So I have ordered all the stuff and I am going to rebuild the rear calipers on my 01 Disco in the next day or so. I bought the new seal kit and 2 pistons from British Pacific for just under $50, which is way better than the $80-100 per caliper they want for a reman.

My question is, has anyone ever done it without an air compressor? I have heard that you can do it with a bike pump in a pinch, or use grease to pressurize and push it out.

What I was thinking is just remove the calipers and press the brakes until the pistons come out. I have seen ohter non rover forums where they do this

Any thoughts on this?
I am going flush my fluid anyway, so bleeding is not a problem.

Thanks

 

I will answer my own questions as I did this yesterday. It was EASY! On all the forums it says you are just better off buying the reman calipers, but if you can replace a caliper, you can certainly rebuild one, and for 1/4 the price.

I should have taken pics, but I was doing it in my exposed garage in the rain, so I just wanted to get it done.

I also did not use air to remove the piston. I took the top bolt off the caliper (and set the pads aside) and swung the caliper out on the bottom bolt so it was clear of the disc. then I pumped the brakes till the brakes went soft, and the piston is hanging on by the outer boot. It doesn't go flying all over the place like using air.

I bought 1 new seal kit for $16(One kit does one front, or two rear calipers.) and two new pistons for $ 8 each from British Pacific.

I had one caliper that was sticking, and when I took them apart, the ends of the piston that are exposed outside the boot had rusted, and it was creeping it's way under the boot, making it stick.

The outer boot can be a little finicky to get on, and took me about 30 minutes on the first, but once I got it figured out, too me 5 on the second.

This is not a Rover caliper, but this is the method I used (after attempting several others.) Put the boot on the piston where it is hanging off the back,(the back is the part that goes into the caliper, and the opposite of the end with the groove) and then seat it in the outer groove on the caliper(this is obviously done after you get the inner seal in.) Once you get the boot seated, pull out on the piston and you can tell if it is seated properly if it stays in place. Then as you slide it back into the caliper, you can seat the boot in the groove on the piston. I used a lot of brake fluid to make things slide together properly. I used a C-Clamp, and as long as it goes in smooth and easily, you are all set. You could do it by hand as well.

 

Oh yeah, and then bleed! I bled all four as I wanted to do a fluid flush anyway.

 

Are you rebuilding the calipers because they are leaking or because they are frozen.

Usually the cylinders are the culprit since the water absorbed by the brake fluid corrodes the wall of the cylinders.

I would spend the extra money and replace with reman calipers if the cylinders are pitted.

Be careful with the shuttle valve inside the ABS pump. Sometimes it gets dislodged to one side causing the 3 Amigos (ABS, traction ad Hill decent) lights to come on.

 

My calipers were sticking, so that is why I rebuilt. turned out my cylinders were in awesome shape. The ends of the pistons were rusted because where they are exposed, and they would not go back all the way into the calipers when new pads were put on.