Element Rear Brake Caliper Replacement
How to replace the rear brake caliper on a Honda Element
It seems to be quite common for the rear caliper pistons to rust and seize-up causing the brake to drag – quickly wearing-out the brake pads and decreasing fuel economy. Fortunately, replacing a brake caliper is an easy job. When replacing the calipers it’s a good idea to replace the brake pads at the same time. It is also a good time to replace the brake rotor if needed.
Start by safely raising the vehicle and removing the wheel. Carefully crimp the brake line to stop the flow of brake fluid when we disconnect it from the caliper. Don’t crimp it too hard or you’ll risk damaging the hose. Use just enough pressure to block the flow of brake fluid.
Loosen the banjo bolt connecting the brake hose to the caliper. We don’t need to completely remove it yet. At this point you can usually just remove the two 14mm bolts holding the caliper bracket. If you have a bad case of the brakes dragging, you might want to remove the caliper from the bracket first to make things easier. With the caliper and bracket removed, now remove the banjo bolt to disconnect the brake hose. Mind the leaking brake fluid. the caliper still has plenty inside. You can pour it into a bottle/container and properly dispose of it later.
It’s a good idea to make sure the glide pins are well lubricated with silicone grease. They should come with enough silicone grease on them but sometimes they don’t. I’m a fan of 3M Silicone Paste for this and many other applications.
After carefully reinstalling the glide pins and the glide pin boots we can now install the new caliper bracket. Though, it would be a good time to first clean all mounting surfaces with a wire wheel or wire brush. Especially the banjo fitting, so that it has a good seal and does not leak.
Install the new caliper/bracket hardware, then install new bracket in reverse of how you removed the old one.
After torqueing down the new caliper bracket, we’ll install some new brake pads. The new pads should sit loosely – no friction holding them in place. If the pads stick in place, they will drag.
Slide the brake caliper on over the brake pads and install the bolts into the glide pins and torque down.
After everything is torqued-down, it’s time to bleed the brake. This is best done by two people, but one person can do it with the help of a valve on the bleeder hose. Normally one person would operate the bleeder valve on the caliper while the other person operates the brake peddle. After attaching a clear hose to the bleeder valve and putting the other end into a bottle to hold the old brake fluid, the process would go something like this:
- Loosen bleeder valve
- Depress brake peddle all the way to the floor
- Tighten bleeder valve
- Remove foot from brake peddle
- Repeat
Repeat the process a few time until no bubbles come out. The one-person method is similar, but we’ll use a second valve attached to the bleeder hose. This valve will allow the brake fluid to flow in only one direction. This method isn’t as good as the two-person method because air can be pulled in through the loose bleeder valve on the caliper. Otherwise, you just push the brake peddle a few times and then tighten the bleeder valve on the caliper.
After that’s finished, check that you tightened all the bolts properly, and then reinstall the wheel and torque the lugs to spec. Remove jack stands and carefully lower the vehicle. Enjoy your new brakes and better fuel economy!