I have an 89 240 sedan that I broke a bleeder valve off the front left lower inside of the brake caliper. Then while trying to get it out I broke off the bit inside of it. It does not leak but I was wondering what my options are. Is caliper r&R that difficult? Can I continue to flush the brakes and leave this caliper repair till later ??

Thanks for any help

Tom

Hi Tom,

I did the same thing on my '86 240. I ended up replacing both front calipers. They came from Advance Auto parts and cost around $50 each. I would recommend buying remanufactured ones instead of trying to rebuild them yourself. I also purchased reman calipers for my '84 760 T and they work great. You'll need that bleeder screw working to properly bleed the brake system.

Good luck with it.

Dave

Was Removal and replacement of the caliperes a very difficult job ???

The job wasn't difficult at all. You have to remove two metal hydraulic lines from the caliper and take out the two bolts that hold the caliper on the car. You may also want to replace your rubber brake hoses while you're at it. Most everyone has trouble getting these rubber lines loose from the copper line though. Try soaking this fitting with PB Blaster penetrating oil and use a flare wrench to loosen. Someone on the board even mentioned heating this fitting a little before trying to loosen.

Cheers,
Dave

When you remove the 2 brakes lines do you then try to plug them some way to keep brake fluid from just leaking ??? Is there any special allignment to putting them back on ?? Also, should I do both sides just to keep things in sync. What do you think ???

I didn't plug the lines on my '86. I just let them drip brake fluid into a container. The brakes have to be bled anyway, so it doesn't make much difference. I replaced both front calipers on my car because I was afraid that it would pull to one side if I didn't.

Good luck,

Dave

Hold the brake pedal down about an inch or two using a piece of wood blocked against the seat - this pushes the master cylinder seals past the reservoir ports so nothing more than a few drops should be lost. No need to replace both calipers if the other one's in good shape - bleeders free, no sticking, and dust boots intact. And if you replace the hoses, use heat - lots of it - on the hose fittings before trying to turn the flare nuts. Cut the hoses off at the fittings before heating them, they'll burst & spray boiling brake fluid on you if you don't snip them off.
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Chris, Dartmouth NS Canada 70 M-B 280SE, 83 245DL, 84 244 turbo, 90 780 turbo, 92 VW Golf, 90 740 Rex/Regina

Good suggestions, Chris. I found out the hard way about the rubber lines blowing up.