How To Install Brake Pads & Brake Rotors (Rear)

illapino · Post by **illapino** » February 25th, 2007, 8:48 pm

Okay, well I have a Chiltons and the online shop manual, but I learn best from the input of others who have done this themselves, for this will also make me aware of unexpected problems I may encounter during the process and how to troubleshoot. Unleashing the brake caliper so that it swings up out of the way, as well as experiences with brake bleeding afterwards would be important contributions as well. I can read the step-by-steps all I want, but I'll never fully understand what the diagrams are talking about since some of the 'nuts and bolts' are hardly visible in the pictures. And besides, the online shop manual only gives 3 steps in regard to rear brake removal and installation, which is quite snobbish of it ... basically i just want to hear from those with experience. I'm surprised no one has created a guide on this in the Brake FAQs. This might just become it ... Thanks!

oh, and don't forget the exact tools that I'd need for entire process and specifically what size of sockets (mm) I will encounter, for I did see one small wrench being used in a picture. The full names of SSTs also; like the tool that you molest the caliper piston with ... blah blah blah

mowambi · Post by **mowambi** » February 25th, 2007, 9:13 pm

I wrote this all out til you said Rotors, since the rear rotors on mine werent so bad i didnt replace them. Pads are simple enough, but i couldnt really figure out how to get the caliper off completely.

Pads

Raise and support front of vehicle.
Remove tire and wheel assembly.
Remove and install parts in order as shown in Fig. 7, noting the following:
To pull the brake caliper piston back to remove pads, turn manual adjustment gear counterclockwise with allen wrench.
After installing new pads, adjust by turning manual adjustment gear clockwise until pads just contact brake disc. Turn manual adjustment gear counterclockwise 1/3 of a turn.

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » February 25th, 2007, 10:28 pm

Dont you have to bleed the brakes after adjusting trough there?

I can do my brakes in 15 mins both sides.

I simple jack the car. Take the tires out, remove the top bolt, hammer the caliper a bit to the side to be able to remove pads. I used a brake piston compressor tool, insert new pads, close and rescrew. No need to bleed brakes,

If you hammer the piston you risk of it getting stuck on your brakes.

Ive never used the adjusting gear, thats interesting. Ill try that next time around.

mowambi · Post by **mowambi** » February 25th, 2007, 11:18 pm

Dont hammer the piston, use a C-Clamp slowly... One side on the back of the caliper, the other on the piston. Takes a good 30 seconds and its done right. The tool is 8$ and doesent work 1/2 as good. What it will do is push the brake fluid back up to the resivoir, so id reccomend taking the cap off when you do it. As far as bleeding go's. If you never remove the hose from the caliper, you dont need to bleed. You only have to bleed your brakes if there is air in the hose.

Just so no one is confused, dont unhook the hose from the caliper, unhook it from the SHIM on the strut. Takes a pound or two with a screwdriver and a mallet. They can take a beating just dont use the little hole in there mine broke almost right away.

NEVER let your resivoir run dry when bleeding your brakes, pay REALLY cloes attention to that.

ALSO just as a word of advice, get some grease for the bolt and what not.

illapino · Post by **illapino** » February 26th, 2007, 3:21 am

thanks hector and mowambi. i'd still like more insight into the compressing of the piston though. what purpose it has and what compressing the piston actually does in this whole replacement process (loosen the caliper? allow for the caliper to swing up? allow brake pads to be slid in?). Is there any danger of the caliper piston shooting out like a projectile at all? and one of you says use a piston-compressing SST and the other says to use a C-clamp. which is it pals? ... my brake inspection called for "the rewindng of the caliper piston" as well in response to my uneasiness about the frailty of my parking brake. What exactly does that mean and how do i do that, rewinding the piston?

mowambi · Post by **mowambi** » February 26th, 2007, 7:40 am

What it is, you can move the caliper with a mallet, when its on the rotor, but your going to have to be able to close it with the new pads and rotor in your case. Now your piston was at a certain point, and now it needs to retract to fit the new parts. So when you clamp or use the tool (my impression is the tool sucks and i needed vice grips to use mine anyways) all it does is give youa bigger gap. Just dont let the piston retract to much further then it needs to. Just by a MM or so. Well you just dont want to push it well beyond like the rubber grommet (sleeve) around the piston. This is a very easy job to be quite honest. I think i paid 8.72$ for my tool, and 5$ for my clamp in the same auto parts store. Each brake took me about 15-20 mins. If that, my friend even less but he had an impact to get the rim off. Just dont forget the brake grease.

OHHH

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Buy brake cleaner, dont just throw new rotors on there. They are incredibly lubricated, brake cleaner is like 2$ and will strip all the lubricant off. I put antiseize on my spindle so that the rotors will come off easier next time too.

Be soft on your brakes while breaking them in. I cant think of anything else to add to this.

mowambi · Post by **mowambi** » February 27th, 2007, 1:32 am

was going to tackle it but i got pissed when i climbed under the car to replace my back up light switch and the dumb kid behind the counter at autozone gave me the wrong part. Now tomarrows headlines are going to say "Stupid autozone kid today was impaled by a back up light switch... Witnesses say the kid was stupid"

ninjajim4 · Post by **ninjajim4** » March 2nd, 2007, 3:37 pm

illapino wrote:thanks hector and mowambi. i'd still like more insight into the compressing of the piston though. what purpose it has and what compressing the piston actually does in this whole replacement process (loosen the caliper? allow for the caliper to swing up? allow brake pads to be slid in?). Is there any danger of the caliper piston shooting out like a projectile at all? and one of you says use a piston-compressing SST and the other says to use a C-clamp. which is it pals? ... my brake inspection called for "the rewindng of the caliper piston" as well in response to my uneasiness about the frailty of my parking brake. What exactly does that mean and how do i do that, rewinding the piston?

what are you guys talking about with compressing the piston with a c clamp??? there's no way you should be doing that on the rear brake pistons. maybe this is what hector's referring to when he says compression tool, but if you look at the caliper piston, there's two notches on there, and you get a socket bit that fits into those notches. then you turn the piston back in. it's threaded like a giant screw. you can use needle nose pliers in a pinch. do NOT use a c clamp on the rear pistons.

mowambi · Post by **mowambi** » March 3rd, 2007, 12:36 am

ive done it to SOO many cars. where is this notch that you are talking about? I am doing my rear rotors soon. ive always used the C-Clamp though, what damage could it do? how could it be threaded and hydraulic?

mowambi · Post by **mowambi** » March 3rd, 2007, 12:44 am

hopefully that helps more...

ninjajim4 · Post by **ninjajim4** » March 3rd, 2007, 1:51 pm

mowambi wrote:ive done it to SOO many cars. where is this notch that you are talking about? I am doing my rear rotors soon. ive always used the C-Clamp though, what damage could it do? how could it be threaded and hydraulic?

yea i know what you're saying, this is the first car i've had that had a caliper piston that turns in too, but that's how it goes, and i have no idea about the mechanics of it. i would bet when you used the clamp, you twisted it in anyway.

maybe its a jap car thing, since my sister's altima is the same way too. the front brakes, you're right, you should use a c clamp, but not on the rear ones. if you look at the caliper itself, you'll see it. you can't tell in that diagram you posted. the best image is on p-40, in the bottom left corner, though it says to turn counter-clockwise for REMOVAL of the piston. if you look at the install notes for new brake pads, it tells you to turn it clockwise

mowambi · Post by **mowambi** » March 3rd, 2007, 2:33 pm

Weird, when i do my rotors ill have to look at it but when i had to adjust it when i did pads i just used a C-Clamp, and it worked fine... Meh, i have a friend who is a master mechanic for mazda... Ill ask him too.

illapino · Post by **illapino** » March 3rd, 2007, 7:12 pm

interesting debate ... well, today i managed to buy the sprays i need to paint the inner circles of my rotor discs. the Rust Killer is drying as i type, then i'll put the silver gloss caliper paint on the discs centers, then clearcoat the same centers. as well as the very outer edge of the discs since that rusts also ... i'm still unable to grasp the mechanics of how brake pads are held to the calipers, or how the piston functions/adjusts, but i guess getting my wheels off is the only way to see what you guys are talking about ... diagrams can only go so far, pointing numbers at this part and that part, but i need to fully understand them integrally

tehbrookzorz · Post by **tehbrookzorz** » March 4th, 2007, 10:50 pm

Keep this conversation up! I've been watching the mechs at work to brake jobs but if there are kinks in doing the job on the MX-3 I need all the knowledge on this subject I can get before I get started.

ninjajim4 · Post by **ninjajim4** » March 5th, 2007, 11:10 am

well.. i dont know how much of a debate it is... it specifically says that in the manual, and i am telling you from personal experience. i'm sure i recall this being discussed before as well. i'm surprised some of the senior members havent jumped in to corroborate this yet