how bad is rip in brake piston dust boot?

[Astral]

Was working on brakes today and noticed that one of my brake pistons' dust boot is slightly ripped.

How bad is that? How long can that last? (E.g. can it last a New England winter?) What happens when it "goes bad"? (brake piston stops functioning? starts making noise? explodes?)

Is it easy to replace that myself, or is that an involved job?

Here's the pic (link goes to full-size pic):

 

[JCell]

i don't think calipers r too expensive, i would get new ones ASAP


look at all the rust, when i changed my calipers after 1.5 years of florida driving, the inside looked brand new

 

[cbcbd]

Hey Oleg,
It can last for a while with a rip, but eventually the elements will get in between the piston and the caliper and the piston will seize - you will press your brakes, they will feel like they are already pressed, your car will feel like it's being held back, and it'll feel like your alignment is off when you turn.
I don't know if they sell the boots separatedly and I don't have any laying around right now. You can get a used caliper from a junkyard from $25-50.

You don't have to worry about it in the short term since we're not in winter, but I would start planning on replacing the boot or the whole caliper before it eventually seizes.

edit:
When I changed one of my seized calipers out I had to pound the piston out with a hammer.
I haven't switched a dust boot on a caliper yet, but switching the caliper is pretty easy - the only pain is that you have to disconnect the brake line, so you have to bleed the line on that side, but it's not too bad.

 

[Astral]

hey doug,

alright, I'm going to find a used caliper somewhere this summer, and then I may enlist your help in replacing it, since you seem to have a bunch of experience with that [0 experience here].

thanks for the advice, i'll try to get this done before winter hits.

btw, would this type of thing be considered "wear and tear" or a warrantable replacement? i have extended bumper-to-bumper warranty to 100K, I wonder whether it's worth trying to get this replaced under that...

 

[DE31]

How bad is that?

(credits to whoever i stole this mushroom cloud/problem thingy from)

 

[roni]

hey doug,

alright, I'm going to find a used caliper somewhere this summer, and then I may enlist your help in replacing it, since you seem to have a bunch of experience with that [0 experience here].

thanks for the advice, i'll try to get this done before winter hits.

btw, would this type of thing be considered "wear and tear" or a warrantable replacement? i have extended bumper-to-bumper warranty to 100K, I wonder whether it's worth trying to get this replaced under that...

I don't remember if your calipers are the same as the mp3 ones, I think the LX 2.0 proteges have the same ones if I remember correctly. My front brakes are currently accessible (I have the wheels off), so if you want to buy a part off of me for a few, I could ship it out to you. My calipers are painted yellow and the paint is wearing off. Not trying to clutter up your thread with for sale crap. PM me if you are interested.

 

[CustomMSP]

Mazda sells a caliper rebuilt kit for about $50. I have the same problem with one of my front calipers.

 

[Protege52003]

astral,

duct-tape.....if it can't fix it, get a new one!

 

[Action Jackson]

I bought the "Seal & Boot Set Front Caliper" from my dealer. OEM part number GAYR-33-26Z [at least in Canada].

It includes every rubber and plastic bit you'll need to redo both front calipers plus some what I suspect is rubber grease.

You don't really want to run too long with a ripped boot. Right behind that is the piston seal, and then if that goes, that side of your brakes starts to leak and then probably leads to brake failure.

I'll be replacing my dust boot tomorrow.

 

[Astral]

Thanks for the part nums, I'll call the dealers around.

How much work does using the rebuild kit involve? I assume I'd need to bleed the brakes after I'm done.

 

[Action Jackson]

Thanks for the part nums, I'll call the dealers around.

How much work does using the rebuild kit involve? I assume I'd need to bleed the brakes after I'm done.

You'll more than likely need compressed air to blow out the piston.

And yeah you'll need to bleed your brakes afterwards. Will let you know for sure tomorrow.

 

[Action Jackson]

I did them today. I'm so tired I'll post a how-to tomorrow.......

 

[cbcbd]

You shouldn't need compressed air to push the piston out. I pushed mine out manually without any problems.
Oleg, I'm up for lending a hand if needed.

 

[Protege52003]

yeah oleg,


let me know when you are going to work on them......probably can come by, too!

 

[Action Jackson]

I've post a how to. It's on another website. Sorry if you have register. I'll post here later but I've a track day to prepare for.

http://ib2.toprotege.com/ikonboard.cgi?s=42c6882426aaffff;act=ST;f=33;t=21492