Resealing or Splitting a Rolls-Royce or Bentley Caliper? The How-To Guide

At every 60,000 miles service, and 90,000 miles a hydraulic service is due which means that the calipers are all resealed and all hydraulic hoses replaced.

It is quite an extensive service due to the fact that the hydraulic system is big on these cars.

So, taking a look at this caliper here which is already dismantled, I am just going to take the screws out. It isn't really recommended to open the caliper because they are all topped up and pressurised and tested in the factory. However, if you do have a leak from this joint, it's not the end of the caliper, you can in fact reseal it.

So within the seal kit you get the internal O-ring, the main seal for the caliper, a dust cover and a clip that goes on the outside, just to keep the dirt out.

You can reseal the pistons without taking the caliper apart: you can pull the pistions out, fit new o-rings and new dust covers and if the pistons are rusted and pitted then you will want to replace the pistons as well, which is the normal overhaul of a caliper. However, if they leaking from the joint in here you will need to replace the gallery seals as well.

This is an early Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow caliper for non vented discs so it hasn't got a spacer. The vented disc calipers have a spacer which make them wider to go around a thicker disc. In that case, you have two gallery seals for each caliper. You don't need to replace that seal but you might as well as split the caliper. Make sure when you done it and are putting it back together, make sure the seals are correctly positioned and then make sure the bolts are torqued up. Apart from that, the other thing is to make sure that you have the right seal for brake fluid or for mineral oil because you don't want to mix the two!

Watch Matt Duncan in the video here for full details and to see him highlight the areas of the caliper and associated seals and parts.