Technical Typical brakes

[koalar]

Yes I know it's not a panda but it's fairly typical of some of the problems we come across

I normally just follow how it was fitted originally

But in this case someone has fitted the pads to the wrong sides

The wear indicator should be on the leading edge not the trailing

This is where experience or having someone with experience helps

Also they have used the wrong grease on the slides, no idea what's been used but where water has passed the boot it changed to a stiff wax sludge

One slide is totally jammed

If you don't drive through a floods or refresh every year or so it probably does not matter to much what you use

I just run out of silicone grease, and it's gone very expensive, so am going to try this

Plumbers Grease

This plumber’s grease from Rectorseal provides fast, effective lubrication for all your plumbing needs. Apply it to faucets, valves, stems and ballcock linkages to loosen up stiff joints and help them turn smoothly. It can also be used to seal minor leaks, as it fills the space around a...

www.toolstation.com

It's designed for water and rubber. Seems quite good, But early days, I looked up the military standard seems it was for nato trucks originally

 

[koalar]

The rubber boots look past there best in the photo above

Hot water and bio laundry powder

Yep nothing to see instant brown sludge

Change of water and left over night

Here's what came out

Of course you can just buy new ones, about a fiver,

Or a genuine repair set is £23.19 GBP a side for two pins, two boots and some grease

A bit of time and effort also gives good results in my opinion

 

[koalar]

One of the bushes in the carriers would not clean out as the grease had gone solid

So while leaving the boots overnight I filled the carriers with turpentine

By morning it just need draining and wiping


The pins I spun up in a drill, careful of your fingers

Before

And after

They are not perfect, but I'd rather use these than after market

And they do now do what they are suppose to do err slide

It's very rare I bother with the sliders, 9 times out of 10 they are good and slide smoothly

have no idea what grease was used, but that was the main failure point here

 

[koalar]

Brake pads are Apec

With plenty of meat left on them

But the metal plate has been guillotine out leaving sharp edges, most pads I have bought over the last few decades have need a little work on the ears, a blob of paint is very common

A quick file to knock off the sharp edges, it doesn't have to be perfect and a slight shamfer added

And a quick spay of primer to stop it rusting

 

[koalar]

Pistons are jammed solid

I would normally pump the brakes to push them out

Unfortunately the ABS unit is off this car at the moment so no pipes connected

Compressed air might work but, seeing as on these I have access to the rear of the caliper I can hit them out or press them

Pretty tight but the cylinder and piston look okay

 

[koalar]

Not really necessary but it make it nicer to work on if I clean them up a bit makes much easier to assemble the seal dirt free

Attacked with wire brush

Again not necessarily but a quick spray of primer

 

[koalar]

All looks fairly logical, But it's relying on the piston and o ring sticking together and only pressure applied to the piston not the seal

Yes with a dry piston and seal there is up to 15 thousands of an inch retraction as per video

However if I lube the piston there's none to 1/2 thou

Even retracted they would leave the pads behind still resting against the disc

There's nothing to pull them back

A little light rubbing while testing is normal but you should not feel any extra drag

 

[koalar]

There seems to be some confusion about the front hubs, even in neutral it's still spinning the drive shaft, which is still connected to the drive side of the gearbox

Here the gearbox is in neutral
Wheel in the air
Disc removed
Caliber removed
Cold oil

It does not spin freely
It takes some effort to push it round from the lug nuts

 

[AnthonyH]

Nice job! I like to be as thorough as possible but I know if i were to try that i'd lose or break something.

 

[koalar]

I did wash them in hot water and laundry powder then rinsed to remove all the old grit and oil, yes it my kitchen drainer
All bubbled up waiting for a rinse in hot water

Sound counter intuitive as water and damp causes rust to form very quickly on polished surfaces


As long as they are dried and oiled quickly it's fine, I used a hairdryer then smeared in clean Dot 4

I put two new bleed nipples on as I had to use a blow torch to get them off

There been fitted a week or so and working fine

£3 bleed screws x2
£5.70 brake fluid 1Lt cheaper than half Lt
£5.28 plumbers grease most still left
£1.50 new wire brush


I find it annoying,

30 years ago you would buy a repair kit. New pistons, pins and seals for a few quid

A few years later it was an exchange unit

Now everything is just swapped out for new