Do You Really Need To Replace Brake Pistons!?

[cowie165]

Reading through the workshop manual, it states to replace pistons, shims and pad pins if there is evidence of deformation or corrosion.

Well, I don't know how, but the top of the 5 pistons I pulled out have gouges in them and most have surface corrosion inside. The pad pins were also pretty messy.

Can I get away with a light sand and a polish to remove the corrosion and just ignore the gouges? I can't see the gouges (they look like deep scratches basically)(should take a pic, might do tomorrow) actually hindering the braking effort though? Whether they have imperfections or not, they'll still push nice and hard against the shim.

Any thoughts please guys? Basically I'm going to avoid buying new ones from Mr Nissan unless absolutely necessary.

Cheers!

Mark

[SteveL]

Corrosion on the 'bore' of the piston - surfaces that see no brake fluid - is not an issue. The main surfaces to be concerned about are those that contact the seal. Any scratches, gouges or corrosion to those surfaces could cause a leak (ie damage the seal)

[gts4diehard]

Mr Nissan charges an arm and a leg for those pistons, I got prices when I thought about rebuilding mine just to know the worst case scenario.

They told me $100 a piston (X8) + $140 for front kit, this was for a GTS4 with M type brakes, I've been told the GTRs and GTSTs/4s use same pistons but different calipers. I was quoted about $200 for labour to rebuild both calipers and kit, assuming no new pistons required.

Good luck, with rebuild!

[cowie165]

Thanks for the replies guys. The corrosion is on the bore of the piston and the gouges are on the surface that contacts the shim. So, the seal between the piston and the cylinder is all good Cheers Steve!

Damn, I didn't realise they were so expensive! It is good to hear the labour cost because it makes me work harder and take more satisfaction from what is a fairly straight forward (albeit slightly challenging and time consuming) job.

Rear calipers are off and pistons now out, yeehah. Those boots are very very sad - deteriorated so bad they crumble in your fingers.

[MANWHORE]

If you are really concerned, r33 calipers are cheap. I've seen the front sets go for $150 a pair. You'll also get to run larger rotors too.