TR brake pad change

Does anyone know if the brake caliper can be removed from the brake disk without disconnecting the brake line? I have had my 1990 TR for 3 yrs and believe the brake pads are original. The brakes are functioning horribly and I am hoping new brakes pads will be a good temporary fix until I upgrade to brembos.

 

No need to remove the caliper to replace the pads, but I wouldn't be too hopeful that will change anything (unless the old pads have no material left and then the rotor would be damaged anyway). Putting in new pads will require moving the brake pistons which may disclose problems with them or possibly aid things (if everything looks OK, I'd try flushing the brake fluid and "exercising"/checking the brake piston movement before resorting to a caliper-ectomy). Has the car had a history of a lot of sitting disuse and no brake fluid servicing?

 

Thanks for the advice. The car was driven very little in the 5yrs prior to me acquiring it, maybe 500 miles in 5yrs. The brake warning light does light up quite often. The brake master cylinder reservoir is full and the brake fluid looks clean.

 

Yes - usually it's never a good thing that may require some fairly serious "sorting" (and every rubber component is now 27~28 years old).

That's not a bonus . Can correspond to either low fluid level in the reservoir (or a dodgy float switch) or a pressure imbalance in the two systems -- if you did have one dead circuit, it would cut the braking force in half and not be well-balanced. Please let us know what you find when you get a more through look at everything.

 

Even if the fluid in the M/C looks clean, rust could be in the system somewhere. Brake fluid absorbs moisture and should be flushed yearly. The pistons in the calipers could be sticking from non use. Sitting cars with low mileage can have many issues.

 

Thanks for everyone's invaluable input. I think I am going to flush the brakes first and see if anything changes.

 

Clint, I just replaced all the seals on my callipers and installed new pads. I was surprised to find on all 4 callipers there was at least one piston that was inoperable and quite corroded a tell tale sign of water in the lines. I now see why the experts suggest an annual flush. The rebuild is quite straightforward once you get the pistons out, there are a few great right ups here if you search for them. Keep us posted after you do the flush.

 

Thats good info. I am upgrading to brembos in the near future so if a flush doesnt help I may be speeding up my brembo purchase

 

Please document this brake upgrade to Brembo's on your TR with lots of photo's Clint!

It may help other "Newbees" here too

 

Flushed my brakes and noticed fluid not exiting some of the ports on my calipers. Each caliper has two ports and one port on each rear caliper not flowing fluid properly. Any ideas? Would a frozen piston cause this? Could I have a dead circuit causing 50% reduction in braking?

 

may be there is dirt in the bleeding screw?
a froozen piston never will be the reason
you have a bleeding mechanism or bleed with a second person?

 

Read this post and download Tim's pdf files in post #35 this will give you a better understanding of how things are put together and thanks again to Tim for taking the time to share this with the community.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/brake-caliper-rebuild.492466/#post-144039942