4Kq rear calipers

[Jason Gray]

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When I got my '87 4Kq a couple of years ago, the parking brakes on the rear calipers were  siezed and non-functional.  I replaced both rear calipers with "Cardone" brand remanufactured girling calipers ordered from parts america.com and the rear brakes (and parking brakes) subsequently worked fine.

Now, 2 years later, one of the "rebuilt" calipers is giving me trouble. The faulty caliper is leaking brake fluid out the back of the caliper casting, through the parking brake mechanism. The first time it did this was a very cold nite (0°F), not sure if the cold had anything to do with the failure? I first noticed that the brake pedal was too soft, dash waring lite came on and also that there was a puddle of brake fluid on the ground below the faulty rear caliper. I could see the brake fluid leaking out the caliper casting through the shaft of the parking brake mechanism actuating arm. I dont think that the fluid is supposed to be present in the parking mechanism?  I removed the caliper and removed the cylinder from the bore but didnt notice the source of the leak into the parking mechanism.  I cleaned the cylinder and bore and re-assembled and it did not seem to be dripping fluid as before. I bled the brakes and was able to drive for couple of weeks without problem (firm pedal, strong brakes) but then I noticed that the level of the resevior was going down, apparenly slowly leaking through the same caliper. Then, lastnite the same caliper suffered another catostrophic leak and dripped all the fluid from the circiut.

Is this a "normal" failure mode for the 4Kq rear calipers? After removing the piston, it was not apparent to me how to further dissasemble the caliper &  parking brake mechanism, bently is no help. Can anything be done to fix this leak? Since it is not leaking out past the cylinder, it seems that the fault is part of the parking mechanism, any parts/seals that I can replace to fix?

THanks-
Jason Gray
Anchorage, Alaska
'87 4Kq
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