1981

Had a bad brake fluid leak on my left rear tire yesterday during a 400 mile trip at 75mph the whole way. Mechanic told me the rotor has been ruined due to the brake fluid compromising the metal with the heat of the brakes. I know I am not the smartest person, but is this possible? Can the rotor be ruined? Will I have problems with it in the future because of the heat and brake fluid?

1981

Larry B.

I can't see how the fluid can ruin a rotor but... You will need to replace the pads and fix the leak. DO NOT allow the brake shop (or whoever does the work) to turn the rotors unless they do it on the car. If vou turn the rear rotors there will be run out after installation that will pump air into the calipers.

Mack

If he's talking about the metallurgy of the rotors, I doubt it... In fact if that's what he is talking about, I think I'd find me another mechanic.

1981

Thanks for replying, but how do I turn them while on the car?

Who can do this for me locally, can a normal shop do this?

1981

Smokehouse69

I don't see how Brake fluid can ruin calipers, it can ruin pads, but not calipers. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the brake shop or whoever is working on the car is staffed by a bunch of monkeys that are trying to rip you off!
Sure the seals and piston orings can be gone, and the caliper can be bad from scored or rusty cylinders, but brake fluid didn't do it. Moisture or water in the brake fluid can cause original non Stainless Steel lined calipers to become rusty and pitted and the moisture is carried by the brake fluid, but the fluid itself does not hurt calipers.
It is likely that excessive runout on your rear rotor cause the caliper to rock back and forth which could cause seal problems, it will also pump air into your brake system. This kind of leak is often seen after long highway trips where the brakes are not applied very often.
I'd suggest checking the runout on your rear rotors, the rotors have to be on the car to do this because you are actually checking runout on the whole hub and spindle and rear bearing assembly.
If there is too much runout, then you need to reduce it by shimming between the hub and the rotor.
Go to the Corvette Faq, there should be an article on how to do it.
http://www.corvettefaq.com

joeveto

The mechanic is full of it.

O-ring your calipers and be done with it. The whole runout thing is an issue because of potential air pumping. The O-rings will prevent this from happening. Vette Brakes sells the kits. It's cheap and easy.

Check out my website for pictures and instructions.

:cheers:

Jvette73

Fluid may ruin the pads but not the rotor. The rotor can be easiely cleaned with brake cleaner and scuffed with 220 wet/dry sandpaper or emory cloth.

bigvette1

That's a good one! At most, there may be discoloration from heat on the rotor, easily cleaned off, Fix the leak, replace the pads, bleed it out and enjoy.

1981

Thanks for all of the replies again,
I will be replacing this caliper with one of the piston O-Ring type, and check the rotor run out at a corvette shop here in town I have learned about. I will take care of the rotor runout with the rotor on the car. Then I will wait a couple of trips to see what happens. If the new caliper type fixes the problem I will do the right rear also. I am pretty sure from what everyone here has mentioned, the caliper will fix the problem.'

Will there be any pull to one side or the other from just replacing the left rear and not the right rear at this time? Right now I have NO pull either way. If there is will I be able to live with it until I see if this fixes the problem, or will it be too hard of a pull to control during braking? I know to some this is disasterous, but I am not an NCRS guy and do not make my kids wear helmets when they ride their bikes on the driveway.

1981

Mack

You need to do brakes in pairs, at least. If you're replacing the pads on the left rear when you replace the caliper, then you should replace the pads on the right rear for sure. Also, if you think you're going to replace the right rear caliper in the future, then I'd go ahead and do it at the same time that you do the left rear, especially if you're going to use a different type caliper. Just MHO.