[MR2] MK1 Brake Caliper Rebuild Kit

[Marc Medina]

>From my friend Doug:
   
  Hi Marc,
   
  Well, I finally got an answer to my problem and it wasn’t from the dealer, although I tried that option (go figure).
   
  I called Permatex’s tech line and finally got to talk with someone. They say their three brake grease products are compatible with brake fluid and can be used in a full immersion environment. But dang, wouldn’t it be nice if they just stated this directly on their packaging for the stuff and in the product description on their website?
   
  They have these products which the tech described as good, better, and best:
   
  Permatex® Ultra Disc Brake Caliper Lube (Good)
   
  Permatex® Ultra Disc Brake Caliper Lube Hi-Temp Silicone Formula (Better)
   
  Permatex® Ceramic Extreme Brake Parts Lubricant (Best)
   
  The ceramic one is relatively new although our local Kragen’s has it, but only in the stupid little two 7 gram packets for $8-$9. I checked around all over town as well and no carries the larger 8 oz. bottle. So I went on line and ordered the bottle which came to about $22 shipped (list price is $24). That will hopefully last me for many brake jobs to come.
   
  Thought I’d let you know.
   
  Douglas
   
   
  So there's our answer............
  Marc
  

Arvid Jedlicka <arvidj at visi.com> wrote:
  Regretfully I know of two products that do not work.

http://www.ceramlub.com/ - It is probably as great a short term lubricant as 
they claim but after
about a year it became very sticky which seemed to keep the caliper from 
sliding.

A black colored "teflon, graphite, synthetic" product from Sta-Lube - 
http://www.smallparts.com/image/B000CPIOAG
which also seemed to get sticky after a while, it just took longer than the 
fancy purple stuff.

One thing that I did discover is that you can overlube the front pins. The 
front pins have three
flat spots gound on the side of the pins. I am assuming this is to allow air 
to get in behind the
pin as it moves in and out of the hole. If you use too much grease the flat 
spots fill up with
grease and then the pin becomes very difficult to move because the pin 
becomes vacuum locked
in the hole.

The top pins exhibit this behavior and the bottom pins - with the rubber 
friction enhancer on it -
really exhibits this behavior. The rubber piece and lots of grease make a 
very air tight seal and
keeps the pin from moving freely in the hole.

Note that the rear caliper pin does not have the flat spots on it but does 
not have the vacuum lock
problem because there is a very small hole drilled in the bottom of the 
caliper pin hole in the caliper.
This hole has a rubber stopper over it but the hole does allow the back of 
the pin hole to be vented
to the atmosphere allowing air in and out as the pin moves in and out.

So I await the answer from Marc of the correct product to use. Maybe it is 
one of these two items.

http://www.amazon.com/Permatex-24115-Caliper-Silicone-Formula/dp/B000HBGKH4/ref=pd_bxgy_auto_text_b

http://www.amazon.com/Permatex-24110-Caliper-Brush-Top-Bottle/dp/B000HBNV6W

Arvid


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marc Medina" 
To: "'Kurt Krueger'" ; "'Arvid Jedlicka'" ; 

Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2008 12:50 PM
Subject: RE: [MR2] MK1 Brake Caliper Rebuild Kit


> No, a local guy found that Permatex DOES actually offer the stuff. I'll 
> have
> to ask him exactly what it's labeled as.
> Marc
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mr2-bounces at mr2.com [mailto:mr2-bounces at mr2.com] On Behalf Of Kurt
> Krueger
> Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2008 10:45 AM
> To: Arvid Jedlicka; mr2-interest at mr2.com
> Subject: Re: [MR2] MK1 Brake Caliper Rebuild Kit
>

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kurt Krueger" 
To: "Arvid Jedlicka" ; 
Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2008 12:44 PM
Subject: Re: [MR2] MK1 Brake Caliper Rebuild Kit


>
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: "Arvid Jedlicka" 
>
>> I have had the same issue several times on my '93 turbo daily driver. In 
>> one
> case it was a piston that was frozen in the caliper and in the other 
> instance it
>> was
>> the caliper frozen on the mounting pins.
>
> What lube did you use on the sticking mounting pins? I've been having
> trouble with sticking pins and some of the lubes I used actually made
> matters worse. Including some super-duper pin lube I got from NAPA.
> DON'T use NAPA pin lube on Toyotas.
>
> The lithium soap based glycol grease (I think I remembered it correctly) 
> that the BGB keeps mentioning seems to be a phantom lube. Or maybe only 
> available in Japan, or maybe a
> serious translation error.
>
>