So a few thousand miles back I got some brake work done on my car:

Fluid drain with ABS purge (refill with Brembo LCF600)
SS brake lines
Machined existing OEM rotors
Stock calipers replaced with clean OEM calipers bought from 6speeder
New Mintex Red Box pads

After the work was done, the pedal felt MUCH softer than stock. The brakes worked, but there was a good bit of slop in the pedal (very un porsche like). There was also a tiny bit of "leak" from the bleeding screws immediately after the job, taking off a little paint around the screw. So I re-bled and the pedal improved a little, but nothing like it should be. I chalked the problem up to the thin front rotors (which I measured myself at 32.2mm / indy smokes too much weed I think), and the "subpar" pads. Figured I would replace pads / discs soon and that would solve the problem.

So a couple nights back I bought a book called "Speed Secrets: Professional Race Driving Techniques" by Ross Bentley for my iPad. Seeing how I have been stressed lately, I have been taking it out on a local deserted road in the middle of the night.

Well.... the book is great, and each night I have been progressively increasing my exploration of this car's considerable talents...

This morning, when I was getting in the car to go to the office, I noticed something.... The rear passenger side brake caliper looked like it had a nuclear brake fluid bomb go off right on top of it. It is totally stripped! Needless to say I am pissed, because I had just put that caliper on and it was basically brand new. So pissed off, I got in the car and started driving, and lo and behold, the brake pedal felt firm as a rock!

Can someone help me out here?? Has this happened to anyone before? Is there some kind of "blow off" mechanism in these things, or what?? Should I do anything right now? (i.e. is that screw loose)

Anyway, since I have my old calipers I plan on painting one and replacing the damaged one. However, I want to make sure that the pedal stays rock hard, and want to know if anyone has any tips to prevent this type of "blowup" in the future, because I love this car, but am tired of f@%in& with the brakes right now....

And the book is highly recommended!

 

You prob have a loose bleeder or the brake line was not threaded in correctly.
Take your wheel off and check for the source of the leak.
Use a power bleeder to bleed the system if you are going to do it yourself w/ no help.

 

All that fluid could also have come from a leaking shock so check that as well.

I had a soft pedal after a brake upgrade but it was from air in the system. A re-bleed took care of it. If I were you, I wouldn't be driving the car until this problem is sorted out.

 

I must have misunderstood your post, because this doesn't make sense to me.

Is this what you said: You saw a huge brake fluid leak on the RR caliper, and your first decision was to drive the car? Did you at least check the fluid level at the reservoir first? Then the pedal felt hard whereas it had not before, without touching anything?

 

There was no visible fluid. But something corrosive clearly leaked down the caliper, and it appears to have come from the vicinity of the bleeder screw. Because i was already on the way to the office there was nothing i could do except to drive the car. I did not check the fluid reservoir, but have been inspecting the area for additional seepage constantly. I will check the brake fluid level, and will take the car to a mechanic this morning. The only question I have is should I take it to the one who did all the work (I am not happy with him for obvious reasons), and "discuss it", or should I just go to a different one who was strongly reccomended by another board member? Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

After a brake bleed there is usually a little left over fluid that trickles down the caliper, and it is corrosive to the caliper paint. I would take it back to the original guy and make him fix his possibly incomplete work so you aren't charged again. Then I would change to a different tech. I tried 3 different shops before settling on my current guy who I have been very happy with for the last 2 years.

 

I just checked the brake reservior and fluid is right around the max line. It may have been a tad higher before, but if it was, it wasn't by much.

 

Well, I think that perhaps I was misled when you said "nuclear explosion." A little fluid can drip down the caliper, and as Larry said it's corrosive. There is no blowoff valve on the brake system.

My guess would be that the new caliper had a little air left in it. Sometimes, the air can cling to the sides as small bubbles when you fill a new caliper. To see what I mean, fill a not-so-perfectly clean glass with aerated water, and put it on the table, You'll see bubbles clinging to the side, and tapping on the glass will make them break free and rise to the top. My indie recommends tapping a new caliper with a rubber hammer while bleeding to get those bubble to come to the surface.

 

So I went to my mechanic and the bleeder screw was very tight. No play whatsoever. The brake work was done a couple months back, not recently. There is a good amount of stripped clearcoat, not just a drip. I will post a picture later. He claimed that it looks more like peeling associated with hard brake usage, and that if I drive the car I should expect that this will happen. I monitor my bake temps, and the rear rotor faces only usually get up to about 280c, so the calipers probably get no hotter than maybe 240c or so. The front rotors can get up into the high 300s and havent been affected. Is it possible that cycling up and down from this temp for 4 days could have peeled my clearcoat? It only happened on this one caliper.

 

It may be possible that a caliper piston is sticking and that would cause the pad to drag and produce more heat. Some track guys get such high heat in their calipers that it causes the caliper paint to change colors, but peeling of the clear coat is not something I've heard of before. Dripping brake fluid is almost impossible to prevent. I have watched my tech bleed my brakes and after closing the bleed valve immediately sop up excess brake fluid with a rag. By the time I drive the car home some fluid has run down and picked up black brake dust so it is visible. This is pretty much part of the game IMO.

 

Thanks. I guess I will just have to deal with it then. In that case, since I have my original calipers laying around, does anyone have a favorite brand of porsche-esque red caliper paint that they use on these? Also, paint the logo with white paint and stencils, or just put the porsche sticker on? Appreciate the advice.