Trying to get an idea of where it’s leaking from, I was driving and my brake and abs light came on and my wheel is splattered in brake fluid and it’s dripping inside the wheel. Need to get my daughter to ETCH and can’t afford to bring it to a mechanic due to medical bills so have to do the repairs myself. Thanks for your help.
Pads are good, they were changed last month, and all the lines are dry, there is a pretty steady drip of brake fluid right in the bottom middle coming off the rotor when it’s parked though. Is it coming from the caliper piston and just flowing down the rotor and dripping down?
If it's coming from the piston then it's almost certainly the piston seal, but just take the wheel off and double check. You'll need to rebuild it with a rebuild kit, or get a new caliper. If you intend on keeping the car long term I would suggest a new OEM caliper. The extra money is worth it. There's been known issues with rebuilt and aftermarket calipers. Rebuild kit sounds enticing, but I'd bet it'll be more frustrating than you'd expect and you still won't have OEM seals which might be the source of some of the issues people have with dragging.
Uber, Taxi, public transit? What is ETCH? How far away? How mobile is your daughter, how old? Friends, family? Any charitable resources available? The last thing you want to do is compound a stressful situation, end up stranded or cause an accident. Take the time to assess your priorities, find the money for a pro if you’re struggling.
^^^ this My favorite advice usually is to keep the caliper you've got (assuming it's an original, and not a cheesy reman somebody else already put on before) and buy the rubber kit from the dealer. Comes with all the rubbery bits you need to do two calipers and even a little packet of the correct red non-silicone grease. If you end up with a correctly-rebuilt original caliper, that beats typical reman parts you can find for sale. You have to judge that it's something you have the skills for, and you need the right tools to bleed the hydraulic system when you're done. Kind of an intermediate choice is to buy a reman part from Toyota. Take the part number of the new part and tack -84 on the end and see if any stock turns up. Sometimes it won't 'cause their reman program isn't very big. But the part you get is like a new one. Hydraulic bleeding still needs to happen either way.
