Brembo Piston Material and Bleeding Help!

[AntneeUK]

Can anyone confirm one way or another what the material used to make the actual pistons in the LCR Brembos is? The guy who is servicing mine for me says that he can't believe how light the callipers are compared to the Alcons that he normally does, and the pistons are apparently even more amazing, as if they're made of plastic. I vaguely remember someone saying that they're magnesium once, but then I thought "would it really be such a good idea to use magnesium in an area that will get so hot?".

So, does anyone know for sure?

By the way, here are the pics of the sorry state of mine when they came off:

Can't wait to get the car back!

 

[wayne lcr]

ahve a look on the brembo site

 

[AntneeUK]

Wow, thanks Wayne

I've looked on the Brembo site, and the best that I can come up with is this: Clickity Click

I believe that the LCR has the GT Jnr setup does it not? And even then I cannot see anything that says what the piston material is. If you know where to look, can you give me a link if you can't give me the actual answer I'm looking for?

 

[Muttley]

Brembo site FAQ suggests that both calipers and pistons are aluminium...

 

[AntneeUK]

Is that this: "Billet aluminum hats"? I've never heard pistons called hats so I kind of ignored that bit :S

 

[dh00001]

I'm pretty sure Brembo are machined aluminum whereas alcon are cast aluminum.
how much of a difference that makes in terms of weight i don't know

 

[6th.replicant]

Can anyone confirm one way or another what the material used to make the actual pistons in the LCR Brembos is? ...

Dunno whether they're cast or forged aluminium, but I do know that Brembo's calipers are actually manufactured by Bang & Olufsen.

 

[AntneeUK]

Brembo's calipers are actually manufactured by Bang & Olufsen.

Right..... that master of manufacturing cast and billet items...

 

[rickyb90]

Dunno whether they're cast or forged aluminium, but I do know that Brembo's calipers are actually manufactured by Bang & Olufsen.

Right..... that master of manufacturing cast and billet items...

B&O making brake parts.......whatever next, Ikea making exhaust systems?!

I wonder what wonderful name they'd call their exhausts....................

 

[AntneeUK]

I can only assume that it's a reference to the design qualities of B&O equipment in comparison to Brembo?

 

[el dude]

Can anyone offer some help on bleeding Anthonys car...lol

Brakes are back on now....new coating is awesome...pad are in and everything...

but the pedal feels like dogshize no matter much beeding i do to the bleeding brakes..

what is it with these cars... everythings taking ages..lol not to mention that stupid wire stuck in the pad lol...

anyway, any help would be useful....

i have a one man suction kit connected to an airline.... never been a problem before, there's definalty no air in those brembos.....managed to get to one of the nipples on the master cylinder was also had no air, the other is just inaccessable without stripping half the engine bay out..lol

Chris

ps... you'll get your car back at some point!...

pps..think i'll be working out a way of capping the pipe of next time .... ;-/

 

[AntneeUK]

ps... you'll get your car back at some point!...

Hopefully soon!

There's always something else with these things!

 

[Phillc]

Its not just the brakes, you need to do the clutch as it is run from the same reservoir so you need to do this as well, and then you need to do the correct sequence, have a search you will find more info.
As you said they are a bleedin PITA.

 

[AntneeUK]

Did a search for "brake clutch bleeding" in the "Leon Mk1" forum and found a handful of results, hopefully this link will work: Clickity click

This one especially has some good tips in it: http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=193259

Hope some of that helps Chris

 

[el dude]

that is helpful thanks...

can i ask how people are bleeding the master cylinder then....??

i havn't got particulally big hands and i can't get anywhere near those bloody bleed screws...

lol

 

[AntneeUK]

Right guys, the latest on the refurb is now in my build thread, with the fully repainted and serviced callipers on display. Just waiting for the Brembo decals to turn up as they're plain red at the moment.

Also, the brake pedal is still a bit spongy compared to before, even after El Dude has bled everything as instructed. Is there something in VAG-COM that can help did I see?

 

[Willie]

Just follow the sequence and all should be fine.
There's 2 master cylinder, 1 clutch and do the inner ones on the front callipers and 1 each on the rears.
If your only doing one of the MS ones then this could be your problem

 

[AntneeUK]

No, he's done them all on the callipers and the cylinders, and still there's more play than there used to be. I've read something about opening ABS valves with VAG-COM or something?

 

[Willie]

What about the clutch?

It sounds like he should start again in a mythodical pattern to ensure all air is out.

The only way there should be air in the system if when bleeding the brakes the reservior was left to go dry and suck air in.

 

[AntneeUK]

The callipers were taken off and fully refurbished. As I understand it, the lines were dry before everything went back on. I know he's followed various tips on here and spent 6 hours bleeding it yesterday in different ways, including the rear callipers, and including bleeding both points on the brake master-cylinder, and also on the clutch (slave?) cylinder.

Apparently it was very bad at one point, ie the pedal went straight to the floor. It's quite drivable now, it's just not quite right, and I'm loathed to take it to a stealers to pay extra to finish the job now.

I'm convinced there is something else...