1988 nissan maxima 58K need caliper advice on repairing

[lowpost99]

Hello all, OK this is my first post here. I've done a bit of searching the stickies, and used search a good bit. I've recently inherited my mother's 1988 Nissan Maxima automatic that has only 58K mi. on it and it is in overall "good" mechanical condition, and "fair" body condition. I need help with deciding to rebuild the rear, twist-in type of calipers, or buy new or better ones. you see I wasn't familiar with these before and I rushed into the job assuming that I could press the pistons into the bores with a C-clamp, and pushed both rear calipers down. I was able to only get pads installed on one side, and in my ignorance/frustration, I mashed the brake pedal with the last caliper not installed on the rotor and pushed its piston pretty much out of the bore, tore its dust boot, and it leaked brake fluid. From this board and others, I've learned that I will need to likely rebuild each caliper. I found a Beck/Arnley rebuild kit for $24, and rebuilt calipers are $71, and I am still looking for a service manual, or someone's photo instructions on how to do the job, & suggested tools from the point where the calipers have been removed, and the dust boot is coming off, through the replacement being put back on. Are they straight-forward to rebuild?

[MaximA32]

Fairly straightforward to rebuild but it would save you quite a bit of hassle and time if you just replaced the calipers outright. I know it may seem a bit expensive but if you do it, you won't have to worry about it farther down the line.

Welcome to NICO!

[lowpost99]

Fairly straightforward to rebuild but it would save you quite a bit of hassle and time if you just replaced the calipers outright. I know it may seem a bit expensive but if you do it, you won't have to worry about it farther down the line.

Welcome to NICO!

I would really appreciate any info you could provide or assistance if you're very familiar with this type of caliper rebuild. I would opt to replace them 1st too, if in the $30-$40 ea. range, but these are $70.00 ea. or more everywhere I've looked. If you can help, it's much appreciated, I've removed the dust boots and the square-cut seal from the bore, but would like to look at the procedure to replace the remaining parts as well, hopefully so that I'm not here again due to freeze/seize or other failure due to contaminates still down in the caliper. Junkyard calipers present the same concern, as I wonder how replacing my 23 year-old caliper with another one that's nearly or just as old will fail sometime soon thereafter.

[MaximA32]

This write-up should help you out quite a bit: http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/rebuil ... ipers.html

Now, an important question, is the piston hollow or solid?

[lowpost99]

This write-up should help you out quite a bit: http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/rebuil ... ipers.html

Now, an important question, is the piston hollow or solid?

Thanks for that one. My front calipers are like those which are regular ones(push in with C-clamp). My rear calipers are hollow, and the center of the piston is a female threaded column and the bore has a male threaded screw. I need write up for rebuilding this type, as there are several additional internal seals & clamps.

[MaximA32]

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any for the rear. I've never rebuilt a rear caliper such as that one so I'm afraid I won't be of much help.

[lowpost99]

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any for the rear. I've never rebuilt a rear caliper such as that one so I'm afraid I won't be of much help.

That's no problem at this point. I found a set on an 87' max from the junkyard. I installed them, and bleed the brakes, in this wheel order RR, RL, FR, last FL. We drove it and it sounded great, no dragging, scrubbing, good braking power, everything was good, and then about after about 5-8 minutes, the brakes began to grab hard(locked up is a better description) as the wheels began to smoke intensely (from the brakes pads I assume) so I drove home and parked it. Any idea what/why they could be locking up? When I drive, it feels like when the brakes are applied they work, but aren't releasing when I come off the pedal. The front brakes both were smoking and I've done nothing to either of them aside from bleed them. Any thoughts?

[RED_DET]

The rear brake calipers are locking up because they have been sitting around in a junk yard for an extended period of time and you had no idea what there condition was when you put them on. There is an old saying " you buy cheap, you buy twice" and here you are looking for another set of rear calipers. Just buy the new ones, put them on, bleed the brakes and you won't have to worry about any more headaches.

[lowpost99]

The rear brake calipers are locking up because they have been sitting around in a junk yard for an extended period of time and you had no idea what there condition was when you put them on. There is an old saying " you buy cheap, you buy twice" and here you are looking for another set of rear calipers. Just buy the new ones, put them on, bleed the brakes and you won't have to worry about any more headaches.

I really do appreciate that advice, but this is my project car, not the everyday car, and I not in a rush on time, so I'll give little in time to save a few $$. I knew the risk I was running in that approach, but a set $28 with warranty for 30 days vs. $150 for a new set is a big difference. I hear your resolute answer, but are you certain that the new RR is causing the FL and FR (which were fine) to exhibit this issue, vs anything else that I could have done incorrectly during the re-install or bleeding? I'm interested in understanding exactly why all 4 are now reacting in this manner...I know I may still have to get a new set for the rear, but can you explain how this would/may resolve the new issue with the front 2 which were ok until yesterday...? Dude, thanks for your pair of eyes and brain, my shade tree mechanic is suggesting I re-bleed them first (I know that the first bleed attempt, we may have pumped the brakes with the bleeder open and sucked in some air...I thought we did a pretty fair job the next day...

[RED_DET]

If you were experiencing issues from a bleed error and allowing air in the system, this would adversely effect the braking aspect of when its time to stop there would be little to no pedal feel at all and the brakes would hardly work. I'm uncertain if the rear calipers are causing the fronts to lock up as well. The main problem may lie in the master cylinder itself, as it is the heart of the system.

Here is a good read to get a better understanding of the system: brake parts

As you read that information you will see that there are two circuits in the system. In your case a (FWD) car, the brake system is split diagonally. The left front and right rear brakes share one circuit, while the right front and left rear brakes share the other. So in theory we could say that if the two rear calipers are not functioning properly it could cause issues with the front.

[lowpost99]

If you were experiencing issues from a bleed error and allowing air in the system, this would adversely effect the braking aspect of when its time to stop there would be little to no pedal feel at all and the brakes would hardly work. I'm uncertain if the rear calipers are causing the fronts to lock up as well. The main problem may lie in the master cylinder itself, as it is the heart of the system.

Here is a good read to get a better understanding of the system: brake parts

As you read that information you will see that there are two circuits in the system. In your case a (FWD) car, the brake system is split diagonally. The left front and right rear brakes share one circuit, while the right front and left rear brakes share the other. So in theory we could say that if the two rear calipers are not functioning properly it could cause issues with the front.

Thanks very much for this info... I hope I can apply this info...

I did note my brake light came on during this latest episode...wonder if this is possibly a sign of issue with the pressure differential valve. I'm gonna bleed them once more according to RR+LF and then LR+RF, and if this won't get it, I'll return the junkyard calipers and order some new ones. Any suggestions on compatible calipers? I'm looking at least $70 for an unknown brand from Advance Auto. Is there another brand or retailer I should check into first for better quality/performance for about the same? Also last thought is with the split-system, in reference to suggestion for replacing calipers in pairs... is the pair the RR+LF? or RR+LR? I.e. Replace both of the rears together? or one and the opposite side front caliper?

[the converted]

Judging by that bleed order your have been hanging around the Honda world. Usually the bleed order on a Nissan is rr, lr, rf, lf because they don't have the diagonal redundancy setup that Honda does. Even then, I'm having a hard time figuring out why you would have all of these calipers sticking. Was the car sitting for a while or anything? I guess it would be possible that there was moisture in the system and all of the pistons corroded.