Rear brake job update with pics

[kobalt]

I decided to postpone my g-body rear rotor and brake pad swap tutorial as along the way I found an easier way, skipping many unnecessary steps. As soon as I get my hands on an Aurora (perhaps omegaic's) I'll post kobalt's rear brake tutorial - the easy way. In the mean time here are some pics from the job:







This is a time taking but fairly easy procedure. And it saves you tons of cash.

[erw38]

Ok, heres a question for all the braniac's here. Should one bleed the brake system after changing pads? I have hap people tell me that you should do it because it produces a firmer pedal. I've also been told that you should NEVER bleed brakes because it opens the system and introduces outside factors (I'm assumin dirt). Can someone tell me the correct anser and/or the pros and cons of bleeding the system versus not bleeding the system.

[Aurora40]

Kobalt, you might want to be careful doing this! You shouldn't use a clamp to force in the rear caliper piston on the Aurora! The SLS might be different I guess. But on our cars, the piston on the rears must be rotated in or serious damage to the parking brake mechanism can occur!

Also, you should always put the old pad over the piston to prevent nicking or uneven pressure on the piston which can llead to uneven or poor performance. Either that or spring for the appropriate piston tool.

What kind of rotors did you get? The last ACDelco ones I bought came with a nice anti-rust coating. I was pleasantly surprised.

Elan, as long as you are careful, you won't introduce anything foreign into the fluid. I've heard that bleeding the fluid off when reseating the piston is a good idea as it keeps bad fluid from being pushed back up to the master cylinder. I've no idea if that's true, but I find it's an easier way to seat the piston, it gets any air out of the system, and it keeps the fluid somewhat fresher because you are adding new. The main reason to me though is it keeps the fluid from spilling out the master cylinder reservoir when it fills up to the top. I hate siphoning fluid out from the reservoir because to do that you do have to put something like a syringe or whatever into the actual fluid. Makes me uncomfortable...

[erw38]

So are you saying that the brake line should be cracked at the caliper before and while you push the piston back in?
I am sorry if I am not understanding you correctly.

[kobalt]

Aurora40 said:

You shouldn't use a clamp to force in the rear caliper piston on the Aurora! The SLS might be different I guess. But on our cars, the piston on the rears must be rotated in or serious damage to the parking brake mechanism can occur!

The SLS is not different. I used a large C-clamp with a ball foot which allowed the piston to turn clockwise independently of the C-clamp during compression. In addition, the piston is notched to fit the brake pads and these notches could be used with large long nose pliers to turn the piston in as well.

Also, you should always put the old pad over the piston to prevent nicking or uneven pressure on the piston which can llead to uneven or poor performance. Either that or spring for the appropriate piston tool.

Once again, the effort on my part was negligable thanx to the C-clamp I used. The piston would have to be made of paper for me to notch it in any sort of way.

What kind of rotors did you get? The last ACDelco ones I bought came with a nice anti-rust coating. I was pleasantly surprised.

I used $25 store brand rotors with a 2 year warranty. Time will tell how they will hold up, but I used the same store brand on mom's Altima years ago and they are still straight as new.

I must also add that the raise in fluid level inside the reservoir was negligable at best. No adjustment was neccessary since apparently no fluid was added as the pads wore.

[stevensolds]

Wow and i spent 250 for cross slotted brembos

[kobalt]

Don't feel too bad Steven, I went to the local Cadillac/GM dealer which not only did not have them in stock (how embarrasing) but had the ordacity to quote me $200 EACH. I laughed in his face and left.

[stevensolds]

I dont feel bad, im sure they will be better than the Wal-mart brand or w/e they were that u got but my front rotors were shot and i wanted something good like Brembo. Shortest stopping distance, ever. Also am getting Hawk ceramic pads with that. They are on backorder, will be 3 weeks minimum they said, so I have time to cancel if i want...I just might cancel it.

Ive been blowing a lot of money on this car.

[Aurora40]

kobalt said:

The SLS is not different. I used a large C-clamp with a ball foot which allowed the piston to turn clockwise independently of the C-clamp during compression. In addition, the piston is notched to fit the brake pads and these notches could be used with large long nose pliers to turn the piston in as well.

But aren't you still forcing it in, but allowing it to turn? I mean, isn't that sort of analagous to pressing a screw in while allowing it to turn vs just turning it to get it to pull itself in? You can buy a brake tool for rotating the piston for about $5, and then you just use a socket wrench to turn it to set it. This is how the service manual says to seat the piston back in the caliper.

As to the pressure, does your c-clamp have a foot that's wider than the piston? Otherwise it would be resting on only one side of the piston, thus applying uneven pressure.

Anyway, not trying to criticize, just noting the things I do differently and my rational behind it.

[Aurora40]

erw38 said:

So are you saying that the brake line should be cracked at the caliper before and while you push the piston back in?
I am sorry if I am not understanding you correctly.

I open the bleeder screw after attaching something to it to catch the fluid and to keep the hose in fluid so air can't come back. I press the piston in a bit first to get some pressure, then ease the bleeder screw open. I don't get all the fluid to go out the bleeder, but most does and it doesn't raise the level in the reservoir very much. I don't know if this really does anything beneficial other than get some new fluid into the system.

Don't crack the brake line or else you'll have a real mess and cause a lot of problems.

[erw38]

Aurora40 said:

Don't crack the brake line or else you'll have a real mess and cause a lot of problems.

Guess that tells me something that I did not know. I thought the bleeder valve was referred to as the brack line sometimes. Thanks again.

[kobalt]

Aurora40, let me clear up what I said. Not having the piston tool handy, I decided to use my C-clamp. I placed the foot in the center of the piston and turned clockwise, very lightly. It took about as much effort as removing the center caps to turn the C-clamp - almost no pressure. While I turned the C-clamp screw clockwise, the piston also turned clockwise, albeit at a slightly diffrent speed.

Im not disagreeing with you about using the right tool for the right job - in fact I think you are 100% correct. It's just that I did not have the proper socket at hand and used what I had available instead. I felt the method was fine for me alone as I trust myself workmanship - I do not in any way endorse it. One of the reasons main I did not post a full tutorial on the subject is that the procedure did not meet my standards.

At the same time when writing tutorials I do try to avoid special tools whenever possible to make the job more practical for your average DIY'er. In the end, just like expected, the parking brake works OK