuilt spare calipers that I had lying around thanks to air23box, however it is pretty simple. To remove the caliper from the car first raise the front of the car on to jack stands after loosening the wheel nuts. Remove the wheel. The caliper is held on to the knuckle by two 17mm head bolts on the inner side, and the brake line is fixed to the caliper by a 14mm head banjo bolt. Remove these and wrap the dangling brake line in something to prevent the brake fluid going everywhere. Alternatively you can use a suitably sized nut and bolt with the sealing washers to seal up the banjo fitting. You should now have in your hot little hands a fairly dirty and beaten up caliper that looks something like this:

    Figure 2: Caliper




    Step 2: Disassembly and cleaning


    The first step I did was to remove the piston from the caliper. I did this by pushing on the back of the piston with a medium sized philips head screwdriver as in figure 3. It took quite a bit of force, and be careful where you place the end of the screwdriver so as to not score the inner bore of the caliper or damage the threads where the brake line attaches. An alternative method to remove the piston is to use a compressor to spray compressed air through the back of the caliper to force it out. I don't have a compressor.

    Once the piston is removed the old dust seal can be removed and the piston seal can be gently pried out with a small flat head screwdriver pictured in figure 4. One can then remove the caliper body from the bracket by sliding it the pins out of the bracket and removing the old slider boots. The pins can be removed from the caliper body by undoing the 12mm head bolts whilst holding the pins stationary with the 19mm spanner.

    Once the caliper was completely disassembled I cleaned it with a combination of aerosol brake clean, strong solution of Simple Green all purpose cleaner and a stiff brush. I then sat it in the sun to dry.

    Figure 3: Removing the piston


    Figure 4: Removing the piston seal


    Figure 5: Caliper completely disassembled


    Figure 6: Caliper cleaned and ready for reassembly

    #2

    Step 3: Reassembly


    Now comes the fun part. Your caliper rebuild kit should contain the following items, mostly pictured in Figure 7:
    1 piston dust boot
    1 piston seal
    2 slider boots
    2 small washers
    3 sachets of grease

    First coat the bore of the caliper and the piston in brake fluid (this can be seen in Figure 7), I just used some RBF600 that I had lying around. Wear gloves, don't be foolish like me. Then coat the piston seal in the clear grease picture in figure 7 and insert it into its groove, the one that is deeper into the caliper, in the caliper bore as shown in Figure 8. I then coated the caliper dust boot with the supplied rubber grease, which I guessed was the pink stuff, and inserted it into its groove in the caliper bore, which is the upper of the two grooves, as shown in Figure 9.

    The next part of the reassembly is the most difficult. Getting the piston into the caliper with the dust boot correctly seated around it. The way I did it was to make a clever device to spread the dust boot out to a large enough diameter to be able to fit the piston in using a cut up aerosol can cap. The process for making this awesome tool is shown in Figure 10 stolen from someone else on the internets. Mine can be seen in the top left corner of Figure 7. Even with this special tool it takes quite a bit of fiddling to get the dust boot around the piston. Once the dust boot is around the piston and seated in the groove on the piston one can carefully push the piston into the caliper and end up with something resembling Figure 11. Be careful when pushing the piston back in that it is going in square to the bore to avoid damage to the piston seal, it should not take a great deal of effort. I used one hand to push it back in.

    Figure 7: The contents of the rebuild kit


    Figure 8: Piston seal in place


    Figure 9: Dust boot in place


    Figure 10: Making a boot spreading tool


    The alternative method I have read to get the boot around the piston is to place the piston against the boot and then blow compressed air into the back of the caliper to blow the boot up like a balloon and around the piston.

    Finally all that needs to be done is to put the slider pins back on the caliper if they were removed and torque the bolts holding them to the desired 32Nm. The pins are then greased using the orange grease as shown in Figure 12 and the pin boots greased using the pink grease. I am not entirely sure whether I used the correct greases for each application. Then the caliper body can be slid into the caliper bracket and the slider boots seated correctly. It should slide back and forth very smoothly, if it doesn't pull it back out and put more grease on the pins. One caliper freshly rebuilt as shown in Figure 13.

    Figure 11: Piston in


    Figure 12: Slider pin in and greased


    Figure 13: Completed caliper


    Step 4: Refitting caliper to car

    Again I have no pics of this part but basically install the caliper in the reverse order of removal taking care to torque all bolts to the recommended settings given in Figure 1. Also be sure you refit all shims and put the pads back in the same positions in the caliper to ensure no loss of braking efficiency. Once the caliper is fitted the brakes will need to be bled. Take the car for a test drive to make sure it still stops. All done.

    Comment


      #3
      Let me know if anything needs clarification or if you believe any part of this DIY to be in error .

      Comment


        #4
        Excellent write-up & great pic’s too.
        Thanks.

        Comment


          #5
          Great info...... Is this ur old one or the one from me?......
          Mugen Whore #2

          ヒール&トウのやりかた
          1)ブレーキを踏む
          2)クラッチを切る
          3)シフトダウンしなから、
            アクセルをぶかす
          4)クラッチをつなぐ
          :blah:
          インテ君と共に歩み続けて早1年・・・いろんな所へ出かけ楽しく過ごしてきましたが、事情により手放すこと となりました。(T0T)
          人生で初めて走る楽しさを教えてくれた「インテグラ TYPE R」・・・初めて走った時は何もかも衝撃的でした。今でも走る楽しさは変わらないですが。。。残念です。今 まで本当に感動をありがとう!

          Comment


            #6
            Thanks to Mugsee for the good photos. The crappy ones are mine.

            Originally posted by air23box View Post
            Great info...... Is this ur old one or the one from me?......
            Ya this is one of the ones I bought off you.

            Comment


              #7
              I notice you didn't paint them a purdy color while you where at it ... may I suggest Red... and some Brembo stickers

              But on a serious note... have you noticed any change over your old calipers? And would you say that this would be a good way to go before considering say a caliper change (to an aftermarket item)?

              Comment


                #8
                Great Write up Tom..

                it would have been so nice had i knew the "Cut out Cap trick" when i had to put the piston back into mine lol..
                Memorable quotes

                Originally posted by Q_ball
                some say, his vtec was switched off on his last 4 outings at wakefield....

                and that his foot comprises of only a heal and a toe...

                all we know is hes called The Perry!!
                Originally posted by tinkerbell
                if those HA's are 7k old - i will eat my own arsehole...
                A wise man once said "Tok like Gay better than been like gay"

                Originally posted by Wayne
                Never again complain about a honda's reliability just be glad you dont own an Alfa

                Comment


                  #9
                  Nice work Guy, now if only you could repair dented Ti Zorsts LOL.



                  "Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car.
                  Horse power is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how far you take the wall with you."

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by 45SET View Post
                    I notice you didn't paint them a purdy color while you where at it ... may I suggest Red... and some Brembo stickers

                    But on a serious note... have you noticed any change over your old calipers? And would you say that this would be a good way to go before considering say a caliper change (to an aftermarket item)?
                    Hahaha that is what mugsee said. Painted calipers are not really my style though .

                    I only changed one of my two calipers to one of the freshly rebuilt ones before a recent track day. I didn't notice an significant difference, and if your calipers are not leaking fluid or in very poor condition I don't think it will make much of a difference to braking feel or stopping power. I only chose to rebuild my calipers because I damaged one of the dust boots on one side and it gave me something to do.

                    Originally posted by Wlee2 View Post
                    Great Write up Tom..

                    it would have been so nice had i knew the "Cut out Cap trick" when i had to put the piston back into mine lol..
                    Thanks guy. You have a compressor though so it would have been easy for you surely .

                    Originally posted by Chi View Post
                    Nice work Guy, now if only you could repair dented Ti Zorsts LOL.
                    Just you wait. That will be my next DIY.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      compressor only made it easy to take the piston out =P..
                      Memorable quotes

                      Originally posted by Q_ball
                      some say, his vtec was switched off on his last 4 outings at wakefield....

                      and that his foot comprises of only a heal and a toe...

                      all we know is hes called The Perry!!
                      Originally posted by tinkerbell
                      if those HA's are 7k old - i will eat my own arsehole...
                      A wise man once said "Tok like Gay better than been like gay"

                      Originally posted by Wayne
                      Never again complain about a honda's reliability just be glad you dont own an Alfa

                      Comment


                        #12
                        how much did the caliper rebuild kit cost?

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Wlee2 View Post
                          compressor only made it easy to take the piston out =P..
                          Read the DIY more carefully . Particularly the section regarding getting the piston back in.

                          Originally posted by EG CIVIC View Post
                          how much did the caliper rebuild kit cost?
                          I think it was around 20 dollars through a JDM friend of mine. I am not sure what they cost locally.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I think shin did try that meathod ..

                            we were scared our fingers were going to be brutally removed..
                            Memorable quotes

                            Originally posted by Q_ball
                            some say, his vtec was switched off on his last 4 outings at wakefield....

                            and that his foot comprises of only a heal and a toe...

                            all we know is hes called The Perry!!
                            Originally posted by tinkerbell
                            if those HA's are 7k old - i will eat my own arsehole...
                            A wise man once said "Tok like Gay better than been like gay"

                            Originally posted by Wayne
                            Never again complain about a honda's reliability just be glad you dont own an Alfa

                            Comment

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