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As I've just been through this and harassed several people for advice (jimbo and jamieboy) thought I'd post what I've learnt and read from other places to help others.
Sorry there's no step by step but was learning on the fly myself. Let's be clear this isn't a fun job and it's a fair bit of work but worth it:
First things first, I found it easier to take my calipers off the sliders and pump the brakes a bit to push the pistons out so it's easier to remove. Don't go too far though as the pistons will pop out along with a lot of fluid. I did both front sides so remove them both before pumping the pedal.
Jamieboy told me a good trick, disconnect the brake light sensor underneath the brake pedal (so to not kill your battery), depress the brake pedal and wedge a stick against it to hold it down, this will stop all your fluid leaking everywhere. DO NOT pump all your fluid out to save your driveway like I did!
Ok so front calipers off
Clearly seen better days! Not having a grease gun or a air compressor next comes removing the piston from the caliper, if it's sticking not always the easiest thing to do. I had a 3/8 socket screw driver laying around which fitted perfectly through the hole the brake lines feed into. Give it a few taps with a hammer and your piston should start to come out at an angle, tap the front of the piston to straighten when this happens and repeat until the piston comes out (reasonably easy)
I'd advise ordering the piston rebuild kit prior to doing the work as waiting for it drove me up the wall! It will come with new piston, piston ring seal, dust gasket, bleed nipple cover and slider boots.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=371281781662
**please not DO NOT USE THE ABOVE COMPANY their slider boots have a design flaw (I have made a separate post) CARFACTORSUK (the suppliers from eBay named and shamed) were uninterested in my feedback about this, these slider boots could potentially ruin your discs and pads use someone else.
Before fitting this I cleaned and painted them, I cheaped out on the paint so no doubt will be redoing them soon, buy cheap but twice!!
Best tools I found to clean the calipers having no access to a parts wash or sand blaster was the following:
Basically wire brushes that attach to a combi drill and also a drum sanding kit
All in both sets were £12 from toolstation and I wouldn't attempt to clean them without something similar, handheld wire brushes just won't cut it and it took long enough with those bits.
Then tape off the bits you don't want paint in I.e piston chamber, brake line screw, bleed nipple etc etc. hang them up and spray away, personally I think using better paint and a brush would make life easier but you live and learn.
Then your ready to fit the new piston. There's already a link on the forum somewhere to the video I used I will try and find it later and post it here. Easy enough to do but very fiddly, make sure you have a big flat head screw driver around to help push the dust cover seal into its runner.
http://youtu.be/QXcClOfFmlg
Stole this link from mrhaz's write up so credit to him as this video is brilliant
Stick it all back on the car and your ready to bleed them.
Bleeding brakes:
First off, if you already have a full brake fluid reservoir then 1L will do you, if like me your not too bright and drained your entire system you'll need 2L to get all the air out! I'd advise buying 1L of cheap fluid for the initial bleed/priming of the system then run 1L of the good stuff in after to flush the cheap rubbish out. I used motul rbf600 and at £37 for 1.5L it ain't exactly cheap.
There's loads of different methods out there but like most blokes I opted for the 'pump pump squirt' method
I did buy a none return valve to help but threw it away after 30seconds and opted for this very technical piece of kit
Basically it's flexible plastic tubing and a water bottle, run the tube to the bottom of the bottle and put a little new brake fluid in there, about an inch to cover the end on the tubing. Also drill another hole in the top else the bottle will become pressurised causing it to squirt brake fluid everywhere when you disconnect it (yes I learnt this the hard way!!!)
With this method you don't need a second person to help bleed the system, simply connect the end of the tubing to the bleed nipple and if you can locate the bottle above the caliper as air will rise, I cable tied mine to the alloy which worked a treat. The fluid in the bottom of the bottle will stop air being sucked back into the system. Then crack the bleed nipple maybe a quarter of a turn at most and pump the brake pedal making sure the fluid reservoir in the engine is ALWAYS topped up else you will have to start again.
The order according to honda is FL FR RR RL, apparently this is to ensure correct priming of the ABS pump but may be internet rubbish. Most use RL RR FL FR as I bled my system more than once I used the honda order the first time and the well known order the rest.
Basically pump the pedal smoothly a few times and check the reservoir, top up as required. When the fluid in the hose you connected to the bleed nipple is clear without ANY EVEN LITTLE bubbles of air in tighten the bleed nipple and move onto the next corner. Once they are all done take the car for a test drive if the brakes feel spongy repeat the process.
Worth noting you shouldn't turn the engine on during this process as if you do the abs light will come on and worry the shît out of you, don't worry if you do it will go out once your bled the brakes correctly. Also make sure to pump the brake pedal when your done so the pistons are right against the brake pads otherwise it won't end well.
A good tip I read but didn't have to use: if you are having real issues with getting air out of the system and you know your fluid is now fresh through the whole system is run the plastic tubing directly from the bleed nipple to the brake fluid reservoir, that way you can bleed as much as you want without having to waste expensive fluid.
Also if only flushing or bleeding your system you don't need to remove the wheels or even jack the car up, it's possible to get to the bleed nipples with the wheels on, this saved me so much time and effort on the second bleed as I have a sloped driveway.
Final tip, before test driving wash your hands, you may think the brake fluid is off them but you will be kicking yourself when you see the paint start to thin off your skunk2 weighted gear knob
I hope this helps someone somewhere
Sorry there's no step by step but was learning on the fly myself. Let's be clear this isn't a fun job and it's a fair bit of work but worth it:
First things first, I found it easier to take my calipers off the sliders and pump the brakes a bit to push the pistons out so it's easier to remove. Don't go too far though as the pistons will pop out along with a lot of fluid. I did both front sides so remove them both before pumping the pedal.
Jamieboy told me a good trick, disconnect the brake light sensor underneath the brake pedal (so to not kill your battery), depress the brake pedal and wedge a stick against it to hold it down, this will stop all your fluid leaking everywhere. DO NOT pump all your fluid out to save your driveway like I did!
Ok so front calipers off
Clearly seen better days! Not having a grease gun or a air compressor next comes removing the piston from the caliper, if it's sticking not always the easiest thing to do. I had a 3/8 socket screw driver laying around which fitted perfectly through the hole the brake lines feed into. Give it a few taps with a hammer and your piston should start to come out at an angle, tap the front of the piston to straighten when this happens and repeat until the piston comes out (reasonably easy)
I'd advise ordering the piston rebuild kit prior to doing the work as waiting for it drove me up the wall! It will come with new piston, piston ring seal, dust gasket, bleed nipple cover and slider boots.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=371281781662
**please not DO NOT USE THE ABOVE COMPANY their slider boots have a design flaw (I have made a separate post) CARFACTORSUK (the suppliers from eBay named and shamed) were uninterested in my feedback about this, these slider boots could potentially ruin your discs and pads use someone else.
Before fitting this I cleaned and painted them, I cheaped out on the paint so no doubt will be redoing them soon, buy cheap but twice!!
Best tools I found to clean the calipers having no access to a parts wash or sand blaster was the following:
Basically wire brushes that attach to a combi drill and also a drum sanding kit
All in both sets were £12 from toolstation and I wouldn't attempt to clean them without something similar, handheld wire brushes just won't cut it and it took long enough with those bits.
Then tape off the bits you don't want paint in I.e piston chamber, brake line screw, bleed nipple etc etc. hang them up and spray away, personally I think using better paint and a brush would make life easier but you live and learn.
Then your ready to fit the new piston. There's already a link on the forum somewhere to the video I used I will try and find it later and post it here. Easy enough to do but very fiddly, make sure you have a big flat head screw driver around to help push the dust cover seal into its runner.
http://youtu.be/QXcClOfFmlg
Stole this link from mrhaz's write up so credit to him as this video is brilliant
Stick it all back on the car and your ready to bleed them.
Bleeding brakes:
First off, if you already have a full brake fluid reservoir then 1L will do you, if like me your not too bright and drained your entire system you'll need 2L to get all the air out! I'd advise buying 1L of cheap fluid for the initial bleed/priming of the system then run 1L of the good stuff in after to flush the cheap rubbish out. I used motul rbf600 and at £37 for 1.5L it ain't exactly cheap.
There's loads of different methods out there but like most blokes I opted for the 'pump pump squirt' method
I did buy a none return valve to help but threw it away after 30seconds and opted for this very technical piece of kit
Basically it's flexible plastic tubing and a water bottle, run the tube to the bottom of the bottle and put a little new brake fluid in there, about an inch to cover the end on the tubing. Also drill another hole in the top else the bottle will become pressurised causing it to squirt brake fluid everywhere when you disconnect it (yes I learnt this the hard way!!!)
With this method you don't need a second person to help bleed the system, simply connect the end of the tubing to the bleed nipple and if you can locate the bottle above the caliper as air will rise, I cable tied mine to the alloy which worked a treat. The fluid in the bottom of the bottle will stop air being sucked back into the system. Then crack the bleed nipple maybe a quarter of a turn at most and pump the brake pedal making sure the fluid reservoir in the engine is ALWAYS topped up else you will have to start again.
The order according to honda is FL FR RR RL, apparently this is to ensure correct priming of the ABS pump but may be internet rubbish. Most use RL RR FL FR as I bled my system more than once I used the honda order the first time and the well known order the rest.
Basically pump the pedal smoothly a few times and check the reservoir, top up as required. When the fluid in the hose you connected to the bleed nipple is clear without ANY EVEN LITTLE bubbles of air in tighten the bleed nipple and move onto the next corner. Once they are all done take the car for a test drive if the brakes feel spongy repeat the process.
Worth noting you shouldn't turn the engine on during this process as if you do the abs light will come on and worry the shît out of you, don't worry if you do it will go out once your bled the brakes correctly. Also make sure to pump the brake pedal when your done so the pistons are right against the brake pads otherwise it won't end well.
A good tip I read but didn't have to use: if you are having real issues with getting air out of the system and you know your fluid is now fresh through the whole system is run the plastic tubing directly from the bleed nipple to the brake fluid reservoir, that way you can bleed as much as you want without having to waste expensive fluid.
Also if only flushing or bleeding your system you don't need to remove the wheels or even jack the car up, it's possible to get to the bleed nipples with the wheels on, this saved me so much time and effort on the second bleed as I have a sloped driveway.
Final tip, before test driving wash your hands, you may think the brake fluid is off them but you will be kicking yourself when you see the paint start to thin off your skunk2 weighted gear knob
I hope this helps someone somewhere
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