by "Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
Published 02/17/2017 at 08:10
by "Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
Published 02/17/2017 at 08:10
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STARS: 4
Due to some mild squealing, my friend decided that it was about time to change out the rear brake pads on his Mazda 3. As you can see with new versus old, those pads were quite worn down. Since we are driving six hours today to get to the ski mountain, this was an important thing to get done last night before the rotors get scraped down to this:
Of course, we didnt have the right brake pads to replace with, the bolts were rusted in place, we didnt have any special brake caliper tools, and the wheel lugs were impossibly tight (thank you lazy shops with 500 ft-lb air guns). So we didnt finish until about midnight, but at least it is done and working better than ever!
"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
02/17/2017 at 10:43, STARS: 0
This is my main project this weekend on my 2006 Mazda 3. I am going to go pick up my rear rotors today. Right now it sounds like I’m braking with gravel on steel sound even though there is visible pad material. I think some small gravel got in between the pad and rotor. Should be fun. The calipers have never been off this car since it was assembled in Japan in earl 2006.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
02/17/2017 at 10:53, STARS: 0
Well that will be real fun then. Apparently its the same exact part used on the 2005-2013 Mazda 3 (or something like that). This car being a 2012, i figured the bolts couldnt be too rusty. But we ended up giving up on the caliper bracket bolts because we couldn’t get enough torque on them, even with liquid wrench. It was only a pad change so the brackets could stay on thankfully, but certainly you will have fun with those. And retracting the rear calipers requires the piston to be spun while pushed in so it was a pain in the ass doing that with just pliers and a fuck ton of force.
Hopefully we didnt get air in the lines otherwise this will be a really long drive lol.
"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
02/17/2017 at 11:03, STARS: 0
I have a fresh can of PB blaster and am going to do a presoak this morning. Right now I’m not driving the car because it sounds so horrible. I’ve got a 1/2" drive socket set and cheater bars and all that, and my car has spent most of it’s life in California so I’m optimistic.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
02/17/2017 at 11:41, STARS: 0
That California bit has ought to be the most important factor haha. I think if we had raised the car more, it would have been easier to get the bolts off. As it was, the cheater bar was already too long because it would hit the wheel well or the ground. Just a tight space with the brake lines in the way and such. With some soaking time though it shouldn’t be too bad. Box wrenches are your friend also!
"uofime-2" (uofime-2)
02/17/2017 at 12:58, STARS: 0
I know the mazda calipers have a bad tendency to flex but those pads are bad!
Did you check the parallelism on the rotors, with pads that uneven I’d be surprised if it was within specification still.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
02/17/2017 at 13:42, STARS: 0
We didnt check anything of that sort. Just took the old pads off and put the new ones on. If it were my car I probably would have been doing the rotors at the same time just because they are probably the original OEM ones anyways. And should not have been run that long.
"uofime-2" (uofime-2)
02/17/2017 at 14:30, STARS: 1
Ehhhh, you probably won’t die.
Expect the abnormal pad wear to only get worse though
"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
02/18/2017 at 19:47, STARS: 0
Update, got the fronts done the rears are done but I don’t think I pushed the pistons in far enough. No issues getting the calipers or old rotors off.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
02/18/2017 at 20:15, STARS: 0
If you get the new pads on, then they are in far enough
"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
02/18/2017 at 20:35, STARS: 0
It seems like the inside pad is rubbing the rotor really hard and locking up the wheel. The hub turns fine without the wheel on, put the wheel on and it doesn’t role. I’m heading out again to see if I can figure it out.