Should I replace the brake caliper or clean and repair it?

breadbin

About a year ago I had a problem with the front drivers side brakes on a Corolla T Sport. I took off the caliper and took out the pads, cleaned them and the piston was very hard to get back into the caliper. I brought it to a garage and they did a quick fix on it for very little money and so far it has been fine. They took the piston out and cleaned it, got the rust off with a dremel and put it back in.

Now the passenger side brakes are doing the same thing. I noticed a bit of a drone when I was driving and when I pulled up the passenger brakes were red hot so I presume the same thing is happening on this side. I don't want to have to bring it to the garage, i'd like to do it myself but was wondering what is the best way to fix it.

I can try cleaning it myself and using a dremel to polish the piston. Is this what most people would do or should I go about buying a new piston? new caliper or a caliper repair kit? Something like that? I know the cleaning of the piston is probably only temporary.

Then I saw a website who had a Bosch caliper for 90 quid. Would this be even better? I could do a complete overhaul while I'm at it. new rotors and pads. I did the pads not too long ago but the rotors look like crap. Just wondering if that is overkill. The car is 13 years old but don't get me wrong I plan to keep the car another while! Are there any other options? i.e. secondhand parts or refurbished?

biko

The main issue is usually pitting.
The surface needs to be smooth for the caliper piston to work best.
Dremel can work but be gentle. Sand paper is better but it really depends on how bad the pitting is.



Sometimes you can get a new piston and new seals and replace yourself.

breadbin

Thanks, I'm thinking I'd like to take the calipers off myself and clean them. I'll get a new seals kit but I'll probably need new pistons. Any chance someone knows where to get them? It's a 2004 Corolla T Sport 1.8.

rex-x

If you can get a new caliper for 90 then id go down that route, quality pistons will be 30+ each plus seal kit plus all the messing around

CJhaughey

Biggred.co.uk do all brake components and calipers.
Brakesint.co.uk do the same.
Buy some red rubber grease if you are rebuilding the caliper and even with a new one its worth using some as preventative maintenance.

breadbin

Thanks. I think I'll have a look at it Friday. Give it a clean anyway and see what the piston looks like. No point replacing everything if it's just a good cleaning they need

Toyotafanboi

The T-Sport callipers are the same as the 1.4 etc iirc so getting a cheap new option is best IMO, you'd get a good TRW etc for less than €100 to save all that dicking around with the old one.

thefa

My front right brake started making noises and there were scratches on the disc. Car doesn’t do much road and hadn’t been serviced since 2021 so I thought I would get it serviced and the disc/pads done. Took it to the nearest garage and was surprised when the bill came to €855 with additional issues, mainly brake caliper gone.

Am I out of touch with prices these days or are these parts and fitting not expensive (south Dublin - Passat 2010);

Bulbs x3 ~ €15

Caliper x1 ~ €190

Front Pads x2 ~ €120

Front Discs x2 ~ €210

Brake Fluid ~ €60

Air Filter ~ €35

Fuel Filter ~ €90

Pollen Filter ~ €60

Service ~ €75

Includes €151 VAT

User1998

Seems reasonable enough considering all the prices you listed include fitting and VAT.