So, with the rotor freewheeling, it still makes some noise?

forward and backward?


KT

It makes some noise. Sounds sort of like a rollerblade wheel spinning. No difference forward or backward.

Driver's side is making some noise as when spinning the rotor/hub.

I tried to push in the piston with a 1x2 but couldn't seem to budge it. What sort of wood/plastic handle do they mean for doing that? Not sure what I would do after pushing it in. How hard should it be to push them in?

At this point it's just sort of all taken apart with not much idea of how to even recognize what is or isn't working properly. The only thing I'm mostly sure about is that the rotor is fine, and the brakepads are intact and have plenty of life left. Still not sure if it's bearings. I have the SKF front wheel bearing kit with seals on the way from ebay.

I don't think I could even get it back together enough to get it to a brakeshop if I were to find one I trusted. Hope to make some progress with my father-in-law's help eventually.

To make it easy to spread the caliper I loosen the bleader valve, put a piece of hose over it and the other end in a container. Now spread it. It's better to catch the pads when they still have some material left, You don't want the pads to
wear to the metal. Then you end up with unauthorized machine work going on,
rotors are expensive.

My pads have a bit over 4mm remaining. I did get replacements, should I just replace them even tho they seem ok?

Erm... I pulled the driver's side tonight. The spring rivet was broken on this side as well, and I even found another UFO!

I guess I found something bad:Click to view attachment



Not sure why the sensation seemed like it came from passenger side.


What would cause the driver's side pads to be down to metal and 2mm while the other side were both evenly worn and over 4mm of pad material remaining?

With luck, I install the new pads and I'm back on the road?

Point and laugh at the new guy spendin' 30 hours on a 1 hour job. And I'm still not done!

I'd say you have a piston that is sticking...

Fun huh?

Aw man, that means I gotta send 'em to you (already)?

Have Eric powder coat them at the same time, looks to sick.

So if I open the bleeder valve a bit (with hose to container) and cannot depress the piston flush with the housing (if at all), then that would confirm stuck piston? I'll try that after work if that is correct.

I would say yes, but then agian I don't know jack$h!t about brakes, yet. If it turns out you need to send yours to Eric for rebuild I have a73 parts car here that was drivable just a few months ago and it "SEEMS TO ME" the brakes work fine. I have not removed the front calipers yet, but if they look good I could send them to you to use so you can be back on the road while yours get rebuilt. I would like them back when you are done as I might send them to Eric later this year also.

Thanks Garold. I PM'ed Eric and will hopefully wrap up the diagnosis this evening.

Now I also have to wonder about the rotor condition having been run on a material-less pad.

Well it depends on how you depress the piston. If you try the ole stick method, maybe. I use a clamp to hold pistons in that I want to stay when I'm popping out the pistons for a rebuild. With enough force, that clamp can usually depress a piston. That doesn't mean it's 'not' stuck.

This is just a visceral opinion but, on a healthy caliper you should be able to depress it (bleeder open or not) with slight effort. It should not feel chaulky or 'creak' when depress, especially with fluid in it. The action should be smooth with a bit of effort. When I say 'a bit of effort' I mean a 12" piece of hardwood (small hammer handle, etc.) against the piston and the rotor. Be careful with the piston top when attempting this. There are some fragile areas that help retain the dust boot.

You can use some WD-40 in there... but some PB Blaster would be better if you want a penetrant. You did remove your pads first, right? Be sure to rinse everything with brake cleaner. It's good stuff and works as a degreaser.

The caliper bolts can be really tight. Make sure the car is secure on jackstands... get under there with a good condition socket and a breaker bar.

-Rusty

P.S. MAKE SURE YOUR CAR IS SECURE ON JACK STANDS!! If you don't, you could kill yourself. No melodrama. I usually throw a second jackstand under there because I like my life.

Have new pads on hand, bearing kit arriving soon, ordered new rotors, flex hoses, and speedbleeders, and will order Eric Shea's rebuilt calipers shortly.

3 weeks into ownership and I've already exceeded my [wife's] planned budget for the first year... At least I know nothing will break after this, right? RIGHT?!?

As long as you store right now for the winter.

Two words " Preventive Maintenance "

Jackie: You (&^$%^%$, I thought you said nothing would break after this!!!
Big D: No! I said, I hope the thing has "brakes" after this.
Jackie: I need a new husband!
Big D: Just fix the one you have...

Moral: If you keep spending money on your 914 you're gonna have to get fixed.

Got the new rotors and flexible brake lines today to add to my bearing kit and new pads. I would've gotten started tonight but ended up working on the honeydo list.

I'll need to head to FLAPS tomorrow for grease and brake fluid. Is there anything I need to look for in particular?

Tools for the job? I got flare nut wrenches for the lines. Do I need a grease gun of some kind? I plan to use a 27,28, or 29mm socket to drive in the new races, unless someone suggests I use something else.

Hopefully I can knock this part of the job out by the time I get Eric's rebuilt calipers. I have new SpeedBleeders to put in along with Jurid pads from Pelican.

That won't be a problem

I got the batch back from the platers but the supplier (new) sent 911 front rebuild kits and no 914. They should be in Wed. Sorry for the great news but, We will beat that meeting deadline for sure.

E.

Dan,

Give me a call when you're ready to roll. WTF, this has snowballed on you, hopefully this is it for a while. I can help you out next weekend if your parts are in by then. I have all the tools you will need, save your $$$ (what's left) for now.

Just a FYI: I've had pebbles get into my dust shield making horrible screeching noises at least four times in the last two days.
Always the right front...

No sir, I don't like it.


KT

Alright, calipers should be here tomorrow. Hopefully this chapter will be done soon.

I can't wait to

You wanted rears right?

You just blew your status as my 914 hero of the week! jerk!

Alrighty, things are lookin' good.

Chris (auggie91420) is coming by tomorrow morning to hold my proverbial hand with the rotors, bearings, etc then I'll install the calipers when they arrive. I'm cautiously anticipating a drive tomorrow afternoon. Just in time for rain... Supposed to be nice on Sunday when we're heading to a birthday party with some nice roads on the way.

Calipers just arrived. First time I've seen a mailman on a Sunday in my whole life.

I'd snap my first caliper porn pic but Jackie has the digicam at a party that I ditched. Now I have to decide if I will keep working on the baby's room or go get greasy.

Eric Shea naked:

2 of the 4 Speed Bleeder sets sent to me by Performance Products are the wrong size

The packaging is right but the bleeders are visibly different sizes. They also have red instead of grey sealant stuff on the threads

Calipers look Tits... Whats wrong with your speed bleeders?

They are 8mm instead of 7mm from what I can tell. They're too big to fit in the bleeder holes. Won't get close to going in far enough to start threading.

I have everything put back together. Went pretty well. I guess it's time to put some brake fluid in and start bleeding, without the aid of the SpeedBleeders in the rear so I hope Preggers is up to assisting me

I have this vision of brake fluid spewing all over when I add fluid

Called it quits an hour or so ago.

Wheels are on. No jackstands. (Temporarily, but it is a nice sight!) Calipers installed without a hitch, along with the pads.

I still need to bleed. I debated using stock bleeders at the lower front instead of the Speedbleeders, then sticking those in the upper rears. Didn't do it, however. Hopefully I'll be able to do the bleeding tomorrow.

I sure hope I did everything right. Ideally I can get it finished in the next couple days so I can drive it a bit locally and test out the brakes before hopefully taking the 2 hour trip to the WI/IL/IN gathering next Saturday.

Thanks again to the kickass 914clubbers who's helped me through this project. Almost there... (so he thinks...)

I still have no idea why those stupid ass greasecaps won't go on right.

Isn't that the preferred method for speed bleeders on late cars (stock on bottom/speeds on top)?

Yeah, but I figured I'd use all new bleeders instead of reusing the old ones, and further figured I may as well put in Speedbleeders all around. I suppose I'll just go ahead with the mix of stock and speed tonight.

if you only have 2, put the s.b. on the rear first. makes the bleeding task much easier. don't forget to set the parking brake venting clearance and bed the new pads in properly.

k

No worries with the venting clearance, as I'm not touching the rears and don't want to touch them (or much else) any time soon!

After work I will move the 2 lower front speed bleeders to the top rears and, gods willing, take 'er for a spin after bleeding.

I forgot to mention the other hiccup: My front wheel bearing kit came with the wrong seals... apparently they're for 914-6. Mine were in decent enough shape to use for now.

Flushing/bleeding is going ok. Still on right rear and getting a shitload of air out. I guess I introduced it all during the job.

I have speedbleeders on rear tops now. Concerning flushing, can I do most of the flush/bleed on top, then just flush the rest of the yellow out the bottom?

Do I need to adjust anything on the front calipers?

Well, after a tangent into greasecap theory, I installed my new rubber hoses, brake calipers, and pads without much trouble.

Then, with a couple tips from the site, I taught myself how not to bleed your brakes.

So, finally I was at the point where I felt a test drive was safe and necessary on this beautiful June evening. I discovered a few things:

The red warning light for low fuel works, and is not kidding around. I knew I needed gas and was headed straight there (1/4 mile) after I knew the car would more or less (mostly less) stop on command. Picked up a follower in the form of an Oak Lawn police officer who watched me die out every time I came to a halt. I limped to the gas station and he just wanted to make sure everything was alright after seeing I that was having some trouble. I filled up, grabbed my flashlight, and peered under the wheelwells to see:

Brake fluid leaking from both rear brake hoses! One side is worse than t'other. It looks like they were both repaired at some point, rather than replaced, with a reddish rubberband-looking patch. So I need to place yet another parts order.

The rear calipers are not in great shape, but, in so many ways, I do not have it in me to tackle them right now.

So the brake pedal is still mushy, and it takes some "convincing" to get the car to stop. I will do another round or two of bleeding tomorrow, now that I've learned how to do it. But, I'm guessing that won't do much as air will keep getting in through my hose leak.

Plus.... there's a great punchline to this:

I still have a NASTY GRINDING SOUND ON THE FRONT RIGHT

Don't waste your time bleeding brakes right now.

Every time you use your brakes. The toasted rear soft lines are sucking in air every time you release the brake pedal.

STOP...!!!!

Don't drive it till you replace the rear soft lines.
Wait for new lines and re-bleed em... That means all 4...

Clayton

Amazingly, one of my FLAPS says he can have the rear lines in by late afternoon.

Is replacing the rear lines more or less the same as the fronts?

More or less...

Danno... I won't lie, it's one of the worst jobs in a 914.

omfg. i'm gonna super glue them or something then

The problem is the upper connection. Take a look. You'll need to get two wrenches up in there (under the engine shelves on each side). There are some plugs on the engine shelf that may help facilitate the removal. This is one of the jobs I always recommend when people say "I'm taking my engine out... what else should I do while it's out". It may be easier with a -4 but on my -6 it was hell.

There is no super glue fix (as you now know), that red tape isn't something I'd want on my brake lines.

In for a penny, here comes the pound. All I can tell you is, once you're done, you're done.

Thats crappy. Someone really isnt too smart if they patched a brake line. Do it right and be done with it as Eric said.
It's not looking too good for the get together this weekend is it?? Rally the locals and get er done.

I have pretty much only one local, and he's in New York.

So I guess when I flushed the fluid, it loosened up the dirt/gunk/etc that was sealing the leak from the inside. It wasn't leaking before.

Do you think that maybe that grinding noise in the front is a bad wheel bearing? Worth a look if you are rebleeding the whole system after replacing the rubber lines. OH, BTW when I replaced my rear lines I cut the hose right by the fittting - at that point I could put a wrench on the hard line fitting and a socket on the soft line fitting to remove - makes it a whole lot easier.

Travis,
I don't think it's a wheel bearing, as I replaced the rotors and bearings. I will revisit the area, however.

Your tip gives me hope. How did you gain access to tighten down the new lines upon installation?