caliper on rear wheel brake

[welcomehome]

2000 international 3800 7.3L handibus with hydraulic rear brakes on duelly tires.
/

well, i got my tires off the drivers side rear axle. i was looking closely at the caliper, familiarizing myself with it in preparation for taking the brakes off. since i had a leak coming out of the back tire on the inside and i couldnt visually see anything coming out of the brake connections, i assumed i had a leaking rear wheel seal. i am under the impression i have to take the brakes off to change the rear wheel seal.
well, i noticed that on one of the pistons, the dust shield is ripped. i examined the other(passenger) side and could tell the dust shields were not ripped. so now i wonder if my leak was actually not a wheel seal, but that caliper leaking from the busted up dust shield. i could not, however, see any wetness on the ripped dust cover from the outside. so as im trying to figure out how to take this caliper off, im wondering: can i just buy a rebuild kit for this bosch caliper? any advice from people who have worked on these as to how to remove the caliper since the pistons are extended? is this the kind of thing i could take to a machine shop and they could rebuild fairly cheaply?
thank you once again

[Njsurf73]

Originally Posted by welcomehome

2000 international 3800 7.3L handibus with hydraulic rear brakes on duelly tires.
/

well, i got my tires off the drivers side rear axle. i was looking closely at the caliper, familiarizing myself with it in preparation for taking the brakes off. since i had a leak coming out of the back tire on the inside and i couldnt visually see anything coming out of the brake connections, i assumed i had a leaking rear wheel seal. i am under the impression i have to take the brakes off to change the rear wheel seal.
well, i noticed that on one of the pistons, the dust shield is ripped. i examined the other(passenger) side and could tell the dust shields were not ripped. so now i wonder if my leak was actually not a wheel seal, but that caliper leaking from the busted up dust shield. i could not, however, see any wetness on the ripped dust cover from the outside. so as im trying to figure out how to take this caliper off, im wondering: can i just buy a rebuild kit for this bosch caliper? any advice from people who have worked on these as to how to remove the caliper since the pistons are extended? is this the kind of thing i could take to a machine shop and they could rebuild fairly cheaply?
thank you once again

You have rear disk brakes?

A good idea is to get some clean rags and some brake kleen. Clean the area spotless. Then lay a piece of cardboard under the area and see where the dripping is coming from. Then look for the leak. It will be easier to spot after you clean everything up.

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[Kubla]

if you do not see any fluid on the dust cover or caliper, there is no leak there, it would be all over and on the disk itself. brake fluid smells and feels different than rear end oil, also a different color but with dirt in it will be hard to tell that way

[welcomehome]

i am wondering if it could be leaking from the backside and underneath of the dust cover; where i cant see it yet till i take it apart. right now i can only see from above and back, about and inch, and that is ripped; but not wet looking.
if that dust cover is in such a bad condition does it necessarilly mean that the caliper wont work? could i drive 400 miles and deal with it then when i have more resources? or does it mean the brake wont work?
how hard would it be to locally source a rebuild kit for my caliper? ive did it before with the calipers on my old van and it worked fine. but i searched online and so far found nothing for rebuilding my bosch caliper for my year vehicle.
it does seem to have more of an oil like texture, so i think that once i figure out how to get the caliper off, it will probably show the leak coming from the wheel seal.
how many bolts does it take to get the caliper off after i take the hard brake line off? and is there a trick to loosen the pistons from where they have the pads pressed in? or will the caliper just pull right off?
i did clean the area with brake cleaner and im usually pretty careful to clean an area well before i take it apart.

[Njsurf73]

Originally Posted by welcomehome

i am wondering if it could be leaking from the backside and underneath of the dust cover; where i cant see it yet till i take it apart. right now i can only see from above and back, about and inch, and that is ripped; but not wet looking.
if that dust cover is in such a bad condition does it necessarilly mean that the caliper wont work? could i drive 400 miles and deal with it then when i have more resources? or does it mean the brake wont work?
how hard would it be to locally source a rebuild kit for my caliper? ive did it before with the calipers on my old van and it worked fine. but i searched online and so far found nothing for rebuilding my bosch caliper for my year vehicle.
it does seem to have more of an oil like texture, so i think that once i figure out how to get the caliper off, it will probably show the leak coming from the wheel seal.
how many bolts does it take to get the caliper off after i take the hard brake line off? and is there a trick to loosen the pistons from where they have the pads pressed in? or will the caliper just pull right off?
i did clean the area with brake cleaner and im usually pretty careful to clean an area well before i take it apart.

First- check your brake fluid. It's a closed system. Should be no loss. If it's below the "add" level it points to the brakes.
Check the diff fluid. If it's below the full level it's the diff.
If it's a slow leak from the rear, fill it and check it during the drive (as long as it's not leaking on your brakes)
If it's brakes, you may want to fix that before you need to test it the hard way, if it will stop.

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[welcomehome]

so ill know for sure here soon now that ive got some time to look at it some more and try to take it off. i know that caliper's dust shield is all ripped up so if i can source a new caliper locally i may just replace it. im hoping i can just find a rebuild kit for it which would include a new dust shield and seal though, since it would be so much less expensive. i really would rather not have to end up giving up my old bosch caliper as core for a so-so new caliper just because of some ripped rubber.

do i check differential oil level by taking out that large plug-looking screw that sits halfway up the backside of my differential? if so, where should the oil level be?

and what is that thing with the magnet bolted on the brake on the opposite of the caliper? it has a wire attached to it; im guessing its some sort of sensor?

[Njsurf73]

Originally Posted by welcomehome

so ill know for sure here soon now that ive got some time to look at it some more and try to take it off. i know that caliper's dust shield is all ripped up so if i can source a new caliper locally i may just replace it. im hoping i can just find a rebuild kit for it which would include a new dust shield and seal though, since it would be so much less expensive. i really would rather not have to end up giving up my old bosch caliper as core for a so-so new caliper just because of some ripped rubber.

do i check differential oil level by taking out that large plug-looking screw that sits halfway up the backside of my differential? if so, where should the oil level be?

and what is that thing with the magnet bolted on the brake on the opposite of the caliper? it has a wire attached to it; im guessing its some sort of sensor?

Most differentials require the fluid level to be just below without the fill plug on the rear end that magnet May either be a speed sensor or if you have ABS brakes a sensor for that system.

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[welcomehome]

i just had to remove a large bolt on the bottom of the caliper, and another on the top. then i had to use a hammer to tap the caliper out with light alternating blows on the top and bottom to incrementally push out the caliper. in my case it wouldnt budge just trying to pull it out.
upon examination i see that only an inch of that caliper dust shield was damaged, and the unit seemed functional. i took it to international. they could get me a reseal kit if they ordered it by monday for $50 or they could sell me a caliper for $350 on the spot. i politely said, thank you but thats not in the budget. i went to carquest and they had a caliper for $85 plus $50 core charge they would order and have overnight. they showed me a rebuild kit that was $12 dollars on their screen but for some reason wasnt available and couldnt be ordered. so i ordered the new caliper, but kept my old bosch caliper in hopes of rebuilding it.
after comparing, it was definately gear oil and not brake oil.