I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but I need help/advice on replacing my rear brakes. I have replaced the front brake rotors/pads on my 01 AE w/111k miles (using Brembo blanks and the "green" pads from Tirerack) and I was very pleased how quick & easy it was to change everything out. The back brakes I think are going to present more of a challenge. My brother gave me his Snap-on tool that adjust the rear caliper piston and told me "Good Luck"! Can anyone tell me how hard or easy its going to be to replace the rear rotors/pads AND adjust the rear calipers properly????

NOTE: I wanted to search the site but since the moderators have not accepted donations for the past several months, I cannot answer this question without help. I can't wait for them to give us the green light so we can pour money back into their pockets to help run this great site! It has saved me a lot of money and has made my Max experience a great one.

 

I have been in your shoes before so here's a few pointers...

For the search issue try this thread... search

As far as actually doing the brakes it's not too hard, the tool is a little tricky at first but just be patient with it. Also the parking brake will also have to be moved for the job.

Try to find as many threads on this as possible, there's lots of them!

oh yeah and "Good Luck"
Robert

 

my only problem when i did the rear breakes was tha the piston int he caliper wouldnt clear the new pads. I used c clamps and everything i could think of to push it back in. I had to bleed the brakes which sucked.

If you bleed...bleed w/ the car on becuase we have ABS

 

Thanks for the advice.......I have a $5 tool that will push the piston back in so hopefully I won't have to get the C clamps!

2MuchMax, I tried the Yahoo link, but I'm having a tough time limiting my results to the website. Any other "pointers"???

 

yeah your right it's ok but not too helpful, I saw that post last night didn't try it till now though.

Why don't you email me and I have a little write up I can send you.
Robert

Oh and by the way try not to use a hotmail or other free email the file size is too big. Use an ISP AOL, Verizon, etc.

 

You need to rotate the rear pistons clockwise to push it in. Do not use C-clamp.

 

You answered my question before I had a chance to ask.......I'm in the middle of replacing everything on the passenger side and I wasn't sure if I should turn it clock or counter clockwise. I'm assuming that I'm only turning the piston in far enough for the new pads to clear the new rotor.

Thanks for your TIMELY reply!

 

You can turn the piston all the way in. It will come out and adjust itself into position when you step on the pedal later.

 

After 2.5+ hours, the brakes are installed. Thanks everyone for their input. Think of it this way, I'd still be working on the car, out of beer, and my wife would be *itching at me because I didn't take it to my brother's shop! At least I have a few bucks left in my pocket to donate to the Corona Lite beer foundation!

 

glad to hear its all done! I did mine this weekend too.

One question: was it really hard to get the caliper off? Did you need a piece of wood and a hammer to help it along?

Oh yea one other thing.....did you notice a slight dragging of the brakes when you turn the rear wheel even with the parking brake off?

 

Did you make sure that the piston was positioned so one of the notches was pointing inward, i.e. so the notch engages the little tab on the inner brake pad?

If you did not, go lift it up and fix that. If you don't do that, the inner pad will wear incorrectly, and your rear brake performance will diminish drastically after a few months. If the notch did not engage the tab, but instead a raised part of the piston is pushing directly on the tab, it may make it difficult to reinstall the caliper.

Basically, instead of the piston pushing on the whole backing plate of the brake pad, it only pushes on the tab--which makes the inner portion of the inner pad the only area receiving pressure. That's no problem when the pads are new, however it causes the pad to wear such that the inner part wears much quicker than the outer part. Very nasty results.

 

I know about improper pin alignment because last time I had my rear brakes done, the guy didn't properly align the pins and my brakes were SMOKING after the first 20 miles!

x

 

I had a tough time getting the caliper off on one side, but nothing abnormal.

I didn't have any dragging after I finished on the brakes. I think I just got lucky!

 

It's about a 30-45 minute job once you've got it down (which is usually after the first time you do it)

 

Can someone explain why becuase of ABS we have to have to bleed with the car on?

the factory service manual says the opposite.
"Turn the ignition switch off and disconnect battery ground connector (or abs actuators)"

also where are the actuators?

 

anyone? KiLLeR2002se? u wanna reply....im confused at which to do, and im gonna be doing my brakes in a few days.

 

All that I have read indicates that you should NOT have power applied to teh ABS on bleeding.

Not sure why it matters though...If someone might be able to explain that to me that would be great.

 

i know... so im confused and i would like an explanation.

 

Killer2002se is smoking some crack. The car needs to be OFF when bleeding the brakes. The negative battery terminal needs to be disconnected as well. The reasoning for this is because you do not want to activate the ABS in anyway as it may damage the system. You do not need to remove the ABS actuactors if you disconnect the negative battery terminal.

 

YAY finally a reply! thankyou.

 

Maby I should start a new thread on this, but how often should I flush the brake fluid? I didn't bleed my brakes when I changed all four rotors/bads because I thought it didn't need to (I have the same feel from the brake pedal).

 

In "THEORY" every two years as its hydroscopic. I have seen cars go YEARS upon YEARS w/o changing. I personally have been doing it every two years.

 

depends on the fluid. Most fluids around 2 years is safe. motul 600 you probably want to do a lot more often, since it does absorb water, whereas with ate superblue you can go up to 3 years.