2011 Octavia rear brake caliper leaking

[cw246]

Hi All

 

My Octavia has been drinking brake fluid & a suspicious puddle has appeared on my driveway under the rear left? (passenger side) wheel.

 

After the required blood sacrifice I've been able to get the rear caliper carrier off and it seems like it's leaking from the rear of the caliper under the handbrake lever, shown in the hopefully attached image. I assume there is no user serviceable parts in there that I can get at & that a new carrier is the way to go.

 

In that case whats the best method for removing the hydraulic brake lines from the caliper carrier, I've given the bolts a dousing in wd40 (other attachment), but they still quite stubborn & i'm reluctant to go much further without shearing something!

 

Thanks for the help

 

 

[Guest]

You can buy a seal kit for the calliper, however when it leaks from the rear at the handbrake actuator it usually means the actuator rod is rusted and pitted so new seals won't help and I've never seen the actuator rod sold separately.

 

I bought a new TRW pattern calliper for £40 delivered, no problems.

 

If you can't get a crowsfoot type tool on the brake line bolt use a good fitting spanner and use a pair of self locking pliers to pinch the jaws tight and lessen the likelihood of them splaying and rounding off the bolt.

 

Sometimes you just have to cut the pipe and use a socket to get them off and buy a new piece or make your own.

[cw246]

Thanks for the reply

 

As I feared no chance in trying to rescue it then! 

 

Thanks for the TRW tip, a quick browse of ebay brings them up around the £50 mark - significantly less than the £109 I was gearing up to give eurocarparts.

 

With liberal dosing of wd40 I've managed to get the metal pipe out, but now stuck at removing the hose from the bracket. Looking at the lower nut I assume I need a specialised spanner to get on it, I've tried rotating it to see if its just keyed but didn't get anywhere. I'm tempted to take a careful hacksaw to the bracket to get it out, but still need to undo it (I assume) to get it onto the new caliper.

 

Also how do you get the handbrake cable out of the same bracket (unhooking it from the lever was the easy bit it seems!), it looks like clips you need to press in and then push it back but didn't get anywhere. Maybe i need some beefier pliers.

 

Thanks again

[wiilydog]

To remove the hose, you need to turn it slightly so the raised bit goes through the special cut out slot

[cw246]

Ah, ok I've tried rotating it around but didn't have any joy - obviously wasn't trying to rotate it far enough!

 

I don't have any light where the car is now, but I'll have another dig around at tomorrow

 

Thank you

[Guest]

To remove the hose there is a forked locking tab you need to pull straight out from the lower side then rotate/wiggle the hose end fitting free.  It'll probably be a tight rusted fit.

 

To remove the handbrake cable from the bracket use a flat screwdriver or similar and prise up the tabs on the locking collar and rotate it until you find the split then prise the collar open enough to be able to slide it off the end of the cable.

 

Replace the clip on the cable ensuring the tabs are slightly bent outwards and face away from the end so they will lock the cable in place again.

[stuart vrs]

Braver than me I was afraid to remove my wife's caliper, the fear of snapping that small bit of brake pipe, I decided to clean some muck away and look at how to remove the shock absorber. Fabia mk1 are so easy to remove parts. It's had new pads and a new caliper recently but the brake disc covers are lets say very rusty. 

[cw246]

Thanks for the assistance all, the clamp I had in place was restricting the room I had to manoeuvre the pipe. Once I knew there was a slot there I could kinda see it through the corrosion, so liberal amounts of wd40 and some gentle percussive maintenance had it free.

 

The handbrake cable by comparison was easy to remove! 

 

Unfortunately my clamp hasn't sealed entirely (bodged out of a broom handle cut in half & g-clamp) so it is slowly dripping into a jar until the new caliper arrives tomorrow! At least then it won't be a corroded mess when I go to bleed it.

 

@stuart vrs Its not too bad, so long as you don't mind the odd blood sacrifice in the form of knuckle skin when something slips and you "punch" the brake disk or underside of the car!

[Guest]

You can use self locking pliers to crimp a brake hose, just tight enough to stop the drips, do not crush it flat.

 

Re small bit of brake pipe.

 

If you can't make your own lines most garages will make to your requirements cheaply while you wait. At best a Skoda dealer will be next weekday and will likely cost more.

Edited 16 April, 2018 by MicMac

[Guest]

@cw246

 

Your broom handle/clamp is fine but unstable, you've got the orientation wrong.  Put the handle sections across the hose not along it lengthwise.