Thanks for this. My pins have some wear similar to yours. I’m having trouble with the boots not sealing well into the bracket. The opposite of what you have photos above. They’ll easily go on the pins, but won’t stay attached to the bracket. I tried all I know to do (twisting, small flat blade, pushing firmly with the pin), but nothing worked to fully seat them like your pics. I’ll likely order new OEM hardware for the next stab at this.
Honda Odyssey brake caliper slide boots
- Thread starter gasman556
- Start date
JHZR2
Staff member
To me that’s a sign that you have too much grease, and either an impacted situation or a bubble.
Boots should go right into the machined groove. With the right amount of lube they add to the “springiness” aiding in the calipers return. If not right you’ll get irregular pad wear.
Are the insides of the boots, and the machined groove clean?
you mean the reformulated version?
I've had this situation with the bubble. No bubble as the pins move with a rebound/spring nature as they should, just without the boot seating/sealing like it should on the bracket side of the pin. New boots, so clean, the machined grove was rusty but hit with brakeclean/wire brush so it was as clean as it's going to be. Cleaner side of caliper bracket was also not seating right at the caliper bracket side. So I'm 50/50 with caliper boot sealing success.
Make sure you use some of the caliper grease on the boot seating surface. This will prevent water from getting in, even if the metal surface is not in good shape.
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New caliper brackets and that's the end of you're problems. Once rust gets inside those pin slides, it's a PITA to get it out. You can buy just the brackets w/o the calipers. They come with new boots, pins, and bolts. Next go round just use silicone grease on the pins. Honda's are notorious brake eaters anyway.
Sorry, I should have been more clear; the older version.
That extra care and attention makes all the difference!
I looked at this first thing, but only see options from Duralast, etc or the entire caliper. If I'm cooked with the OEM brackets, I'll change them but wanted to keep my Honda a Honda. Does that make sense?
@JHZR2 and @JeffKeryk have good points. It's not me that's driving it and it takes a lot of on/off interstate trips with short deceleration ramps to deal with along with stop/go traffic on higher speed limit roads. It is what it is.
JHZR2
Staff member
Maybe I missed it, have you gotten new caliper boots? If so, OE or a very reputable brand vs Chinesium?
If you havent tried replacement OE I would.
I just ordered a few "ships from and sold by amazon" Raybestos h16140 (boots, pin rubber) and Carlson 14172 (new pins). I picked these as rock auto said they were the most popular for this van and were supposedly well reviewed. OEM were tough to source as they all wanted me to buy extra stuff I didn't need. RA was going to be more expensive vs AZ and wouldn't have arrived for a while. These hardware orders are to go along with my silicone paste from tribology as rec'd earlyer. My permatex grease (pic above) is trash bound as soon as I get my hands on it.
JHZR2
Staff member
I just wanted to touch on this. I’ve used silaramic for years. It is silicone with some kind of robust ceramic solids.
I believe M-77 is a similar formulation with moly instead of ceramic. That’s what Honda uses in many places.
But for your issue, for bores, I wouldn’t want any solids in there. I don’t think I’d even really want a silicone with PTFE.
M77 is $25/1 oz can. IMO, that's a lot. Is it worth the price? Is there another suitable and cheaper than m77 grease you're recommending? I already have the Tribology silicone coming and I'm getting rid of the permatex.
EDIT: it looks like the $25/1 oz can isn't even from Dow Corning, but a knock off itself (Buosha?). The Molykote m77 stuff is obscenely priced $179/500grams. I'm all for spending more if there's value, but that's a bridge too far IMO.
EDIT 2: I'm seeing a Honda 43383-SA5-325 as also being "m77" Is this what you are talking about? It's also around $25 shipped.
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I would forget Hondas miracle paste. It’s meant for splines and such, not brake pins.
Here is a solid option and pretty affordable too. Trav uses it quite heavily and many of us trust his opinion on these things. I’ve used Wurth silicone paste for years with great success, and its similar to this one.
https://a.co/d/crXwxoA
Here is a solid option and pretty affordable too. Trav uses it quite heavily and many of us trust his opinion on these things. I’ve used Wurth silicone paste for years with great success, and its similar to this one.
https://a.co/d/crXwxoA
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Thanks. Are you saying I should return the Tribology grease and use this? I also have Dow Corning dielectric grease. I can't link to exactly what I have, but it is similar to DC-4 iirc.
https://www.amazon.com/Dow-Corning-Electrical-Insulating-Compound/dp/B001VXSAI4
If your caliper pistons are not rusted terribly, and the piston pushed in easy enough, there is no reason to get a caliper ( unless the bleeder screw snapped off or is frozen . Your existing Honda calipers are very well made, but, you must maintain them,like everything else. You must bleed the old brake fluid every 2 years from the whole system. Brake fluid absorbs water and ruins brake systems. You must open the bleeders and let that junk out. Then you MUST cap the bleeder with the little rubber cap, or rust will seize the bleeder valve, then the caliper is garbage. A little maintenance goes a long way in brake systems. All you need is a pint of brake fluid every 2 years. You will see increased performance in braking.
Not sure what the Tribology grease is but if it has any solids like Moly, I would not use it on the pins. It will be good for any sort of sliding surfaces though.
The Molykote dialectic grease is silicone based so you can definitely use it.
I used stainless steel brush to clean out the bore inside my caliper when I had to be aggressive and remove the rust inside the caliper bracket bore. Also grease the flange where the boot mounts on the caliper bracket and grease the flange of the caliper bolt where the boot goes.
You dont want the caliper pin to pogo. If you push the pin in and it "pogos" back out remove lots of lube from the pin and or the bore.
You dont want the caliper pin to pogo. If you push the pin in and it "pogos" back out remove lots of lube from the pin and or the bore.
Thanks. I already do this. Calipers/bleeder screws are good best I can tell.
I’ve got a brush kit on order with stainless, brass, and I’d bet nylon bristles. I’m not looking forward to even more of the cleaning of rust, but it needs doing.
The pins move freely when I’m done and return to their semi compressed position when you compress and then release them. Is this what you mean when you say “pogos”?
Yeah when you push them in they should stay at the lowest point you pushed them instead of springing back.
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