First Brake Job

Well it was my first brake job, and it would have only taken 1.5 hours but the star adjuster was rusted and PB Blaster wouldnt brake it free. So went to go get two new self adjusting rebuild kits from AutoZone. Now I got everything reinstalled and properly adjusted. Or So I Thought...

So the driver side rear brakes were perfect no problems at all. The passenger side kept bleeding from the piston the whole time so I grabber some wire to keep them from slidding out. That solved the problem, but when I got everything back together the seal for the piston pin kept popping off and leaking brake fluid. So I kept reattaching it and started the engine up and had dead brake, so I know its still leaking and took off the drum and viola more Dot3 in the catch pan. The seal keeps popping off.

So my question is... Can I just buy a new seal, or do I need a whole new piston assembly? Or did I screw up somewhere?

Here's the pics of the problem side, with a red circle around the seal that keeps leaking. Hopefully you can get a better idea, and help me solve my problem quickly. Its my daily driver and havent had running rear brakes for maybe a year. Front brakes are next to tackle after this.

Problem in Red:


Whole Shibang:

what happens is the piston in the wheel cylinder gets rusted up where its not getting used, when you compress it back together to put the new shoes on, the rust rips the seal. just replace the wheel cylinder, its prolly $10-12, and not worth rebuilding it.

Is that an old wheel cylinder?

18 years old probally... I bought the Jeep August 24 of '05 so I dont know much about the history, but much of everything is stock including the shocks, leaf springs, and all other larger items. Im sure the brakes have been serviced before, but not sure because a teen girl drove it before me and I dont trust teenage girls.

Im thinking also I might just get new wheel cylinders for both side, and installing the entire new self adjusting kit. The parts are rather cheap and I set my budget at $200 and still have $50 left, so might aswell make sure they last for awhile, and Ill bleed the brakes when I get to the front discs.

x2 The fluid is probably pushing the outside seal off. The cylinder bore should be smooth with no rust ring or imperfections. If its not real bad you can use a wheel cylinder hone and clean it up and put new inner seals in. its a short cut to not have to deal with the line/rust etc. You will need to bleed it though so the bleeder has to open. A new cylinder is best, just be careful when taking the brake line off or you will be replacing lines. But then it may be a good time to be sure the lines are not too rusted. No good if you have all new brakes and you blow a rusted line. Sometimes its also better to by a complete hardware kid. I have seen rusty springs break and tear up the drum. Like they say if your going to do it do it right. especially with brakes.

Im 52, but I do remember "teenage" girls and I didnt realy think to much about trusting them, I had other things in mind. You are right though. They would have a tendency to just drive it. My wife would drive with something going wrong with the car and I would say didnt you notice it making noise and she would say yes but I just turn the radio up. Great. But she is a damned good woman at "everything else"

I have a Dana44 sitting on the side of the garage and some ZJ disc brakes and a kit already made for the converstion. Im just putting something on to keep the mom happy until I get the stroker in and the dana44 will go in slightly after the stroker is in. Im doing alot of stuff and Im slowly going down the to do list.

Thanks for the speedy responces.

I put 2 rotors, 2 drums, 2 wheels cyl. and 2 calipers on my 2000 and it was about $200.00

It's common for you to have a little anxiety the first time, just ask her to be careful and make sure she doesn't have braces. Ahhh the memories......

Oh, maybe I read that wrong. :dunno:

LOL I trust chickies like that, just not the drivers. Id rather drive with a drunk then a girl, they are horriable in this town. Got hit by one along time back dring her daddy 02 Avalanche, never got compensated for damages, so I dropped off all the broken items at her front door step.

My budget is set at $200 like I said and I feel Im doing really good. Took pricture so I could remember how things went. Wheel Cylinders and another self adjusting kit for the driver side is going to run me $30 and Im just going to rent a bleeder, so add another $5 for brake cleaner and $5 for Dot3 plus a air freshner and Im still $5 underbudget

Isn't that spring on the right side(primary or secondary, not sutre of term) upside down?? That spring seems too close to the cylinder, and may be rubbing the seal off.
Maybe??

If it's blowing off the dust cap like that it's because the piston inside is leaking. You can rebuild the wheel cylinder, but the kits aren't that much cheaper than a whole new cylinder, and you need a brake cylinder hone to do it properly. The new cylinder gets you a new bleeder too.

And yes, one of the top springs looks to be upside down. Neither of the springs looks terribly happy. New springs might be a good idea, even though the kit will include some other springs you may not need (the hold-down springs and nails on yours look all right).

Hint for hooking up brake springs. Most of the brake spring pliers I've used really don't work that well, because the pliers themselves get caught under the spring hook when you put it on. What I use is the larger size needle nose vise grips. Grab the spring at the long flat part, not at the hook, but close to the hook. Regular vise grips can work too, but the needlenose work best, and don't damage the spring. You can pull the spring hook over the post without interference. It's very quick.

XJoshua said:

LOL I trust chickies like that, just not the drivers. Id rather drive with a drunk then a girl, they are horriable in this town. Got hit by one along time back dring her daddy 02 Avalanche, never got compensated for damages, so I dropped off all the broken items at her front door step.

Click to expand...

Police report + insurance claim? Huh?

Police didnt go shit, and my XJ is a '88 so Im just liability which covers nothing but me which Im sure you knew. And my insurance agent took care of it, but the insurance the girl had when the cops showed up was expired, but the card wasnt so it seemed like she was insured, and the cops never forwarded the report to the courts for claims.

That sucks man, bah......Twat!

Well back to topic...

Got off work and in a hour I got the wheel cylinder replaced, and new everything else on the driver side. Havent got the drum on yet, since the new wheel cylinder is pushing out a fairly large amount.

So Im going to do the passenger side in the morning bleed the system, and hopefully the wheel cylinder will be broken in enough that I can adjust the shoes and get the damn drums on.

On the side note Im super excited Im doing this still, and when I had the driver side done the first time THE EBRAKE WORKED!!! Never had a ebrake on the XJ before, need to hope for snow again so I can go play.

you'll get it in no time. It's not rocket science.

If anything, adjust the e-brake cable out more from towards the middle of the jeep (you'll figure out really easily how that's done), connect it up inside the rear axle, and you'll be good to go.

gr8tires said:

Isn't that spring on the right side(primary or secondary, not sutre of term) upside down?? That spring seems too close to the cylinder, and may be rubbing the seal off.

Click to expand...

Yup - that spring is upside-down. Makes me think it's not the correct one, as it should run up and over the pin at top-center.

It probally was the wrong way, but I got everything back to new. The brake job is done, and everything looks beautiful. I was going to hit the drums with some yellow heat resistant paint, but you can barely see them and Im not in rust belt so its all good. Bleeding the brakes took awhile because my dad desided to brake into my tool chest and run off with the 10mm socket for the bleeder valve, and I misplaced my wrenchs. But everything is great, first impression was great stopping power. Tomorrow Im going to clear out anymore air in the system and tone back the braking power in the rear. About 1/4 of a push on the brakes and they engage and Im not sure if thats too soon or it sould be 1/2 way. But Im satisfied, and no squealing or parts being thrown out of the rear so I must have done it right.

Here's my list 'o parts:
x2 Drums
Rear Axle Set Shoes
x2 Wheel Cylinders
x2 Drum Brake Spring Kit
x2 Self Adjuster Kit
-----------------------
$190ish give or take because I bought Dot3 and Brake Cleaner.

Get your rear drums (the star adjusters) only partially tight so the brakes rub the drums a little bit.......

Then engauge the parking brake, and drive in reverse. I believe this the correct procedure for adjusting the rear brakes. Correct me if I am wrong!