Repair-It

eBay to the rescue.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151252977227

Hopefully the Cermalube keeps the pins from sticking in the future.

The Dorman bracket is on the way. I hope the casting isn't too shitty.

I believe everything is here, from several different sources. I got the 2nd caliper bracket and the 3M rotor resurfacing kit today.

Is the Caprice fixed yet? People are starting to talk...

I was too busy working on the Malibu. Not sure if I'll get to it this weekend, either.

As a refresher, the goal was to replace the front rotors and rear pads. There are a lot of details that went into each of those main items, though.

Nice before shots. Left front. Right front. The rotors are pretty rusty. But previous inspection suggested I could get away with re-running these Hawk HPS pads.

I started at the right front. Plenty of meat left on these pads! They won't wear out on my CTS-V, either. Spindle/bearing castle nut is backed off, ready to pull the rotor. New and old. Runs out good. Has runout. As I said, plenty of meat. This is the right front inner pad. The job entailed the following steps:
- Remove caliper (two bolts/pins)
- Remove rotor dust cap
- Remove cotter pin and back off castle nut
- Remove thrust washer
- Remove outer wheel bearing
- Pull rotor off the spindle
- Remove inner seal to get at the inner wheel bearing (I reused both bearings)
- Degrease and regrease the spindle
- This is a good time to clean off the ABS wheel speed sensor (they tend to accumulate crap)
- Grease the new rotor races
- Clean and repack old bearings
- Install inner bearing
- Install new inner seal
- Slide the new rotor on the spindle
- Install the outer bearing, thrust washer and castle nut
- Tighten the nut while spinning the rotor to make sure there's no grease bubble that will give a false torque on the castle nut
- I think spec is 12 lb-ft on the castle nut then the next cotter pin hole (there are 2 drilled holes to choose from), but I just use channel lock pliers and make it however tight I feel like, then find the next hole. I've never had any luck with hand-tight-then-next-cotter-pin method. The bearing always ends up with more play than I'd like after driving a bit. These cars do not need an additional source of steering play.
- Reinstall dust cap (DON'T hammer the center - tap it in along the edges)

I'll get to the pads and caliper reinstallation next.

Even though I wasn't replacing the pads, I did refresh a lot of the caliper parts.

The steps:
- Remove all 4 caliper pin bushings (they go in a groove so use your favorite small prying tool)
- Lubricate pad contact surfaces on the caliper
- Lubricate caliper contact surfaces on the spindle
- Since I wasn't replacing the pads I didn't use a new spring retaining clip on the inner pad
- Install pads into caliper
- Set caliper onto spindle
- Install the two hard inner bushings into caliper
- Lubricate new slide pins up to the threads
- Install new slide pins through new bushings and torque

One thing I used to do but I don't recommend any longer is the application of the red CRC goop between the outer pad and the caliper to keep it from rattling (and theoretically, from squealing). The squealing is handled by a combination of the pad backer material and general grease. The real issue is the rattling, which I always used the goop to solve. Well, the officially sanctioned GM way of handling this is NOT the goop, but to mechanically seat the pad into the caliper. I forgot to do this so I need to remind myself somehow. I'll take pics. For now, reference this assembled pic: Shove some kind of tapered chisel-like object between the rotor hat and the outer pad backing plate, and tap it into place so it's pushing the pad up against the lower retaining lip. Then, take a punch and hammer the pad ear to cinch the pad to the caliper. Do this once more on the other end of the pad (and the other ear). Once I began doing this, it has worked fine, no goop required.

Left side completed also: You'll notice I sprang for the fancy e-coated rotors so it doesn't look crappy when running 17" spoked wheels (you can get this automatically by specifying an Impala SS, which also gets me the right rear brake components).

This would also be a good time to inspect the steering stops (spindle and LCA). If dry, add chassis grease. If you have a clunk at or near lock, there's your issue. Also inspect the anti-roll bar end links and bushings. Consider greasing upper ball joint due to ease of access.

Next, the rear.

The rear was also nasty.

Right rear: Left rear: Removed 30mm wheel spacer (another set of lug nuts): The plan for back here was to replace the pads and try to resurface the rotors with that 3M Roloc 120 grit kit I bought. Additionally, I also knew the slide pins and brackets would need attention. These are problem areas with the B-body rear discs. In short, the grease gets washed away, particularly on the lower slide pin, and some combination of the bracket also going dry and the coating wearing off the pin and you end up with a frozen or semi-frozen caliper (which results in premature wear on the inner pad AND excess brake pedal travel because the piston travels more, since the caliper won't move and only the inner pad is doing any real friction). Excess inner pad wear and an outer rotor surface that looks somewhat rusty even if the car is frequently driven is the giveaway.

The fix is new brackets, pins and special grease. Nothing you can get at a parts store. I bought some Bendix ceramic lube (it's blue) which is supposed to be about the best you can get for this. And with good lube, the idea is I won't have to replace the brackets in the future because they won't dry out and corrode.

The steps:
- Loosen slide pin bolts at back of caliper, backing up the pins themselves with a 17mm wrench if necessary (if they are semi-seized you certainly won't need the backup for THIS step but you will need it to work the pins out) - fun fact: the slide pin bolts are grade 10.9. 'Cause safety.
- With the caliper out of the way, remove the pads from the bracket/rotor. Observe terrible wear patterns.
- Unbolt the bracket from the axle flange. These are 18mm and highly torqued.
- Remove rotor
- Resurface rotor
- Reinstall rotor (I took the liberty to adjust the parking brake shoes so the rotor would just slip on, though I'm not sure that's the correct adjustment - I also failed to get a pic of this unique PBR design)
- Remove and clean grease from the new bracket and lubricate with the Bendix BL20. I usually use a new pin to shove grease in there.
- Once both sides are greased, install new boots on the new pins and slide them into the bracket (make sure to get any air out by working the pin)
- Bolt the bracket to the axle flange. Torque to "a lot." The brackets are symmetrical left or right.
- Lubricate pad contact areas on caliper (I just used the included silicone PTFE)
- Lubricate pad contact areas on bracket (same)
- Lubricate the back of the pad with a light application of the silicone grease, then stick any included quieting shims on there
- Be sure the H clip is installed on the caliper with the big end of the H toward the piston
- I struggled with the best order to do the next step but ended up installing the pads into the caliper then shoving that onto the rotor, which is a bit clumsy
- NOTE: inner pad gets the wear indicator
- Whole holding the caliper onto the rotor against the spring pressure of the pad springs, insert a slide pin bolt and get it started, then do the other one

Here is a finished right side, with the rotor cleaned up as best I could. Left: So how bad were the pads? Pretty bad.
Left pads: Right pads: So that was all fine and good. Then I decided it would be reasonable and prudent to do a brake flush. I started by sucking out all the fluid from the master reservoir (my choice of apparatus for this is a plastic 2-stroke oil metering syringe, which seems better than the turkey baster routine). Add new fluid. PB Blaster on ALL bleeders (I did that at the beginning actually, since I expected to bleed at the end). Attempt cracking all bleeders to make sure there will be no terrible caliper replacements. I was successful in this, happily. Side note: I believe it is worth it to install the bleeder covers because it keeps crap out of the bleeder (and prevents the resultant corrosion from the inside).

These cars have regulator proportioning, so the order is farthest from master to closest (right rear, left rear, right front, left front).

I did the right rear and got fresh fluid. On the left caliper, I got black, nasty fluid. Weird. On the 3 channel ABS cars (all except the Fleetwood), the rear line is shared so any right-left fluid difference could only exist within half the axle line or the caliper itself. Side note: when I converted to rear discs back in the 2005 time frame, I bought pre-bent stainless axle hard lines from Classic Tube and they look perfect (with the correct wire armor for protection).

The bleeder also was acting odd. It never really got tight as I was bleeding though the fluid flow stopped. To cut to the chase, it was stripping the threads in the caliper. I don't know if it was partially stripped from a previous bleeding adventure and was leaking enough to let water in and make the fluid all gross. Either that or the piston seal is going. In any event, I decided to order two new rear calipers (which NO ONE stocks). Ironically, they come complete with brackets and slide pins. My eBay Dorman bracket came with slide pins and boots but my A1 Cardone from RockAuto was bare (and uncoated). So I had to reuse my two "best" slide pins and now I'll have brand new ones, which is something. Sigh.

So the car sits on 4 jack stands waiting until the calipers come in. I decided to install the spacers. I torqued them on the parking brake, which is VERY tight now (maybe too tight?).

I picked up the calipers tonight from Napa. The brackets are painted black. I ended up reusing the plated Dorman caliper bracket and removed the uncoated A1 Cardone. I will return both calipers with the old, crusty brackets. The caliper core isn't complete without the brackets so that makes my decision easy to just not get my core back from RockAuto (the core is only $4.50). Which means I'll have the spare A1 Cardone bracket and a new Napa bracket in my inventory.

Funny story...my local Napa actually just charged me as if I was turning in the cores when I picked them up (lowers the price by $86), and said to just drop off the cores when I get a chance. How about that for customer service?

Bled the brakes. Had to reset the proportioning valve shuttle during bleeding as I was getting little from the rear. After that it seemed to go fine.

I put the SS wheels back on and attempted to road test. Fail. Battery wouldn't crank the starter. Must have left the hood light open too long. So I rolled it back and jumped it off the Malibu.

The road test went fine. The pedal feels spongy but I think the rear pads need to bed into the old rotors (and the quieting shims into the backing plates). It seems to stop fine (with smell). No more warp! When I got back I switched the Battery Tender over to the Caprice for the night, which should help. It would probably take days to fully charge though. I'll drive it to work tomorrow. 'Cause Roadkill.