So over the course of the past two weekends, I've had to replace both my rear brake calipers. Long story short, I only thought my passenger side was bad, but after replacing that one, I noticed the driver side was running a little hot.

Anyway, the passenger side replacement was a breeze. No problems on the driver side either, except for the fact that I just can't get a good seal between my brake line and the new caliper. I've tried re-seating it a couple of times. All surfaces on the brake line, caliper, and bolt look clean and free of damage.

Think maybe I got a faulty caliper? Or maybe the brake line got damaged when I removed it? Pumping the brakes when I was bleeding the system results in about a drop of brake fluid leaking, apparently between the brake line fitting and the caliper surface.

I hate to just start replacing parts, especially since the brakes didn't leak before, the flexible brake hose seems to be in good condition, and I really don't want to try breaking through the rust at the joint between the steel line and the flex line to replace it.

 

Did you replace both copper washers, (one on each side of the brass fitting)? The banjo bolt must be torqued to make the copper washers conform to the brass fitting to make the seal.

 

Holy ****. I feel like an idiot. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what the copper washers were for. Weird that I didn't need them on the passenger's side.

 

Sometimes they stick to the brass fitting. Better check the other side to be sure

 

Thanks Cap'n. I did save the washers from the other side. Guess I'll do some checking tomorrow...

May be doing more bleeding than I expected.

 

That did the trick. Still no leak on the passenger side, so I decided to leave well enough alone.

Thanks again.

 

Copper washers are crush washers and should only be used once since they create a seal on metal parts like a gasket.