First DIY brake pads. A few pointers.
 

Happily trailing along my DIY for beginners projects list. Using this eminent forum as well as Bentleys and 101 Projects for guidance.

Todays project: Brake pads. A few comments.

Removing the old ones was rather easy. Fitting the new ones was not. Particularly the inner pads. I tried to push in the pistons ad modum 101 Projects, with a wooden stick. Did not move. After a few different approaches I found out a very effective procedure.

I put back the old, thinner, pad in reverse direction - brake surface against piston side. A bit of paper between the disk and the other pad surface not to scratch the disk. This created a distance between the upper part of the pad with the holes in and the adjacent part of the caliper. Next I applied a big universal pliers to this parts and - zimzalabim - piece of cake pushing in the piston !

Question (of course): New pads did not come with the notch to fit the brake pad sensors. Is it safe to just tie them up and leave unconnected ? As a matter of fact one of the old ones was left this way driven for at least 5k miles. This sensor system seems overkill anyway. I´d rather take of the wheels and check the pads regularly.

All aftermarket pads have zero provision for sensors.
Kinda gives impetus to "go in and check it" hands on ;-)

Same technique I use!

I had nearly the same situation a few months ago when I replaced the rubber brake lines and also put in new rotors and rebuilt the calipers....I then bled w/the Motive power bleeder (I really love it) then took for a test drive and couldnt get brakes to even come close to locking up.

I then brought her home and did a couple of gravity bleeds on it and that seemed to make all the difference in the world. Now brakes catch better than before, but gravity bleeding after using the Motive to flush all bubbles and old fluid is how I am doing it from now on.

Use a "C" clamp to gently push the pistons back in the caliper. Closely watch the brake fluid container as it may overflow as you do this.

Also you might want to take a metal file and remove the paint from the top and bottom edge of the pad. Sometimes the pads are tight in the caliper and this helps.

Regarding bleeding of the brakes. Start at the caliper far from the master cylinder and work to the closest. Then if you still do not have a good pedal and see no air in the fluid, take a hammer and gently tap the calipers. Sometimes they get air trapped inside and tapping it causes it to come loose from the wall of the caliper inside and go to the top, where you can get it to bleed out.

JoeA

This is what works for me:
1. Put bleeder hose over bleeder and crack bleeder open. That way when you push the pistons back in the calipers the fluid can escape easily.

2. I use pliers to spread the pads but I do it by putting the ourside of the plier tips against each pad and pull the plier handles apart instead of squeezing them. This works great on pads that have sensor "pockets" to put the plier tips in. Street pads and my Pagids (track pads) have provisions for sensors. This method doesn't scratch up the caliper paint either. I modify the outside tips of the pliers to give them a little more bite on the pad.

For 2 piston calipers, I push the pistons back just enough to get the new pads in. If the pads "drop in" the piston may "take up residence" a distance from the pad and every time you press the brake pedal the piston will have this long "commute" to the pad before you get any braking. The symptom of this is a pedal that goes almost to floor with almost no effort and then suddenly gets hard. Air in the lines has more of a "cushy" feel.
-Chris

The part that worried me the most before starting was everybody warning you about the brake fluid spilling over. Found out that this was not an issue to be overly concerned with. Even though the container was almost topped off to begin with pushing back all the pistons didn´t move more than approx. 10 ml in the system. I just opened the lid and checked a couple of times.

BTW I did not bleed èm. One project at a time starting out easy. Besides since a simple pad change took me 3 hours, back hurting..

And I have to set aside time for a Tuborg in between projects (live next to Denmark - long bridge across- hauling large quantities regularly directly from the mother plant) :D

Cut the pad wear sensors off and wire the two wires together to get the idiot light to go off.

Good point Keith !

.."the idiot light..." - Fell off the chair laughing.

Or you could just pull the pad sensor out of the pad and zip tie it to the strut... I call mine "Lifetime Sensors" 'cause they never wear out that way.
-Chris

Be carefull pushing pistons back "to far" or you will blow the seal. Ask me how I know.