Technical Brake pads - urgent help needed

[jayartibee]

Hi all - I'm ordering front pads to replace on my daughter's 500S over Xmas. Car's not here at the moment

Supplier says there are two variants: pads for vehicles with either one or two pad wear sensors on the front axle

Can anyone clarify? It's a 2015 500S 1242cc 68bhp

 

[jrkitching]

Hi all - I'm ordering front pads to replace on my daughter's 500S over Xmas. Car's not here at the moment

Supplier says there are two variants: pads for vehicles with either one or two pad wear sensors on the front axle

Can anyone clarify? It's a 2015 500S 1242cc 68bhp

You won't know for sure until you strip the old one down.

Assuming you can return what's not needed (you can with most factors), just order both and send back the ones you don't use. This is generally what's done in the trade.

 

[jayartibee]

OK thanks

So there's no rule as to what's fitted to what?

J

 

[typecastboy]

I changed some recently and the new pads only had one sensor, my car had one both sides. I managed to get the old one out and use that.

The pads with only one still have the hole to put it.

 

[jayartibee]

Sounds as if I order the ones with two sensors and just ignore one - cut it off - if it turns out not to be needed

 

[jackwhoo]

I suggest fitting new discs at same time as new pads or your daughters car will have very poor brakes for several hundred miles.

 

[jayartibee]

I don't normally do discs each time I do pads - is the 500 unusual??

 

[jackwhoo]

I don't normally do discs each time I do pads - is the 500 unusual??

No not unusual but discs do not wear flat. when new pads with flat friction surfaces are fitted to old discs there can be greatly reduced contact area, this causes poor braking effort and overheating in the areas of the pad that do touch the discs.
It can easily take several hundred miles for the pads to wear to match the shape of the old discs and normal braking to be restored.
Discs are cheap , pads are cheap
Poor braking can be very expensive-not just financially.

people on the forum do fit new pads to used discs, if it is a car they drive themselves and are aware of the drawbacks that is their choice.

If you have a choice of brands pagid are excellent.

Good luck
Jack

 

[jrkitching]

I don't normally do discs each time I do pads - is the 500 unusual??

Modern friction materials mean that discs generally wear much faster than they used to; in the days of asbestos-based pads, you could get several pad changes out of a set of discs, but now they are often more than halfway through their wear limit by the time the first set of pads is worn out. If they are, and you don't change the discs as well, the discs will be unroadworthy before the new set of pads reaches minimum thickness. This is true of most marques, not just Fiat.

There are good reasons to change the discs anyway. The old ones will likely be pretty scabby, and on the 1.2 at least; new ones are cheap as chips; you shuld be able to get a decent set of both pads and discs for not much more than the price of a tank of fuel. The improvement in braking smoothness over reusing the old discs will be noticeable, particularly during the first thousand miles or so.

On the 500, if you want best performance from the new pads, you'll need to thoroughly clean and lubricate the reaction frames. You'll need to remove the frames to do this, so very little extra work will be needed to change the discs as well.

I'd suggest ordering a set before the car arrives; you can always send them back if you decide not to use them.

I'd also suggest you read this before you start.

 

[portland_bill]

If the supplier will allow you to order both sets of pads, to return the unused one, you must not open the boxes until you are sure which you need. They will have a picture on the outside of the box, with dimensions. Legislation prevents the sale of brake friction material if not factory sealed, so an opened box cannot be refunded.

 

[jrkitching]

Legislation prevents the sale of brake friction material if not factory sealed

Indeed it does.

I've lost track of the number of previously opened boxes of brake friction materials I've been sent by the factors; this rule seems to be one whch is more commonly breached than observed.

I've also never been refused a full refund on an opened box of pads; but don't rely on this!

I'd suggest examining them carefully before fitting; I've received several which have been cracked or badly chipped, and one where the pad material was delaminating from the backing plate.