Brake Fluid Leak with New Caliper

[Brian Fisher]

2002 Acura RL

I replaced the Front Passenger brake caliper because I had a slow leak. The leak looked to be coming from the piston area, so I replaced the whole caliper (thanks to the video on the rear caliper replacement on the ’99 Acura RL). After putting everything together and bleeding the brake line, I took the car for a drive and my brakes were VERY spongy/squishy – I had to practically stand on the brake pedal to stop. I took it back to the garage, and its leaking break fluid. It’s dripping out of the Banjo Bolt. I’ve tried different combinations of using the new washers and the old washers, but nothing is working. I’ve got the bolt as tight as I can, but it still leaks, and leaks worse when we take it out for a drive. (The new caliper did not come with a new banjo bolt, so I’m still using the old one.) I’ve had the car up and down for 3 test drives this weekend, and the leak has gotten worse, and the brakes are still spongy.

Could the Banjo Bolt be bad? Could it be the brake hose?

Topic

[Lorrin Barth]

I’d suggest trying new washers again. If the washers are copper they are use once and throw away. As for the leak being somewhere else, put the car on stands, remove the wheel and watch while someone stands on the brake pedal.

The spongy/squishy pedal is due to air in the system. You need to bleed the caliper again. Watch that you don’t run the master cylinder dry. Do that and have more problems.

[Brian Fisher]

Well, I ended up returning my caliper to AutoZone and exchanging it. Another wrinkle in this story, is that one end of the caliper (where it bolts into the slide pin) was clearly damaged and not rebuilt correctly. I had a hell of a time trying to attach that bolt. I don’t think that pin was moving correctly, and that may have been part of the squishy brake problem.

So, anyway, with a new caliber and some extra elbow grease tightening the banjo bolt, the brakes seem to work fine – no leaks, no spongy brake pedal… for now!

I’ll continue to monitor things and I’ll update here if anything else happens.

[college man]

Glad its working out.keep us posted.

[EricTheCarGuy]

I’ve run into this problem with aftermarket calipers in the past and it was the same experience for me. The area where the hose is suppose to attach to the caliper was not machined properly, or there was some issue there. I’m glad you got your sorted out. Thanks for keeping us updated. I’m just going to put this video here for good measure.

[Author]

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