Hi All,

Just to say that I decided to replace my front disks and front and rear pads this weekend - last MOT inspector almost a year ago was not happy with my front disks at all so I thought I'd save *some* hassle and cost for the up and coming MOT.
The front brake pads nice and simple undo 2 x 13mm bolts, slide the caliper off and you can get to the pads.
The front disks are nice and simple too - 2 x 15mm bolts to hold the brake caliper carrier (yes I know there is a technical phrase for it..) need undoing, and the disk just slides off the bolts.
My front disks were corroded really heavily through the vents so with hindsight I'm not surprised the MOT inspector complained last year :-)
The back brakes are more complicated because of the handbrake mechanism.. (ALWAYS CHOCK THE FRONT WHEELS AND PUT THE CAR IN PARK, OR 1ST GEAR BEFORE RELEASING THE HANDBRAKE FOR THIS!) release the handbrake and then remove one 13mm bolt at the top, and then use a 13mm open spanner to remove what looks like a small wheel from the bottom (again there is obviously a reason for the wheel but I have no idea..) you can then remove the caliper, resting it on top of the axle (more limited movement on it than the front due to the additional cables.
Replacing the pads is as simple as the front ones, but each piston has to be wound in not pushed.. and here is the possible mistake, and fix.. the pistons can be rotated using an open ended spanner as this can get through the gaps in the caliper and connect with the two slots in the piston, and if you feed another spanner through its ring end you can turn the piston.. I had some confusion because US and UK cars differ in sides and everyone seems to refer to turning one of them clockwise and the other anticlockwise it gets confusing and you can end up with a piston sticking out a lot lol.. you specifically need to rotate them towards the front of the car.. ie so the top half is moving towards the front of the car as it rotates. Additionally I have discovered they can stick.. ie rotate but not obviously move inwards so you need to apply a degree of pressure as you go..
If you are looking at the timing to do front and back pads and front disks - due to a rear piston sticking and some confusion it took me 3 hours but next time I think it will be about 2 hours now I understand the possible issues.
After doing the brakes do the usual pedal pumping after starting the engine and the same thing with the handbrake.. initially the handbrake travel is huge but after a short while it settles down to the usual 6 clicks.

I hope my experience is of use to anyone considering doing all the pads and front disks... I'm not at all mechanically minded as anyone on here who knows me will tell you .. but all in this cost me about £140.. in a dealer or even a Kwik fit it would have been a lot more and I need to save my money for the MOT bill I'm expecting lol

 

Steve, if you look at that rubber wheel you talk about, what you can do is remove the one bolt holding the caliper in place and then using a slightly thinned wrench, loosen the bolt under the wheel. This will allow you to rotate the top of the caliper back towards the rear bumper. This wheel will allow the caliper to stop and not roll all the way around, making the pad change "easier".

 

That sounds ideal - but in the haze of getting very worried I was going to end up with a car with no brakes (proving to my better half that mechanical jobs I said I could do, I couldn't :-)) the problem with swinging the caliper back was that the handbrake cable is quite tightly fitted and it seemed to me, easier to undo both top and bottom bolts (the bottom one having the wheel on it) and sit the caliper on the axle whilst working, rather than add handbrake cable removal/refitting to the list.. I am very likely wrong on this as the best recommended method :-) but it seemed easier just to take it off.. well until I hit the issue with the piston not wanting to retract lol (it took me 45 minutes of cursing and winding both ways to finally get it to retract :-)) but then I am the typical do it yourself (but not too good at it) owner :-) and I figured it's likely that others also out there have not yet had the battle with the rear brakes, so I thought I'd post what seems to work :-)
The front pads I have done before, and I know they are easy, and had hoped the front disks were easy to change and had no hassle at all.. but as always it was the last caliper on the back, passenger side that gave me all the issues - it just did not want to retract.. :-( but the vision of explaining to my better half how I had taken a fully working car and converted it to non working spurred me on lol

 

Steve: Congrats on having the confidence to do your own brakes. It will be much easier and quicker next time.

One comment: The rubber wheel on the rear calibers is a noise dampener / vibration suppessor - parts # 10 or 11 in the attached diagram.

And three suggestions for the next time (or the next member):

#1) Before you wind / retract the rear pistons, apply a little silicone grease between the piston and the rubber boot encircling it. This keeps the boot from sticking to the piston and tearing.

#2) Use a C clamp to put pressure on the piston as you wind it. A helpful post is titled "First X complete brake job" in which C5pilot posted 2 pictures of the C clamp technique. It works with the caliber still on the car and pivoted on one bolt.

#3) After winding the pistons, align the two notches in the piston face with the two protrusions on the back of the new brake pads. If the notches are not aligned with the protrusions, you'll put uneven pressure on the pads when you brake, making them less effective, and sometimes causing the sensation of uneven braking, similar to a warped rotor.

Good luck.

 

Steve, I hate to tell you this now, but pushing in the piston is very simple if you don't try to push the fluid back through the ABS unit. If you look on the top of the caliper, you will see a little nipple there. Crack that puppy open about a 1/2 turn and then push in the piston as you are turning it the correct way (depending on the side). All I use is a ratchet with a special block (caliper piston return block, all of $10 at the local auto parts stores). A little bit of pushing and the piston goes right in. Then all I do is after the caliper is installed, I push on the pedal to make sure the pads seat and then I have a 4 foot piece of tygon tubing that I connect to that nipple, masking tape the tube to the top of the wheel well and then let the other end hang inside a container (old mayo jar works great). From there, you can pump the brakes a few times, expel any air that may have gotten in and the tygon will make sure that you don't get any air back into the caliper. This also seems to work out pretty nicely as about the time you need to do pads, it will be time to swap out the brake fluid. So, you just pump the brakes till you see the fluid color change (from a dark green to an almost clear/light green appearance). At this point, you tighten the nipple and all is good.

 

Grin.. Well now I know - lots of helpful input thankyou.. Next year I *will* look into sorting some tubing etc. I promise. And yes I have been considering that the brake fluid must need changing over at some point but it's another of those jobs that worries me and I've been putting off (that and my spark plugs but service time is coming up again) :-) I've got to get kitted out properly for minimal car maintenance rather than keep avoiding it :-)

 

steve, doing the brake fluid is probably one of the easiest jobs there is. The hardest part is jacking the car up and removing the wheel. You are probably going to want like 6 or 7 mm tygon tubing as I recall. I have some that I bought a long time ago (had a spare nipple and took it into the car parts place with me). After you do it, you will wonder why you didn't do it earlier.

The big trick when changing out the fluid is on the first wheel you do (which should be the left rear), you will want to pump the brakes 6-8 times to push most of the fluid out of the master cylinder reservoir before putting in the new fluid. Then you will want to fill it as full as you dare and then pump the brakes another 6-8 times. By this point, you should see the color of the fluid changing in the tygon tubing. Once you see the fluid go the light green/clear, close the nipple and move on to the next wheel. DO NOT!!!! forget to refill the fluid reservoir. If you are going to mess something up, it will be not refilling the reservoir and intorducing air into your brake system (so, you get to start all over again).

If you mix this job with rotating the tires, it can be done in just over an hour. Get the car up on 4 jackstands and go to town.

Even spark plugs are easy. Yes it is a bear to remove the upper half of the intake, but do not disconnect the coolant lines going to the throttlebody. You can simply rotate the intake out of the way to give yourself room to reach the plugs. I normally just roll the intake to my right and rest it in the opening by the fuse box or something of the like.

 

The yearly MOT is due inside the next four weeks so I will likely now try to get the cost of that under my belt before I move onto more of the servicing (last MOT they said one of the rear shock bushes was wearing so I am expecting a bigger than usual MOT bill) but last year I serviced the car just after the MOT once I knew the car was definitely on the road for another year :-) so will do so this year, and yes I cant skip changing the plugs a second time even as tempting as it is lol :-) Now that I know changing the brake fluid is "doable" I'll add that into the list for the service too ..

 

I have only done a few short trips so far since replacing pads and front disks.. this morning sleepily trying to get the kids to school forgot that my brakes are a while off being full strength.. almost overshot - sigh.. so maybe thats the last point I forgot to mention - remember (and remember is the word it would seem) to bed the brakes in fully :-)