Earlier this week I had pulled and rebuilt my right side rear brake caliper on my '84 T/A. As far as I was able to tell it had the recall upgrade on it. But it recently had been seeping fluid past the piston, and since it was about 5 years old I figured the seals had worn out. Pulled the caliper apart and found it to be pretty clean inside- replaced all the rubber components from the rebuild kit and put it back on. Bled the brakes and stood on them to make sure no leaks were present and didn't find any.

A few days later- and having driven it around a bit in that time(about 10-15 miles since the caliper rebuild) - I was getting ready to replace the bushings on the rear sway bar when I noticed that once again the caliper had started leaking again

What could be causing this? The driver's side caliper is working fine- no leaks at all and it was replaced at the same time the right one was. Since I replaced the seals the only thing I can think of is that the piston is defective. Is this possible?

David

 

I'd check a little closer to see exactly where it's leaking from. It may be leaking around the e-brake lever and your piston may be fine.

Ed

 

That was my first thought..... but I checked- it's dry as a bone around the e-brake lever. I didn't find any fluid running down the side to the bottom of the caliper. In fact the whole back of the caliper was dry (I degreased it when I had it apart) but I can feel around the outer side of the backing plate near the bottom and found fresh fluid there (I also degreased the backing plate when the caliper was out). It's dripping from that point down onto the wheel.

 

I guess I'd get the car jacked up and the wheel off, and have someone step on the brake while you take a look around to find the leak.

Ed

 

I went ahead and pulled the caliper- it was the piston that was seeping. It was flowing out onto the back of the inner disk pad and was dripping from the lowest point of the pad down onto the backing plate and then onto the wheel. Looks like it was coming from the plastic check valve in the center of the piston.

Installed a rebuilt- works fine now....oh well.....

Thanks for the help!
David

 

Glad to hear you fixed it up.

Ed