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Follow Up to 'I think I screwed myself' 200 1990

First off, thanks for the immediate advice and support. Here's why I changed the caliper in the first place.

I Keep the car very well mechanically maintained. It has been running so smooth lately, I wonder sometimes if it is idling. Seriously, I've gotten it that smooth. Anyway, I was getting a squeek like it was time to change the pads, so I looked at the front pads and the right side was nearly completley worn down while the left was less that halfway throught the set of pads I put on last summer. Something was wrong. I figured I would just replace the caliper as they are cheap enough and it was now almost 15 years old. The caliper I got from Advance turned out to have a cut dust boot which I discovered upon returning home. So I figured I would just change all of the fluid (it was brown at this point, again, I don't think the original owner ever changed it) and then see if the fresh fluid would help the caliper. I bought the IPD EZ-Bleed device. I worked ok to bleed all of the fluid, but it never really formed an airtight seal. I fiddled with it for quite some time. The fluid came out of all the bleeders fine except the outside bleeder on the caliper with the suspected problem. I opened the bleeder but nothing came out. So off I went to NAPA. They had one in stock, a Beck-Arnley (are they good?). After an hour of futzing with very tight brake line bolts the caliper finally came off. I didn't chock the pedal so as I was putting on the new caliper, fluid slowly dripped out. After getting the caliper on I rebled the caliper with the EZ-Bleeder. It sucked. THe bleeder was working fine for about ten minutes then it blew - brake fluid was all over the floor of my garage. I got a friend to help with the pump-stop-pump method. I took quite a bit of time and fluid to re-bleed just that caliper so that now - the brakes work fine. I guess more fluid than I realized had dripped out of the caliper while I was changing it. A lot of air came oout of the side bleeders while we re-bled the system. Now the brakes are fine. No squaking or pulling to one side. Thanks again for the help.

By the way, I installed those IPD strut to firewall braces. They are like a dream come true. They were, to me, a more niticeable improvement than ever the turbo swaybars I pu on last year. Well worth it. You really feel it in the turns.








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    Follow Up to 'I think I screwed myself' 200 1990

    You might want to search for check valve bleeders. They are available for Porsche and probabilly fit the VOLVO as well. They have a spring loded ball so you can loosen them and the air doesn't get into the caliper.








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    Follow Up to 'I think I screwed myself' 200 1990

    I opened the bleeder but nothing came out. So off I went to NAPA.

    I wish you would have posted with that problem first. You could have saved a lot of hassle and the price of the caliper (which you should always change in pairs, BTW).

    It's pretty common to not get anything out of a bleeder, and it doesn't mean the caliper is bad. Usually it is just the valve clogged with crusty crud, and you can pretty easily clean it out. First make sure there is no pressure on the hydraulic system either through the pedal or a pressure bleeder. Then take out the valve completely. Inspect the valve for blockage and clean it out with a probe. Usually, however, the blockage will be in the hole that the valve came out of. You can clean that out with a probe also, until the fluid starts to drip out. Then put the valve back in and continue bleeding.

    You should start to suspect the caliper when you see evidence of stuck or leaky pistons.








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      Follow Up to 'I think I screwed myself' 200 1990

      (which you should always change in pairs, BTW).

      scorch,

      In my opinion, that is an opinion stated as fact. (A growing trend, IMO.)

      I have serviced Volvo disc brakes on my cars and other's since 1967, and have always replaced calipers individually, as needed. And have never seen a recommendation in any service manual to change them in pairs.

      Again IMO, there are too many variables at work between one caliper and another to warrant a blanket policy such as you suggest. When replacing a caliper, I know no of reason to suspect that any problem is imminent on the other side.

      Bruce too

      --
      Bruce Young
      '93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.








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        Follow Up to 'I think I screwed myself' 200 1990

        I agree. Clearly something was wrong with this caliper. The inner pad was wearing at an noticable angle, the inner side was wearing faster than the outer side, and both pads were wearing much, much faster than the left side caliper. Addditionaly, when I first noticed the problem, I changed the pads thinking that it was time to change them and when I pushed the piston in it made a lot of noise. When I pumped the brakes for the first time it made noise again. The caliper was bad. But I don't see any problem with the other side. It's working fine. The rebuilt caliper did come with a suggestion to change both sides at the same time. But wait, they are selling the calipers so.......

        It just doesn't make sense. The caliper that was working fine can go on working fine for many, many more years.







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