Hey Eric, Parts made it home safe and sound, Had my Rotors turned at Napa, started to put back together and decided that I needed to replace the rubber brake lines that connect to calipers, they were really not flexible anymore, so I went to Napa and of course they didnt have any, I told the guy just match them up with anything, guess he was to lazy to do this, so I ordered some from Rock Auto, now Im back to the waiting game, hopefully tomorrow, or soon, they will get here. After I ordered them, I noticed there is actually 2 rubber lines on each side, Not going to worry about them at this time. Yes the fluid will be flushed out before I connect to the new calipers. They were pretty bad off, Funny...they worked pretty good, until they started dragging. Im really excited to take it out for a shake and a shimmy :). Like I said the car is really fun to drive, sticks to the road like a dead racoon in the summer.............24,636 views, not bad. Do you rebuild turbos ?
@@jjyemg2397 Well, God forbid that two friends / business associates should communicate gratitude from a year ago without including every entitled douche-nozzle that thinks they have ownership in a transaction or interaction between two people they don't even know. Self-righteous much?
Eric, on a personal note this is the first or one of the very first videos that i viewed and i was totally impressed with you. I was in a hospital room that i was not allowed to leave at MD Anderson Cancer Center going thru my bone marrow transplant for my leukemia diagnosis. Your voice and attitude got me thru those three months that I couldn’t leave my room. Without sounding like a total weirdo your a very important part of my recovery. It’s now been a few years and guess what I’m doing now for a living!!!jajaja I exchanged my suite and tie for wrenches and a scan tool. I now this its the best way to tell you but this morning i git up and said today is the day. Sir thank you for showing me what real priorities in life should be, wife, family and do what makes me happy. God Bless you my friend...
im a old corvette owner who paid ssbrakes to sleeve all four calipers with stainless tubing and then used dot 5 silicone she sat for 23 years and no pitting
For folks that work on their own vehicles, I recommend having a 6in welding/woodworking C-clamp in your toolbox. They're about $6, and work well to hold lots of things while you work on them. In this case he could have kept that spring compressed, using the socket like he did, then put the C-clamp in the vice to hold it while he put the snap ring on. It also makes pushing the caliper pistons back in the cylinder really easy, while it's still connected to the hydraulic system, when you're doing a typical brake job.
This is a great video...one of your best, actually. It shows the "real" part of wrenching on cars. Late at night, wrong tools, no parts available, blah blah blah, and the frustration that goes along with it. It's a great break from watching you with the lift, and all the nice tools that many of us who work on our own cars just dream of.
Not only was this a brilliantly detailed explanation but the rebuild was completed for a subscriber. This is the sort of channel that goes above and beyond. A very educational video and no doubt a very grateful subscriber. I've seen the big jobs, the small jobs but this had me transfixed. So intricate. What can I say, I must be a nerd in the making. Way more patience than me and a great video, kudos.
This video is easily among your best, not because you made it look super easy, but because you struggled a bit like most of us do, and still did a top notch job. Thanks for sharing, and God bless you and your family.
This video proves why you have a loyal following. You start with calm, cool and collected, sprinkled with humor. Then add a bit of frustration and awkwardness AND you still get the job done! While still managing to entertain and educate! Great video.
Could you imagine if you happen to own a 1982 Nissan Datsun 280ZX and have this exact problem and happen to come across this gem of a video. You'd be doing a happy dance and wanting to name your next born child Eric.
When I turned wrenches in the 70’s we rebuilt everything. Starters, alternators, wiper motors, you name it. Helped tremendously with diagnosing. Love it.
Thank you for not cutting out the frustrating parts. This is how the REAL world works. I recall when mechanics would "rebuild" alternators by tearing apart and replacing the brushes. (I am not sure that individual brushes are even still available)
I have been here allot of times in my life, working on Typewriters, not calculators Adding machines. Automobiles; 57 today and working on Desktops, laptops and tablets. What we see here is working without the manual and working it out and getting the job done. It's ingenuity at it's best. Hats off, I have done it this way many times in my life, sometimes with modification because the original design was less than desirable. Here you can not play that way; it's go or no go. This is a 3D puzzle most could not attempt. Nice...
My wife watches with me for the humor. Your videos are by far the best thing on our TV these days. Thanks for the detailed commentary as well as the sheer entertainment value. Not many things in life entertain and educate at the same time.
Man I was having flashbacks of doing brake jobs in the 70s & 80s b/c we rebuilt all our calipers and w/cyl's. The chrome pistons always would corrode and pit and the chrome plating would come apart and then the pistons would seize up in the bore. Had to use a piston clamping tool, heat, air, whatever to get the piston out of the bore. The best pistons were the thermal plastic pistons b/c they didn't corrode but slowly the pistons became harder to find & more expensive and the rebuilt calipers got cheaper and rebuilding b/c a thing of the past. I still rebuild calipers and w/cylinders on my own but it's not cost effective on customer cars. My honing tools are still holding up over the years. Brake calipers in NY get so rusted it's probably not worth the labor or headaches. You're a better man than me leaving the camera running b/c it would probably get ugly & I show the bad side of being a mechanic but I have learned over the years to just get a cup of coffee, sit down & chill and then go at it again less frustrated and let the mind overcome the problem. There is a reason I don't do videos...too much editing would be involved probably. Nice video & a definite happy customer!
Eric, one of your better videos. Please don't think about editing out the good stuff it makes us all think. Now I know how these caliper E brakes work. Thanks for taking the time.
After many years of meditation I was finally able to sleep at night without nightmares and then you posted this video. For me these calipers were designed by an engineer who should have been forced to commit seppuku to apologize to all Datsun/Nissan mechanics.
I have only seen three mechanics as capable as you are in my life time. My Dad, a guy I went to school with and one other. Please move to Florida, we need you!
This is by far my favorite video. The struggle was real and unedited. I enjoyed watching this because I felt I was watching myself, because I been down that road, living in Pennsylvania we too are in the rust belt. Everything you touch gives you hell. Also I have to mention, I like how you keep your videos kid friendly. I watch your videos with my daughter and we get a kick out your cheesey sound effects and watching you work out your struggles. Keep it up the great work.
Next time send that old piston to me - I have a brake components factory just around the corner(used to work there). They will make any piston size you want - up to ISO standards ;)
Thanks for this instruction Mister O! This is the most complete caliper rebuild video I've found anywhere. On my 2001 Maxima for spring compression I tried a c-clamp for nearly two hours before switching to a 2 arm gear puller. I put the caliper in a vice, set a deep socket w/ short extension on top of the spring retainer, and compressed the spring handily with a straight pull off of those outside bracket arms. Like you, I noticed that the spring retainer tabs were at risk of catching on the snap ring grove and bending on the way down. The cylinder bore is 1.5" deep and there is not enough clearance for straight snap ring pliers. Bought a pair of 90 degree bend, long nose (2") snap ring pliers for $15 and they did the trick. My last battle will be getting the piston through the dust boot and the square cut seal. Love your channel !
There is honor in showing the struggle; to pass the experience on and show humility. You are a great teacher, an accomplished mechanic, and a funny dude. And the final proof is, I wrote this before you said the very same thing yourself. Thanks Mr. O.
Got to be untold tricks of the trade . On your videos , you routinely take stuff apart and put em back together and make it look easy. Experience, mechanical mind, photographic memory, all the above. Regardless, it's enjoyable to watch someone with those skills and realizing of course , even the best make an occasional mistake, which seems to get "auto-filed" into the memory banks as a learning experience. And while experience may be the key , it's the combination of all those other attributes that separates. Great job Eric and thanks for the videos !
We dealt with this on an old Datsun pickup last year, I used a valve spring compressor to hold the spring while I put the snap ring in. I had a cheap set of long snap ring pliers from Harbor freight. Worked great.
Hard to believe I watched a 1hr video for rebuilding a caliper for a car I'll never work on, but you're always fun to watch. This reminded me of back in the 80's when we rebuilt calipers, wheel cylinders and master cylinders to save money (starters & alternators too). Now days the rebuild kits costs as much as new stuff (if even available), and calipers come with brackets, etc, so 2 bolts and you're done. A few years ago I took some rotors in to be turned and he said he could, but with the deal they had going I could get new ones cheaper. I guess after seeing you struggle, I'm glad we don't rebuild things anymore. We just have to trust "Bob", or the guy who took his job in China.
Eating the buggers a man gets after welding cast steel? Could be Trump (Not the Prez, the Game: Iffin you ain't from 'here' you won't get it the joke).
Great video Eric. Love how you showed all the challenging parts. I had to rebuild one on a Estima (Previa) And I kinda went in blind as never done it before and it took me like half a day. Now there is a good video on RU-vid that would of saved me hours. Thanks for showing how it works also. Cheers!
Never in a million years would I feel comfortable trying to rebuild a brake caliper, but watching it done was extremely interesting. Thanks for taking the time to shoot this vid!
I really like your videos. The everyday trials and tribulations of someone pursuing his chosen career. A lot of channels start out this way, where you can learn along with the producer, but rapidly degenerate into endless undeclared tool endorsements and release mundane videos just to get a few views. Somehow you have resisted this.
Eric, this is one of the best videos so far! I feel so identified because that is what you get every time you try to do a job on your car. You know how to do it, has the tools (sorts off) but those little moment of frustrations are always there to remind you the challenges of a real job and the theory of the job. I laugh a lot on this video, thanks for giving us the real life of a shop. Keep doing a great work and be your self, that is the difference between a good person with a shop and someone that wont help unless you bring the entire vehicle to do the job like many places does.
Great job man! It was very informative, especially the "embarrassing" parts. It's good to know that you are human to, you know! Hannah's absence was apparent, to us and I'm sure to you, as well. She is definitely one of your best tools.
"Life doesn't give you seatbelts." Greatest piece of advice I have heard from Eric O and since this was the first video I watched of his, was also the reason I sub'd
Tried rebuild rears on my RXSfew years ago. Tried everthing i could think of get the dust cover on 3 hrs two dust covers later gave up paid 125 for each side. Wish I'd seen this video could saved me lot time and money. Thanks Eric!
Advance Auto strikes again! I seriously thought it was just the forces of the Universe plotting against me - every single thing I touch from that place is EXACTLY like that. Missing parts, parts not assembled correctly, completely misboxed parts, parts that last 3 days and grenade spectacularly, incompetent counter people ... I could go on all night! Nice battle there! Was exactly like me disassembling a '04 Polaris Sportsman 700 secondary clutch a couple weeks ago ... only to find out that new clutch already had a spring in it! WTF! Big fail there. Wish I had known that ahead of time! The primary comes with no spring, and no weights - that's what I get for assuming on the secondary! I had to put all my body weight on the thing to get the snap ring back in. Boy was I losing my mind that day! I could hear my voice echo through the woods ... and I was inside my barn. :D Great vid man! Enjoyed it! :)
@@notsevenfeettall - I've had hit or miss luck with them. But, this was 13 years ago - seems everyone has become worse since then. I bought an alternator there for my '86 Grand Marquis - I got 10 years & 170k out of it. The replacement alternator from the same store had a bad diode, and immediately drained the brand new battery to nothing. They wouldn't warranty it, because "it tested good" - unreal! Battery light in instrument cluster was on constantly, key off and out of the vehicle. I replaced the rectifier with something I found online. Got only a year out of the unit before the bearings got noisy, and the windings cooked afterwards. Ended up finding a Denso alternator elsewhere, and everything has been good so far. I definitely won't shop there again. NAPA is the only store I'll go to. Most of my parts come from Rockauto these days, but you have to be careful with them, too. They misbox stuff all the time. Just had a Moog tie rod end box that had a cheap Chinese knockoff inside - it clearly wasn't a Moog product. Called Moog with the part number stamped into this part, and they said, "That's not ours". Rockauto did swap it for the correct unit, but what a waste of time! I've bought shocks from Rockauto that leak immediately upon installation - warranty replacements leaked just as badly! Won't buy shocks from there anymore.
Seeing parts diagrams it's very useful, but watching someone actually go through the process is awesome. Thanks much food making these videos Eric. Thanks also for helping a guy with a classic o.o/ Edit: I see you also don't like olives, an excellent choice.
Just saw this one for the first time. I had an '81 200SX with the same rear brakes. I did replace both calipers eventually around 1988 when I gifted the car to my brother. At least both sides were available then. I decided to do both sides because the drivers side pads would wear out really fast. Datsun told me that I needed to replace the caliper and I didn''t want to do just the one side. I wasn't ambitious enough to try a rebuild then, no garage, not nearly enough tools, etc... so I went for the remans and did the swap out on the street. I am glad that the box that you picked to canniballize was the improperly assembled one. Had you picked the other, you probably would not have seen a need to check the bad one. Sometimes luck is a factor.
He mentioned a press, I would honestly unbolt the vice (if none was available unmounted) and get the thing vertical, then use the press gently to press the spring down
At first I thought, uuuugggghhh, an hour-6minute video... do I have time??? Where did that hour go? What an educational, entertaining, and "make-you-feel-good" channel. Thank you Eric. You explain things in a way that a mortal can understand. (I use red rubber grease, but that's not any better than the silicone stuff you use) Best.
Eric, I know I'm coming late to party on this one. I have always loved your dialogue in your vids....but it really came out in this one 10-fold! Just when I think you're about to drop down a bomb, you come up with the best words! I just listened to your vid while I work and it totally made my day and gave me confidence that there are still some smart people out there! Thanks!
I'm always amazed at how much rust you have to deal with! We are so lucky here in Idaho, saddly they have been using liquid sodium chloride on some areas & its noticeable on our snowmobile trailers. The majority of our old rigs are in great shape making restoring & building up old rigs reasonably & fairly straight forward. Building 4x4s & capable diesel tow rigs is my passion.
Great rebuild Eric !!!! Brought back memories of doing that in the 60's and 70's - fronts and rears !!!!! Worst job I ever did was to try and take apart a Plymouth / Chrysler starter motor .... there was gears and springs everywhere ..... I got so scared I went out and bought a rebuilt starter and put it on the customers car - the core was just a box of jumbled parts - never did I ever try that again.....gear reduction, wing ding sounding starters. Ugh !!! PS Creatively used your noodle to come up with a solution to non available parts - and it worked !!!! You get a gold star by your name, Eric !!!!!!
You probably won't ever see this comment because of the age of the video but I wanted to let you know a few things. Im a 50 year old mechanic down here in Kentucky where the rust don't grow. I have seen some damn good mechanics in my time but you sir are one of the very best. Maybe even the best. Watching this video though, I have to say, reminded me that all of us are only human bro !!! I can't tell you how many late nights I have spent finishing up a job that I have only done once or twice, 30 years ago !!! Tired, aggrivated and knowing that nobody is gonna get it done but me. In other words... I was feelin your pain bro !!! All but the camera watching anyways !! I genuinely felt like clapping my hands when you completed this job that you will probably never have to do again !!! Ahhh.... I love cars...lol...GOOD JOB ERIC !!!
ERIC! This video was great, felt confident doing the job after this, first time ever doing a rebuild. Nothing wrong with my caliper just a torn dist cover. You saved the day! Love watching your videos and gaining the knowledge. Helps a lot with the work I already do on the vehicles. Everyone has tricks that can help. I added a piece of wood between the piston and the caliper ears to prevent the piston from moving and then I gave it a shot of air to push the dust cover over the piston. Worked great.
Mike Goodman Was just going to mention that. Eric gives us a one hour special about this brake caliper rebuild but not a single can of brake clean in sight.
One of the things I like about Eric's channel is how people from all over the world watch it. I'm down in Arlington and make my way up to the HEB area all the time. I've never noticed any Bad Drivers there. :)
Two tips Eric. Try holding the shaft of a small pocket screwdriver against the side of the piston. Hook the rubber boot over the side of the piston and screwdriver, then gently apply the air pressure. The small gaps caused by the shaft of the screwdriver will let just enough air escape between the screwdriver and the side of the piston, to let the rubber boot expand over the top of the piston, without the piston bouncing around on top of the rubber boot. My mema taught me that method. It works. Also, use part of a steering wheel puller in reverse to compress the center e brake piston and spring. Just place a threaded bar inside the caliper ears and screw in a long enough bolt to apply pressure to the center, by pressing the bar back against the caliper ears. That leaves you two hands free to install the clip ring. I hope this helps and that you remember them 20 years from now, when you can't find a right side caliper! Lol No body has one, Go figure! Take care. Jpol.
You are a scholar amongst men and not many folks would jump on the given opportunity to make a caliper rebuild video and go the distance on the job too.
Man, did I feel your pain watching this video. I'm not a certified mechanic, but I know and done a lot of $..t on cars. I recently had to do an 'emergency' rebuild on my rear caliper for 2003 Audi A4. Had some squealing going on, accompanied with a warm rim...Dragging brake. Similar setup with the parking cable. No new parts, just teardown (not fully, but going to have to, once parts come in), and clean, and put back together. I know the frustration you were going through. If I could hopped through the screen to give you a hand putting that clip back in I would've. Your story with losing 4 nails, made me feel uneasy just hearing about it. Good redemption on the air to put that seal on. I'm sure I'll be seeing more of your videos on my feeds, since I watched all of this one. Good work on those calipers!
Honestly, when I repaired and cleaned my G9x (changed old button switches and removed years of grease), it had more individual parts to take care off than this caliper, especially several tiny ass springs on the wheel that you will never find again if you lose them once. Looked rather straight-forward tbh.
You, both, are lucky that you randomly picked the one that was screwed up to part out! Had it been the good one, you never would have known that they messed up the other one. I have learned a lot from this video. Mostly, don't rebuild your calipers unless you absolutely have to ❗ Thanks for another great video.
That brought back some memories...!! A brake job used to take hours/ half a day if things went sideways. I know the air gun trick... my grade 10 shop teacher taught us how to rebuild calipers. Those were the good ole days. That is why I enjoy watching you... we fix and repair, rather than replace parts. Cheers...!! Ken, Durham Ontario (also part of the rust belt lol)
Great video Eric, I felt for you there I've enjoyed the unpleasantness of that style of caliper before. Hey being a Jaguar fan I noticed the XJ over your shoulder. How about some Jaguar videos please, they are always good for some quality unpleasantness on the electrical side? Nice work Eric thanks for sharing with the world.
When I was rebuilding Volkswagen engines, my partner and I would buy super cheap tools for the express purpose of modifying them as needed. Since the modified tools were usually rarely used, quality wasn't an issue.
Here's a thought to free up one hand while depressing the spring. Put a 3 inch ? piece of threaded rod. with a washer and nut on the rod against the socket, At the other end put another nut and large washer on the rod against the forked side of the caliper. Thread the nuts outward against the washers to depress the spring .
Eric, just want to say how much I appreciate your effort in these videos. I have to say you are wildly entertaining to watch. I would enjoy working in your shop, we would have one heck of a time. Keep on keepin' on!
Me and a friend tried to rebuild a caliper of the same style off a Sentra. Got hung up at the same upper snap ring. PITA!!! After an hour or so we gave up and he went and bought new caliper. Course they are more plentiful than those for the ol Z's. Good job Eric awesome video as always.
There is a special tool specifically to help get that snap ring back inside the bore of that caliper. I rebuilt a set of Toyota 1986 corolla rear Calipers and they are the same exact Calipers. I have the special tool in my tool box. I'll give you the part number. Took me about a month to receive that special tool from Toyota they had to call the higher ups in Japan.
Did a Google image search for that P/N...wow, such a simple little tool that makes the job easy. Unfortunately it does not appear to be readily available.
Brian Richards when took the Calipers apart and then attempted to put them back together I then realized there has to be another way to compresses that little spring to get that snap ring in. Did some research and came across that special tool. Went to Toyota and gave them that PN and took them about a month to get it in and the parts guy told me he was calling to all the Toyotas and ended up having to contact one in Japan and got his hands on it and had it sent to the dealership. I was very lucky to get my hands on them because I searched ALL over the Internet for one
Dang! I was cracking up every few minutes from this video! It was definitely informative but so much entertainment too! Thanks for not editing too much, kept all the good stuff 😉😂😂😂
Eric you are a good guy for taking on this job and doing it the way you did. At this point I probably would have been looking at loosing the parking brake and maybe even worse vehicle modifications to fit an alternate caliper.
I do this a lot in Iceland, my part stores keep a lot of rebuild kits in stock, but most of the time you have to special order any complete calipers, so I prefer to rebuild them, less part cost, more labor cost in my pocket!
