Bought my '02 GLE in Oct of last year. A few days ago one trailing arm bushing failed. Today I realized my right rear brake was stuck on since smoke was billowing out of it. I took the caliper off and the dust boot on the caliper piston was destroyed and the piston was rusted into the caliper. Tried pushing it back in with a C clamp but no dice, even after a gallon of PB blaster. Guess it's new calipers for me. The brakes on this car look like they never had any attention, they're in horrible condition. I'm restoring a 1981 Honda CB 750 and the brake caliper on that was in better shape. Oh well....

How much do calipers run? How about getting the trailing arm bushings replaced? Could be an expensive couple days here...

 

FYI...you don't use a C-clamp to push in the rear caliper piston. You need to turn it. Needle nose pliers work fine to turn it clockwise. If it turns freely then the caliper is probably fine and you just need to replace the pin and boot and bleed the brakes of course (preventative).

 

I bought a new rear caliper from autozone for 49.

 

Thank you, your post made me cry. Good to hear though, gives me one more shot at "fixing" this. The piston is in pretty bad shape though. This is the first time I've run into a "spin-in" type piston. Is that how the parking brake is able to work without shoes?

 

Cool, I may be buying a couple at that price. Are they any good?

 

you could replace trailing arm bushings with ES ones, as for calipers - I'm trying either to find used ones in good condition or rebuild the current ones

not sure about autozone's quality, but they give some kind of warranty

 

I replaced a drivers side rear caliper w/ one from autozzone 2 yrs ago. Still going strong!

 

Thanks for the feedback. Looks like I "fixed" it for now although it was almost by accident. I lubed the **** out of everything because it was all dry as a bone. The pad sliders didn't have any grease. In addition, the rubber boot on the piston had come loose and was stuck in between the piston and the caliper wall so I removed it for now. I lubed the **** out of the piston as well so it will slide more easily and that seems to have temporarily taken car of things. Now I need to replace the caliper before the unprotected piston gets really gross (or I could just get another boot for it).

I also saw that the previous owner replaced the struts/shocks with KYB GR2. Are these any good? The dust boot on the rear passenger side shock is totally destroyed so don't know how long that shock will last.

Anyway, thanks for all the feedback...

 

The woes of buying a poorly maintaintained 8 yr. old car.
To do it correctly you should replace the caliper at least. How are the pads, rotors?
As for the bushings, I've never done it, but looks like a hell of a task; especially the poly. It would likely be easier, to get one from the wreckers. (If you could find a good reasonably low milage donor car).
I replaced my factory shocks last spring with GR2's and I have no complaints. Firmed up the ride and handling. Our cars are very similar as far as ride and suspension goes. Maybe even identical.

 

I thought you lost the rubber boot on the sliding pin, not the caliper? Did you lose that rubber boot as well? Either way, you have two options.

1. Buy a "seal kit" for the rear calipers (they don't have the individual rubber parts at the dealer) which runs about $60. Make sure you have the FSM so you can install the seal kit properly. If you mess it up you'll have leaks and damage the seals and possibly the caliper.

2. Buy a new rear caliper.


As far as suspension goes I have KYB GR2's and they are good value for the money. Do a search on here for KYB. There is some online vendor who has the best prices and free shipping. Someone recently posted about it in the 5th gen forum about a month ago.