S70 GLTSE 2000 Caliper Boot Problem

[davisae130]

I am replacing front pads and rotors on my 2000 S70 GLT-SE. I painted the calipers black for a nice look, however, in doing so, I noticed that the boot over the caliper on the passenger side was not attached properly (as shown below).

The old pads on the driver side were completely worn, however, the passenger side had plenty of pad left and I was wondering if this boot had something to do with it:

1) Could this mean that the piston is locked up and won't move to press the pads to brake on that side? (How can I tell?)
2) Do I need to replace the boot? rebuild the caliper? or what?
3) If it needs to be rebuilt, is that an easy thing to do, or should I just buy a rebuilt caliper and install (about $50)?
4) Is this one of those things where I need to do both sides, or can I just do the passenger side?

This is the first time I have done the pads and rotors myself (I'm 18) and am just not certain what I should do.

[Ozark Lee]

Welcome to MVS,

That was an excellent first post.

From your pictures I would be inclined to try to simply tuck the base of the boot back into the caliper and see if it snaps in. I saw no real damage on the boot itself in your pictures. Compressing the caliper a bit at the start might help since the piston seems like it has come out quite a bit from a normal extension.

...Lee

[GDATL]

If the boot has been off for a while, isn't there a good chance that there is dust, dirt and rust inside the caliper? Shouldn't it be cleaned good first?

Also, he said that the pads on that side were not worn as much as the other side, would that indicate a problem?

[Brucebo]

Also, he said that the pads on that side were not worn as much as the other side, would that indicate a problem?

This would imply that the caliper is not sliding/floating on the pins. The pins should be clean and well lubricated and the caliper checked for binding on them.

-Bruce