Rear Calipers

[classic1952]

After 3 replacement rear calipers due to fluid leaks I am looking elsewhere from Caterham for replacements. The trouble is there seem to be mixed opinions as to their origins, standard Sierra, XR4X4 or Granada/Scorpion. Does anyone have the definitive answer on this as most of these can be had for £50 rather than the Caterham price of £120?

Several sites suggest all Sierra/Granada calipers are the same except Cosworth models but others contradict this.

[TonyR]

I bought a pair from Big Red here, good quality very good service.

 

TonyR

[charlie_pank]

I also had excellent price and service from Bigg Red

[classic1952]

I will give Big Red a try, but it is mainly the source of the original caliper I am after, as there are several reconditioners local to me.

[classic1952]

Have just contacted Bigg Red. They do not know which caliper the Caterham uses! I know it is Sierra but there were many models!

[Titanium7]

Genuine originals here, not the refurbed ones

 

here

[classic1952]

And a decent price too. Unfortunately I only need the nearside.

[charlie_pank]

Just ask them what they sent me, or send them the old one, or ask Caterham...

[TonyR]

My Big Red invoice lists part number as

BRC51346/47 in gold elec.

 

I guess the end prefix 46/47 denotes left & right hand caliper

 

I also bought a pair of carriers

 

TonyR

 

 

 

Edited by - TonyR on 22 May 2013 11:09:13

[classic1952]

Sorted I think. Standard Sierra as far as I can work out. Talking to Bigg Red and others.

 

Thanks everyone.

[classic1952]

Following on from this, I am interested to know how many people are still having rear caliper problems. My car had 2 new calipers before I bought it, due to leaks, and I have replaced one of those because it was leaking fluid. That is now leaking again after less than 200 miles. All calipers came from Caterham at about twice the price of remanufactured calipers elsewhere.

 

Comments would be welcome.

[Geoff Brown]

Friend of mine with an R500 went into garage and found a pool of brake fluid under the nearside rear caliper. Hardly any mileage on the car.

 

CC changed both rear calipers.....and yes they do have a problem. Maybe it is due to whomever re-works the calipers for CC as out of the box they are not well finished, and definetely do not inspire a warm cuddly feeling.

[charlie_pank]

Where do you see the leaks from?

 

I had a problem with the bleed nipple holes.

[classic1952]

Difficult to tell but definitely not the bleed nipple or brake pipe union. I suspect the handbrake mechanism as it shows up most after the handbrake has been fully applied for a period.

[charlie_pank]

Is it coming out past the seals - in which case I'd suspect that the pistons need winding in, or the seals need replacing? Or is it coming out of the bottom where the handbrake mech enters the caliper body, in which case I guess the seal there needs replacing...

[classic1952]

I suspect the handbrake mechanism. I have cleaned everything off as best I can and placed clean paper underneath to try to find the exact location of the leak. Unfortunately brake fluid flows everywhere, especially when the car has been driven at any speed, so it makes a hell of mess. Needless to say I have not driven the car since finding yet another leak, although the pedal and stopping power are fine, another reason why I think it is coming out when the handbrake is engaged.

 

The quality of Caterham parts is beginning to undermine my confidence in the car - 3 leaky calipers despite Caterham's claim that this was an isolated problem in late 2008/early 2009. Rather than chasing a free replacement from Caterham I intend to source a caliper from elsewhere, if only to prove a point. If the calipers are remanufactured properly they should last for years without the need for further attention and at £108 a throw plus postage from Caterham I do not think this is good enough. It does not stop at the cost of the caliper either. Both my rear wheels need powder coating as the brake fluid has destroyed the finish.

[Alan Reeves]

New calipers for my new build were far from new....had to send back due appalling recon state....

 

[charlie_pank]

Don't drive it anywhere! Jack the car up and put it on axle stands, remove the wheel and clean up the caliper, then get someone to press on the brake pedal while you watch the caliper for drips. If that doesn't pinpoint the leak, get them to operate the handbrake a few times. Perhaps try pressing their foot on the pedal while the handbrake is engaged?

[classic1952]

New calipers for my new build were far from new....had to send back due appalling recon state...

 

It is quite clear that there is no such thing as a new Sierra caliper, they are all supposedly reconditioned, or to use the preferred term, remanufactured.

 

I dismantled the first caliper I changed at 3000 miles and 3 years and the handbrake mechanism contained at least 100,000 miles of road filth, so the quality is lousy.

 

All this begs the question, how does a Caterham ever get registered as new? I was under the impression you were only allowed one major reconditioned component but at the very least the brakes, diff and gearbox must be recons as they have been out of production by Ford for years.

[classic1952]

To update his, the fault appears to relate to the handbrake. None of the suggested tests showed up any leakage but leaving the handbrake fully on overnight has produced a puddle of brake fluid. The worrying part is that this is filthy. I cleaned everything before hand, the fluid was all changed less than 200 miles ago and the caliper was "new". I think this stems from a failure to properly recondition the handbrake part of the caliper, relying solely on the replacement of the main seals.

 

Has anyone else had this problem? I rarely use the handbrake but first noticed the leak when I applied it to change the front wheels a few days ago.

[myothercarsa2cv]

To resurrect your thread as requested

 

If you want to swap like for like, you need calipers TCA955 and TCA956 (some ebay sellers have a very handy guide, e.g. here - this is what I bought in the end after mashing the nipple threads with my own incompetence).

 

No, I've never had leaky rears, even before I replaced them with non-CC supplied calipers. My car was supplied March 2008. With four rear calipers, bizarrely!

 

What have CC said about replacing your brakes with some that work, possibly doing the work themselves, and fixing your wheels?

 

Edited by - myothercarsa2cv on 29 May 2013 13:45:57

[classic1952]

Unfortunately I am the second owner with a 4 year old car. They replaced one caliper for me by refunding the price when I returned the leaking one.

 

I live in Leeds, 100 miles from Caterham Midlands and 200 plus miles from Caterham South, so short of trailering the car to them I will be doing the work myself. I refuse to pay Caterham prices for rubbish so I shall source the replacement locally for around £50.

 

The bigger point here, as per the other thread, is that we pay anything from £20000 upwards for a high performance car with crap recon brakes from a 1980s Sierra. No mainstream manufacturer would get away with this, even on a car at half the price, so why should we accept it on a car that will be driven fairly hard most of the time and is, if anything far more reliant on a braking system that actually works, without being reduced to crawling under the car before every run to check for leaks!

 

Caterham should be sourcing new parts from a more modern car or from one of the aftermarket/performance brake outlets, or make the uprated AP brakes standard fit.

[charlie_pank]

Quoting classic1952: 

 

The bigger point here, as per the other thread, is that we pay anything from £20000 upwards for a high performance car with crap recon brakes from a 1980s Sierra. No mainstream manufacturer would get away with this, even on a car at half the price, so why should we accept it on a car that will be driven fairly hard most of the time and is, if anything far more reliant on a braking system that actually works, without being reduced to crawling under the car before every run to check for leaks!

 

Caterham should be sourcing new parts from a more modern car or from one of the aftermarket/performance brake outlets, or make the uprated AP brakes standard fit.

 

How is this situation going to change?

 

If the car was like this from new then the original owner should not have accepted it from CC. If the problem developed while owned by the previous guy, you should have either negotiated a lower price because the brakes don't work or walked away. If the problem has developed during your ownership, then you're in the same boat as anyone else with a car that needs to have parts repaired/replaced on it.

[classic1952]

The original calipers lasted just over a year. The replacements were OK when I bought the car. 6 months later one was leaking. Caterham suplied a replacement free (except postage). That is now leaking. Total mileage in this time 3500. Any main stream manufacturer with a problem like this would be subject to a blanket recall.

 

This is a known problem to numerous owners

[myothercarsa2cv]

How much more do you think sourcing parts from a newer car will cost? How many modern cars don't have ABS / EPS / all sorts of electronic jiggery pokery that would make it a problem to retrofit to a 7? The sierra calipers are used because a) they're simple b) well proven and c) cheap to CC. They've also been used for years, which means zero cost to produce new ears, testing, new handbrake cables etc.

 

My 2 pence is that they should sit down with Hi-Spec and figure out a package that doesn't push the price up by more than £200 a car (should be easy) and uses the existing discs which are nice and cheap and fit for purpose. But then, if I worked in R&D, they'd blow their whole budget paying me for my awesomeness. 😬

 

Either way, let us know what CC have to say about this. As fed up with CC as you may be, you should definitely talk to them about a remedy. CC know that not all owners live near to a showroom, so if they can't pick the car up, perhaps they can get a local 7 friendly garage to do the work for them. Don't ask, don't get.