brake caliper - need some suggestions

[klroger]

Is it hard to fix it by my own? Do I need to remove the full caliper or can I do it with minimal effort without remove too much things and without "spill brake fluid all over the place"?

When I started in the Auto trade, we used to rebuild calipers all the time. To replace that boot, you will need to remove the caliper, remove the piston, remove the boot & reassemble. If you haven't done it before, it may not be much fun as it takes practice & patience to get the piston back in without damage to your new boot. (there are tricks to do it, but it involves a large volume of compressed air & some practice) Can you even buy the boots separately ???

As Fummins says, yes it's safe. That seal keeps dust & debris away from the piston. The fluid is sealed by a square "O" ring further in the caliper.. You may be just as far ahead to run it as it is...Depending on your climate, they may last forever!!!

[edPower]

Great, I will just forget it for now. Yes, I think I will not risk doing it by myself. Thanks to both for your help! Here it almost never snows and the temperatures are almost always positive. If something goes wrong, maybe it's cheaper to replace the full brake caliper than pay someone to replace only the dust boot.

I think it is possible to buy just the seals I found something on ebay like Genuine Front Brake Caliper Seal Kit 12-24 Mitsubishi Mirage 4605B643 OEM (But I am not fully sure if that works for the most recent Mirages)

[edPower]

I found this video on YouTube and looks like that is not hard to just replace the external dust boot without disassembly the piston from the caliper.

[edPower]

Hello everyone, I just want to share that I think that I successfully replaced the brake piston dust boots without removing the caliper or the piston. I moved the piston using the brake pedal force in order to install it easily. It was not easy to do because it is hard to force the rubber to get inside the caliper groove, the dust boot has a metal ring embedded on it. Maybe with some tools it could be easier. Hope that is installed good enough.

Passenger side looks fine, the damage on dust boot was minor, this is the new boot installed:



Driver side looks rusty, I've cleaned it with Brake Cleaner but I think that is not a good sign.



New boot installed:


I hope I do not need to touch on this again soon..

Let me know your thoughts about the rust that we see on the pics. There is any tool that can be used to install this easily? I thought of something like a plastic ring and then to apply an even force using a brake caliper compress tool on it (but I am not sure). Thanks!