Calipers are bagged and labeled and dropped off at the powder coater.



Could be into next week before I get them back. Figure 2-3 days to get the powder, a day for laser blasting, and a day for coating.

 

The Z1 rebuild kits arrived today. The rears kits were perfect... seals, dust boots, rings, valve grommets, valve caps and the single little connecting seal between the two caliper halves. For $12 per rear brake, this was exactly right. The fronts however... there was no little connecting seal between the two caliper halves. So I'm going to have to reuse two of my old ones. Curiously, Z1's website explicitly says they aren't included with the front kits.

The fronts also came with grease packets, and some very confusing instructions. First off, the pics on the Z1 website show (4) of the red grease and (4) of the orange grease. However that's NOT what I got. Instead I got (4) of the red packets, and (1) pink packet:



What's really confusing are the instructions:



Note the instructions differentiate between "red" and "orange". Well, which one is red and which one is orange? If I knew which one was "red", step 2 is OK. And I assume Step 3 is for the non-sport calipers, referencing the "slide pin". But how come there's no reference to using brake grease on the dust boots?



These kits come from Nissan directly, and Z1 just resells them. I think what's happened is that Nissan changed the kit, making Z1's website out of date.

 

does the FSM cover rebuilding them, and if so, maybe it has the instructions you're looking for?

 

Oh hey, that's some good thinking, Mike. I should step back and do some FSM reading, starting at page 43 in BR.PDF.

In fact, here's a copy of the PDF for the 2011 G37, if anybody is curious.

NEVER REUSE PISTON SEALS
NEVER REUSE PISTON BOOTS
NEVER REUSE RETAINING RINGS

LOL, OK, I get it.

 

The FSM says to use brake fluid (as lubricant) on the piston seals and the pistons themselves. And it says to use brake grease on the dust boots. This seems to run contrary to the two different types of brake grease packets in the OEM rebuild kit, where I don't know which one to use on the seals and which to use on the boots.



So I talked to Mike at Z1 today, follow-up from yesterday's call. He understands my questions, and recognizes the discontinuity between the site photo and what was actually in the kit. Having rebuilt many Nissan brakes himself, his advice is to use brake fluid on the piston seals and pistons, and a light coating of brake grease on the dust boots... which is exactly what the FSM states.

None of which explains why Nissan includes grease packets in the rebuild kits, with 2 different types of grease no less.

I'm just trying to do this correctly, for crying out loud. (sigh)

 

a brake-fluid compatible grease exists, but... I'd be asking a lot of questions from Z1 tech support and maybe your local Nissan service department mechanics before I took any actions.

Edited to add: When I've done this, I just used brake fluid on everything but the dust boots. Those are outside the hydraulic environment so I just lightly greased the inner and outer sealing surfaces - mostly so they'd rotate without tearing when the pistons do.

 

The more I dig into this, the more polarized the opinions are on piston seal grease vs. brake fluid. Apparently this is a very common question, and there's no silver bullet answer. I've got about a week or two to figure this out one way or the other:

Seal grease vs brake fluid
Grease the boots or leave them dry



Here's a video on rebuilding Brembos, where the youtuber says, "There is special brake piston seal lube, but it's pretty common to just use brake fluid."

 

This stupid question is starting to make me angry the more I realize there is no definitive answer.

So I'm leaning real hard now on just using brake fluid on the seals & pistons, and a light coat of brake grease on the top of the dust boots. The goal here is to just do it correctly. But if there is no correct technique, then the goal becomes getting my sanity back and picking the least compromising approach.

 

So yes certain greases are compatible with break fluid. I suspect they use this for dry assemblies that sit on a shelf for a long time in climates that humidity cannot be controlled.
This can keep the piston from rusting and destroying the seal upon assembly after the calipers have been sitting on shelves for months/years

Being that Nissan/Infinity DO NOT do a physical rebuild on the spot for this is why the confusing info. As you get deeper in the rebuilding of certain parts you have to consider the tactics used for storage as well.
In theory one of those greases maintains lubricity upon storage and gets along with brake fluid.

In your case you wouldnt be hurting anything by using brake fluid since it's what it will use for the rest of it's life.

Similar to using engine oil for engine assembly instead of assembly lube. I've used vaseline, grease, engine oil, 3-1 oil, wd40 for christ's sake on builds. This is meant as a lubricant until normal function can be obtained (fluid pressure)

With raw iron/steel components it's important for the part to not rust and because parts sit for such a long time the failure to add an oily film to exposed parts will always lead to rust.

Many folks in this confusion stick to brake fluid. For storage purposes brake fluid would have a faster deterioration life than grease.

I vote for engine oil and keep those packets for your next pad changes, it can be used for pads ( I would never use red grease for anything visible- my own bias- looks wise)

 

That makes so much sense. It's the perfect explanation why the OEM kit has grease but the FSM says to use brake fluid.

Thank you, BULL.

 

Analysis paralysis

If you bought a set that was done you wouldn't need a 6 page thread

 

It's a process. Usually it's fun, sometimes it's frustrating, and every time I learn something as I stumble forward.

Analysis paralysis... I never heard that phrase before, but boy does it hit home, LOL.

 

And even though it took us 6 pages to get here, we've all learned something. I think that has intrinsic value, ease-of-use aside.

 

Decision paralysis as well. Having too many good options and not too many cons about it.

If I may its common in the neurodivergent scale of folks as well as OCD, ADD, anxiety and others.

Extremely prevalent in the car world which is most times an outlet of expression.

For what some folks would see as a super **** approach towards something,

I see a requirement for focus on to improve 4 areas of a beloved thing that I own and since it's a FINITE aspect I can let my OCD roam free.

It's a Caliper project so again, it's finite. If I had more money today I would be doing the exact same thing. The issue this brings up is even in this finite THING, there are many but many options and a lot of them will be visible, and they have to match the car and they have to draw attention as well and they have to work. So I'll do everything in my power to learn as much as I can in the little time we all give ourselves to cover EVERY base and corner.

You add that to a high functioning folk and it will come with some anxiety.

I get you, you'll notice from some of my commentary.

 

Or you could adjust your member settings to show 100 comments per page, and we're all still on page one.