This got worse before it got better. I was never able to get the old caliper to stop leaking. I wire brushed the brake hose to get some junk off. But it turns out the caliper actually had a lot of crust that was keeping the new washer from sealing. The OEM washer on the caliper side was sort of a triangle (and was kind of threaded on the banjo bolt which seems like a way to tell when the calipers/hoses are original). Because of that, there was junk built up around the circle where the rounded triangle washer did not cover. Maybe I could have worked on it more.kevm14 wrote:Hopefully everything tightens up. I was having issues with the brake line leaking at the old caliper even though I switched to the new copper washers. Seriously.
So the original plan was to get the car running again and wait for new calipers from Rockauto. But since I couldn't get the old caliper to stop leaking I looked at my local options. Napa or Advance did not stock calipers. But Autozone did (and Coventry, not Warwick). But instead of like $140 for AC Delco it was more like $160 for Duralast. Not that I had much of a choice. Hopefully they last.
Anyway, they sealed up and I bled all 4 calipers. Oh, I left the "old" (I have replaced these) brackets and stuff. I inspected the pins and everything looked good. Pads are wearing evenly. So I elected to leave it rather than introduce new variables.
Road test showed the brake pedal had more travel which I expected (remember I said the pedal feel was improving as the caliper was locking up). So still not real happy with brake feel but maybe it is actually a little firmer once it engages. I have new calipers all around now. I guess the main reason I did this was the drag and also a pull under harder braking. I don't remember if I really tested harder braking but did not feel anything and the drag is gone. At least I actually fixed what was broken which is a relief.