honasbone

*EDIT*
I hate it when I come across threads that aren't closed out properly by the OP, so I'm back to share my experience... many months later

Turns out it wasn't the caliper causing my issue. The previous owner (I guess) installed a second spring on the brake pedal attaching it on a location near the steering column. I'm guessing they wanted a firmer pedal feel. Consequently, when braking and turning the steering wheel I'd here a weird clanking sound - the sound of a stretched spring rubbing against the steering column as it turns in fact. I went down into the depths below my driver's seat (don't you hate having to go down there? My back isn't thanking me today) to check the noise out. Made a question mark of my spine to look up behind the brake pedal and noticed that this spring wasn't actually the factory shiny chrome looking spring located up much further on the pedal. So I removed it. The brake pedal is much easier to compress now than before. Stopping on a downhill previously took two feet to comfortably hold the car at a stop thanks to the second spring. With the spring gone, brake pedal force is excellent. Very easy, even when braking downhill. No more quad workouts for my legs though.

I'm sure this post won't help anyone because I'm guessing no one else will encounter such a strange setup on their LS. But I wanted to close this thread out properly in case anyone was looking to this thread for helpful info relating to a possibly stuck caliper piston. Maybe save someone else some time instead of digging through this thread looking for valuable tidbits. Not that there isn't good info in here relating to stuck caliper pistons. There is. It just wasn't my problem. Or so it seems at this point anyway.

*END EDIT*
***********************************

My brake pedal is mushy. First pump goes nearly to the floor. Stopping power is pretty weak. A quick second pump both tightens up the pedal and increases stopping power quite a bit. pump it quickly multiple times and it performs like a champ.

A buddy of mine is a tech. He helped me put in new brake fluid and bleed the system. There was some air in there, so we were hopeful this would fix it. But of course, no such luck. The issue persisted.

I've read a few posts from folks like Lynzoid who were experiencing very similar symptoms. They replaced the piston seals with part number 04479-50130 which fixed the issue. I'd like to give this a go.

I'm hoping someone can provide some instructions on how to replace the front caliper seals.

I watched the following youtube video on how to remove the caliper an LS 430

Seems pretty straight forward to pull the caliper off. After that though, I'm in the dark.

Can someone provide the full steps following caliper removal to complete this type of rebuild? Tools to use as well? Is a follow up bleed required if not replacing the lines at the same time?

Lastly, if someone has a part number for new lines would be awesome.

Thanks!

Lynzoid

Better leave it to professional, who should be skilled in reman-ing calipers.
If you are eager to try - after you pull the caliper from the car, you'll have to push the pistons all the way out. Pro'd use shop air blower to force the pistons out. But it's a tricky thing, and you should put a piece of wood between pistons so there won't be any damage, as they will literally fly out with aid of shop air.
After pistons are out (4x on front calipers, 2x on rears. each) you just pull the old inner seals, put new ones on, clean the piston and cylinder, and i mean remove all debris and dirt and make it shine; then you just push the pistons back in, and install new dust boots. Then all you have to do is reassemble brakes (not forgetting to use NEW caliper bolts every time you take caliper off!), bleed the *****, bleed it good and you're good to go.
Wanna try DIY it? I wanted to but it's a good thing i didn't.
E.g. - when pistons are half out, would you defeat the huge temptation to help them using pliers? BIG mistake - the pistons and cylinders should remain unscoffed and untouched by metal tools. etcetcetc

Lynzoid

Oh, and guy in the video made some mistakes.... If you're interested:
- when putting the caliper back on, it's a two man job (according to toyota manual). one pulls the seated caliper OUTwards (towards himself), while second tightens it. small thing, but almost made me mad (i take caliper off, do nothing, put it back on = pedal to the floor. had many mechanics stumped, until i redid it with some helper pulling/holding the caliper).
- i never grease the 'anti-squeal shims'. never since. since i found out greasing there defeats the purpose of these shims. you want firm and solid brake feel? never grease there then.
- proper places to apply the grease are brake pad edges. the ones that slide metal-to-metal inside the caliper.
- second mandatory grease point is where sliding pin contacts the 'earlobes' of the brake pads.
d'bag in video wasted some good copper grease for nothing and left the vehicle with two great brake noise sources.

honasbone

So you're saying I should have a pro do it, huh?

Point taken. I'll share these thoughts with my buddy. See if he and I can do it together, particularly during the remounting of the caliper and bleeding part.

Thanks much for getting back to me! Really appreciate it.

Lynzoid

It's not a transmission overhaul, but it's better if person who ends up doing it, had at least some skill doing caliper jobs... I mean, local place doesn't even have this on the pricelist - they usually just get a new caliper. Out of all mechanics there only one said 'i've done it, bring it in' and performed it (under my watchful eye) without any bad consequences. Consequences were good and about 100k later i still have solid brake feel. Love it.

tcr101

iTrader: (2)

If you want, you can get remanufactured calipers from O'reilly's for pretty cheap. If you swap your core in the process you get some money back.

IIRC, when i swapped out mine, it was ~ $50-60 when everything is said and done.

honasbone

What are the drawbacks to using reman calipers? That's a pretty solid price. The rebuild kit is like 35/40 bucks I believe. 50 - 60 is pretty good for full on reman'd parts. That said, I don't want to risk anything by going down that route if the quality may suffer.

Thoughts on your experiences?

tcr101

iTrader: (2)

I've been on a remanufactured caliper (driver side rear) for 20k miles with no issues. Specifically with caliper, I don't believe there is much that can go wrong. They clean them out, put in new seals and sell it to you.They use old LS430 cores (which is why they give you money back for the core).

As usual, when you swap them you will need to bleed your brakes. Since I was working on the rear, I put the car on an inline/decline (depending on how you look at the car) trying to keep the air at the end of the lines. Getting air out of the master cylinder sucks.

KA8

iTrader: (1)

Sounds more like brake booster problem to me

Jabberwock

I'd suggest reman calipers also if you shop around and get a good price. For the price of a good reman caliper it is not worth the extra time, labor, and hassle to rebuild them on your own.

honasbone

Thanks everyone. Appreciate all the replies. is there an easy-ish way to figure out which of the calipers is having the stuck piston issue? I'd rather not replace/rebuild more calipers than is necessary.

1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

I tried rebuilding the calipers on my 93sc400, when they are stuck or seized a lot of times the air wont push the pistons out , I had to use vice grips, it leaves marks, its a mess, they ended up in a box on the floor and I bought replacements.

When it comes to brakes best not mess around , either buy a set of already re-built calipers or have the pros rebuild yours.

1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

Yes , see how hard it is to push the pistons back into the caliper.

It should take 'some effort to push them in, but not a crazy amount.

LiCelsior

iTrader: (32)

i rebuilt calipers before and its not that hard, yea i had to use some pliers to actually get it moving. But after you get it out, just clean it up throughly, reseat all the new seals and then just reinstall the pistons.

remanufacturered calipers arent too bad also, they basically take any cores they get and just rebuild them, new paint, seals, the works.

heres a link from a 1st gen LS400..but same idea. i followed this same DIY with my old LS400. http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/brake/fbcaliper.html

honasbone

Cool, thanks LiCelsior. Gives me a better idea of what to expect during the process if I go the rebuild route.