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I am working on a brake job for a 2008 Cooper S. While working on the fronts, I noticed that the lower caliper guide bolts did not move in and out like the top ones, and did not allow me to put the caliper back in place with the new rotor and pads. Both left and right front wheels were the same. Top one moves freely, bottom one is stuck.
I tapped it a few times with a hammer and flat screwdriver to see if it would easily move and it doesn't. I put a wrench on it and it does rotate though. To get my car back to the road I gave the bolt a good smack with a hammer to move it in a bit to allow me to mount the caliper. Everything else went smoothly and the breaks feel good while driving. But I worry that it will cause issues down the road.
I have started doing a bunch or research now on these bolts, and it looks like the top guide bolts are smooth metal ones, and I am guessing the bottom ones have a rubber like section like this: (I have not gotten them out yet, but from what I have read they are like this:
If they are lubed incorrectly they swell and seize in place. I am guessing that is what happened to me. So I am guessing I will need to replace them once I get them out.
When I go to the auto parts store they show me these as the replacements like this:
These look like the bolts that go on the top. I am fine replacing parts with something that is not OEM, but I want to make sure that this would not break something. Has anyone replaced a caliper guide bolts with these on the bottom and it worked?
Does anyone know if the rear caliper bolts have this rubber section?
thanks!
Last edited by farside847; Mar 12, 2018 at 08:30 PM.
I just did the fromt pads and rotors on my 2008 Clubnan. My guide pins are all metal. I removed the caliper bracket, removed the pins, cleaned the holes and pins with BrakeKleen and relived and assembled them. You need to make sure both pins slide freely otherwise you will have uneven pad wear and shortened brake life.
