Rear brake caliper - removal, overhaul and refitting

Braking system / Rear brake caliper - removal, overhaul and refitting

Removal
1 Chock the front wheels, and engage 1st gear (or “P”). Loosen the rear wheel nuts, jack up the rear of the vehicle and support it on axle stands. Remove the appropriate rear wheel.

2 Fit a brake hose clamp to the flexible hose leading to the rear brake caliper. This will minimise brake fluid loss during subsequent operations.

3 Loosen (but do not completely unscrew) the union on the caliper end of the flexible hose.

4 Remove the rear brake pads, and free the caliper as described in Section 8.

5 Disconnect the handbrake cable from the caliper. On Saloon and Hatchback models, the handbrake lever faces away from the caliper, whereas on Estate models, it faces towards the caliper (see illustrations).

9.5A Rear brake caliper on Saloon/Hatchback models (A) and Estate models (B)

1 Caliper body
2 Frame
3 Brake pad spring clip
4 Handbrake cable lever facing away from caliper 5 Handbrake cable lever facing towards caliper 6 Bleed screw
7 Guide pin protective cap 8 Pad wear warning light connector 9 Flexible hydraulic hose connection

9.5B Handbrake operation on the rear brake caliper

1 Piston
2 Automatic adjusting screw 3 Spring washers
4 Cam
5 Handbrake cable lever

6 Support the caliper and disconnect the hydraulic hose, making sure that the hose is not twisted or strained unduly. Once the caliper is detached, place it to one side, and plug the open hydraulic unions to keep dust and dirt out.

7 If necessary, unbolt the carrier bracket from the knuckle.

Overhaul
8 No overhaul procedures were available at the time of writing, so check availability of spares before dismantling the caliper. In principle, the overhaul information given for the front brake caliper will apply, noting that it will be necessary to unscrew the piston from the handbrake mechanism (see Section 8, paragraph 10) before being able to expel the piston from the caliper. On reassembly, push the piston fully into the caliper, and screw it back onto the handbrake mechanism. Do not attempt to dismantle the handbrake mechanism; if the mechanism is faulty, the complete caliper assembly must be renewed.

Refitting
9 Refit the caliper, and where applicable the carrier bracket, by reversing the removal operations. Tighten the mounting bolts and wheel nuts to the specified torque, and do not forget to remove the brake hose clamp from the flexible brake hose.

10 Bleed the brake circuit according to the procedure given in Section 15. Make sure there are no leaks from the hose connections.

Test the brakes carefully before returning the vehicle to normal service.