Centric Seal Kit part number 14362008

CAUTION: It is very important that you take extreme care and thoroughly inspect and clean ALL of the internal parts when taking on this project. Pay special attention to the thrust washers for any cracking or debris and to the piston bore for any pitting or debris. Any damaged or defective parts should be replaced and should NOT be used.

I was recently attempting to rebuild the rear calipers for my '88 coupe and discovered that some fluid had leaked past the internal piston seal. I disassembled the pistons and found that both the internal piston and the inside bore of the outer piston were in good shape with no pitting, but the seal itself felt soft.



For many years this seal has been deemed unobtainable, and as such, the pistons have also been deemed as non-rebuildable. I spent some time browsing various sites hoping to find a kit that contained the seal, possibly from another GM car. I read about how the Pontiac 6000 shares some caliper parts with the ’88 Fiero so I focused my search there. I found this kit made by Centric on RockAuto listed for a Pontiac 6000 that showed the seal in multiple pictures. I searched Google for that part number and also found the kit available on Amazon, with a different picture that also showed that particular seal in the kit. Turns out the kit cross references to the pre-’88 Fiero as well as 1982-1988 F-bodies. I ordered 4 of them immediately. Note: only 2 kits are necessary (1 for each rear caliper).





A few days later the kits showed up and it was confirmed, not only was the seal included in the kit, but it was also the correct seal for use on the ’88 Fiero. It was noticeably firmer than the old seal that had softened over time, and fit beautifully around the internal piston and sealed very nicely inside the outer piston. I reassembled both pistons and calipers using the new internal seal from the Centric kit, and used the rest of the seals from a 1988 specific seal kit. As it turns out, the internal piston parts are the same between all Fieros, but the O.D. of the main piston is slightly larger on the ’88.



I’ve reinstalled everything back into the car and plan to bleed the brakes tonight and verify that nothing leaks, but based on how well it appeared to seal when I had the caliper on the bench, I’m pretty confident that my leak will be solved.

[This message has been edited by Silicoan86 (edited 04-17-2016).]

quote Originally posted by seajai: Just ordered the kits from Rockauto today to rebuild all 4 calipers on the wife's car. How did you take the pistons apart to begin with? Any pics of the disassembly process?

I used the flat end of a 3/16" drill bit inserted through the hole in the face of the piston and pressed everything out on a bench vise with the help of a large socket on the other side. Be VERY careful while pressing this out as I've heard of others cracking the washers inside during this process. The risk will be magnified if everything does not remain properly aligned during the entire pressing process.

[This message has been edited by Silicoan86 (edited 04-15-2016).]

[This message has been edited by FTF Engineering (edited 04-16-2016).]

[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 04-16-2016).]