Thread: brakes this time, of course

Originally Posted by newhue

fair enough. I find it odd however the die hards can attack but I am accused of the same actions. Just as odd that if I criticise the sacred defernder then its known no need to hang around here. Warts and all hey....well I didn't buy a enthusiast car, I bought LR's work horse commercial, you know the one they market it as. And I have given up peering at it through rose coloured glasses a long time ago.

I won't start on the LR replaced transfer case that's only 70K old and leaks already. That would be improper and disrespectful of me.

And Svengali0, still no one has answered my question, I was doing and asking for help. But I got attacked because I whinged about a car. A product made by a company for nothing more than profits.
But I will save you all the frustration and depart. I'll whinge at LR instead as to why it intermittently does''t start again, just sadly now out of warranty. However the same problem it had on day 2, and took LR 8 weeks to fix.

But forgive me, I am sorry for saying anything negative about the sacred defender.

Mate,I come across as being direct because I am direct,I don't see the point of stuffing around,there's a problem,fix it.Don't feel like we,particularly myself is having a go at you,I'm only have strong views on these matters because I've been on both sides of the fence,your defender is a 2010 model,my fourth LC was a 2011 model,it burnt so much oil I was stopped by another motorist while driving because he thought it was on fire,thats no made up BS,not only that it had the turbo pipe upgrade,the vacuum pump twice and the ECV drain pipe and it still burnt oil,from brand new.You now what Toyota did,I like hundreds of others went on the oil watch list,whatever the hell that is and then Toyota's fix was to change the oil changes to 5K instead of 10K.You think your ****ed off,spend $74,000 on a new vehicle and then have it burn more oil than a 40 year old HQ Holden.Almost forgot,you had the fuel reg stuff up,same as mine,stupid thing is made by Toyota,it fails on them too,as when as on Mitsi's,Jeeps causing stalling,you can't get away from it. Pat

Then there's this list of interesting debacles in new car offerings:

The 10 least reliable cars : theCHIVE

Hi Jason, nice to see you here again, but understand your frustrations. You asked a question on how easy it is to replace caliper seals so here is how I do it.

I am sure I put up some pictures somehere on here of when I last did a caliper seal. I'll keep searching

Changing the pistons and seals is a easy job and takes about an hour (including cleaning):

Wheel off,
Remove pads
Remove caliper (mine uses 2 x 13mm 12 point bolts) and undo brake line. attached a plastic hose to the brake line and hold up above the master cylinder level so fiuld does not run out.
Place caliper on a suitable work surface.
Using compressed air into where the brake line attaches, blow out pistons (cover caliper with rags as brake fluid can fly about)
Remove both seals from each caliper chamber (the outer is within a fine metal ring)
Clean up everything with clean lint free rag
Install new square o ring in the chamber
Install the smaller o ring into the new fine metal ring and gently push this onto the housing. You may need to tap this gently so that it sits properly.

Smear new seals and new piston with fresh brake fuild then gently push each piston into their respective chambers.

Reattach to car. I found with gravity I could let the caliper self bleed with some success.

It is a shame that you are left with a sour taste in your mouth from your Landrover experience. It's not for everyone. I am constantly chasing fluid leaks which gets a bit much some days. I have two cars which means I have the luxury of parking up the landrover until I have a chance to work on it.

All the best

Originally Posted by newhue

well the poxy defender crapped itself again. Breaks this time. I see LR spent the big bucks on chrome plated calliper pistons which de-liminate then start pitting. The flaking chrome eats out the seals out and just after 6 years from new the brakes are stuffed. Glad I paid 60K for a second dearest commercial on the market.

Anyway, so I have a new set of stainless steel pistons, is there any tricks to it. The calliper seats look fine but there is some scuffing on the alloy from the OE pistons rubbing. Just replace with new or hone the seats bit you think?

There is a few things I would like to point out from Jason's original post which I believe were missed, this is just my point of view.

1. Firstly I think Jason wrote this post while he was frustrated, hence some of his wording and we can all be guilty of that sometimes.
2. Deep down Jason is a Defender nut and the places he has been, experiences he has had in that defender and the family memories are worth all the heartache, he knows that.
3. He is more than capable of replacing them himself and he was just asking for advise and tips, which is what this forum is all about LR community helping each other.

It's perhaps to late but as Weeds said would be happy to help and I know a few other defender nuts that would also gladly help and what Andrew has posted is how I did mine, except I use an old brake pad and modified G clamp to seat the metal ring in the caliper.

You could sell yours for 50K, get a 2014 Toyota 70 dual cab for around 75K. Get one with a canopy, factory lockers, would even have a year left of warranty to sort stuff out. It's not good when you look at your vehicle and hate it but it can be pricey to move on. The Toyota wouldn't be bad, make sure it has good tyres and it should go anywhere the Landy can.

Maybe a few of you guys can talk it over around a campfire

Thought I might add that Jason wouldn't be the first to curse his Defender - I curse mine fairly regularly!

However, I've become very used to my rear airbag setup allowing easy loading/unloading and levelling of my Trayon slide on camper. I wouldn't attempt installing these bags on a rear leaf-sprung vehicle, so that severely limits my options even if I did ever throw in the towel and move to another marque.

At the end of the day, all vehicles break down, none are perfect, and by the looks of it we've all had differing degrees of success with our Defenders (mine's not a Friday afternoon special, but not without it's faults either). I wouldn't judge Jason or anyone else for moving to another brand - it's just a bloody car, and blind loyalty can be very costly! Paddle your own canoe, I say!

On another note, I'd be absolutely ****ed if it wasn't for the admirable types on this forum who've provided countless hours of help and tuition keeping mine on the road. So with that in mind, perhaps some encouragement and assistance (and a sympathetic ear) is all that's really required from us! Remember, we're not talking about a Toyota/Nissan owner throwing rocks here, but a typically exasperated Defender owner.

And Jason uses his truck for work purposes. The last thing you need is a truck that is not dependable or a truck that always need work done to it, no matter how minor. Whenever I drive my 130, I am always thinking about the things that need fixing. They are a unique vehicle and can be frustrating.

Originally Posted by 86mud

Hi Jason, nice to see you here again, but understand your frustrations. You asked a question on how easy it is to replace caliper seals so here is how I do it.

I am sure I put up some pictures somehere on here of when I last did a caliper seal. I'll keep searching

Changing the pistons and seals is a easy job and takes about an hour (including cleaning):

Wheel off,
Remove pads
Remove caliper (mine uses 2 x 13mm 12 point bolts) and undo brake line. attached a plastic hose to the brake line and hold up above the master cylinder level so fiuld does not run out.
Place caliper on a suitable work surface.
Using compressed air into where the brake line attaches, blow out pistons (cover caliper with rags as brake fluid can fly about)
Remove both seals from each caliper chamber (the outer is within a fine metal ring)
Clean up everything with clean lint free rag
Install new square o ring in the chamber
Install the smaller o ring into the new fine metal ring and gently push this onto the housing. You may need to tap this gently so that it sits properly.

Smear new seals and new piston with fresh brake fuild then gently push each piston into their respective chambers.

Reattach to car. I found with gravity I could let the caliper self bleed with some success.

It is a shame that you are left with a sour taste in your mouth from your Landrover experience. It's not for everyone. I am constantly chasing fluid leaks which gets a bit much some days. I have two cars which means I have the luxury of parking up the landrover until I have a chance to work on it.

All the best

Did my rear last fourtnight ... same as above , wish I'd have known bout extending the brake hose , would have been cleaner .. only fiddly bit is getting the dust seal metal rings in... just a messy job lol