Hi,

I purchased my Bravo (07 reg) second hand about 6 months ago now and am loving it. It has now got to the stage where the rear brake pads need replacing.

I do not mind doing this sort of thing and have done it in the past. Anyway when I came to do it I could not wind back the piston with my wind back tool no matter how much I tried. I tried both the left threaded tool and right threaded tool (just in case the caliper had been replaced with different thread on it) with not much luck.

This lead me to the conclusion that the piston has seized so am now looking at a new caliper. Can someone advise on how I install the new caliper I am assuming brake hose will just undo and put a bung in place to stop fluid\air, but how do I get the handbrake cable off?

Thanks and now I have found the forum looking forward to sharing experiences etc.

Kevin

I'm going to become the general unhelpful forum user right now so my apologise. However brakes are pretty bloody severe. And if you need advise from a forum to change them you probably shouldn't.

Its a half hour job so i was told when mine was done cost me £150 all in inc VAT at my local tyre services. Is it worth the risk?

stuart

Changing brake pads is easy enough, changing calipers and bleeding brakes is a little more complicated for a complete novice and if you get it wrong your brakes may/will (depending on what you get wrong) fail. £150 to change caliper and pads?

Matthewr1990 said:

I'm going to become the general unhelpful forum user right now so my apologise. However brakes are pretty bloody severe. And if you need advise from a forum to change them you probably shouldn't.

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To be fair that is very unhelpful, and it's obvious you've not done them yourself, because if you had you'd know the OP is asking how the caliper piston winds back (which varies from car make and so forth) and not how to change the pads, which is very much like riding a bicycle

OP says he's done this sort of thing before but wants technical advise on specifically the Bravo.

Most Easterly Pandas said:

To be fair that is very unhelpful, and it's obvious you've not done them yourself, because if you had you'd know the OP is asking how the caliper piston winds back (which varies from car make and so forth) and not how to change the pads, which is very much like riding a bicycle

OP says he's done this sort of thing before but wants technical advise on specifically the Bravo.

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Yes you're right I haven't done it before but I also didn't claim to of done it either. And secondly if you read his full post he asks how to install a calliper. Yeh he may know how to change a brake pad but the question at the end of his post isn't about that. Also from what I do know about changing brakes, removing calipers etc. is that they are an essential part of your car, and if you are unsure on how to do it and need to ask a forum for help then maybe it's not worth the risk. not only your life but anyone's life that happens to be there when/if the brakes did/do fail. But thanks for jumping to conclusions and not reading his fill post. And thanks for the dislike, it's much appreciated. At least I tried to help in the only way I can. Advise. What did you do?

You've just confirmed what I said in my first post tbh

No need to throw your toys out of the pram. You shot the OP down when you needn't have, you've assumed that what the OP was asking was dangerous, which it isn't (assumptions are often dangerous, and something the OP isn't wanting to do, hence the thread).

Its like riding a bike, all OP wants is Bravo specific hints and tips. If he's done it on say a Renault with electric handbrake before then the Bravo setup will be completely different - again you're assuming that all brakes are identical by the look of it - perhaps you should re-read OP's post and work out exactly what the OP is asking? Lets hope the OP returns and doesn't feel like an outsider.

To be fair to Mathew when you read the newbie's post he says he has changed pads before which is usually very straightforward. bleeding the system after changing a caliper could be dangerous if he reads something on here and then has the confidence to do it but miss reads it, gets it wrong etc. and doesn't realise its not quite right until he drives it. With this in mind I can understand Mathews advise, he's not putting the newbie down.

Kevee said:

Hi,

I purchased my Bravo (07 reg) second hand about 6 months ago now and am loving it. It has now got to the stage where the rear brake pads need replacing.

I do not mind doing this sort of thing and have done it in the past. Anyway when I came to do it I could not wind back the piston with my wind back tool no matter how much I tried. I tried both the left threaded tool and right threaded tool (just in case the caliper had been replaced with different thread on it) with not much luck.

This lead me to the conclusion that the piston has seized so am now looking at a new caliper. Can someone advise on how I install the new caliper I am assuming brake hose will just undo and put a bung in place to stop fluid\air, but how do I get the handbrake cable off?

Thanks and now I have found the forum looking forward to sharing experiences etc.

Kevin

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Kevin,

If the other miserable b*****s haven't frightened you off, attached are instructions for removing calipers.

Why are people so scared of other people working on brakes, if you are sensible and safety conscious then there is nothing wrong with doing them yourself.
Let's face it some mechanics aren't that conscientious! My son had a VW Polo and said that the brakes occasionally "went solid" and failed to stop him, but would then start to work okay. He went to a local tyre and brake centre who had a look and said they were fine. When I had a look I found that the friction material had separated from the backing plate of one of the pads and was moving around in the calliper, getting wedged and causing the brakes to intermittently fail.

Marcos999 said:

Changing brake pads is easy enough, changing calipers and bleeding brakes is a little more complicated for a complete novice and if you get it wrong your brakes may/will (depending on what you get wrong) fail. £150 to change caliper and pads?

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Yip

I'd like to make it personally clear I was not intentionally putting this guy down. It's just in my opinion I can't see why you would take the risk of asking a forum for help regarding a job he obviously doesn't know how to do correctly on this car. My advice was merely that. But everyone seems so jumped up on these boards, always trying to be the better person and getting one up on someone else. I'm sorry if I seemed to be belittling this guy but I'd just rather me or my family were not on the road when people have used forums to change severe items on their car. I'm not directly questioning his competence. Nor that of "inept garages". I just think that saving a few quid at the risk of safety is daft.

This is all my opinion so do with it what you will. I just made a post that I thought accurately described my opinion on this. That is all :bang:

Matthewr1990 said:

asking a forum for help regarding a job he obviously doesn't know how to do correctly on this car.

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Again an assumption, who's to say he wouldn't have sussed it out when getting down to it, all OP was trying to get was be forearmed with technical information - no harm in that, in fact common sense tbh - I doubt your average Kwik Fit fitter would do the same, and they would be in a similar situation tbh if they've not worked on a certain model before. Saying he doesn't know what he's doing (again) when you've admitted you've even less of an idea, isn't really putting you in a position to scrutinise as much as you have Imo. OP has already confirmed they've adequate experience having done it on other vehicles previously.

Matthewr1990 said:

This is all my opinion so do with it what you will. I just made a post that I thought accurately described my opinion on this. That is all :bang:

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Fair enough, but my opinion, as confirmed by another, is that you were putting him down, I wouldn't say you were necessarily doing this intentionally, but that's how it came across.

With the risk of being flamed, I am looking to change the disks and pads all round on the car, are the pistons threaded or is there a keyway on the piston or do I have to invest in a wind back tool?
I have been shocked at just how bad the bravo brakes are engineered. I have had 2 callipers replaced under warranty due to them ceasing, the second time the dealer even said it was due to the salt on the roads.