Folks,

A funny metal noise showed up in the family Mazda (626) on Friday -- turned out to be early warning on the brake pads. So, I'm not really a mazda guy, but I figured "how hard can it be?" (there's a red neck joke in there somewhere -- the light is now gone and I'm still screwing around with things -- whoever did the last set hosed the bolt that holds the caliper on... mumble mumbler) Anyway, I left out a part, so I have to redo one wheel -- doh -- but I should get done in a half hour or so -- is there anything special I need to do to seat these new brake pads?

many thx.

kim.

Is this the sort of break in process y'all use for your brakes?

http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

Inquiring minds wanna know!

kim.

I've always done something like that for street pads. Honestly, I don't know if it made a huge difference.





I've never noticed anything like that. Again, I'm talking about street pads rather than race pads.

Anthony,

Thx for the commentary --- it's a mazda sedan (ignore the "zoom zoom" commercials -- heh -- this 4 door sedan may well have more oomph than my 914, but it's value has already dropped below it -- heh). Anyway, I ended up having to replace pads -- which was easy (I love these swing-away calipers -- sheesh, it makes it sooo easy) -- but I don't have "destructions" to bed pads.

Hence the hunt for collective knowlege on a dull topic

Tomorrow, I''ll "do something" -- heh.

kim.

Hi Kim,
Thanks for the link to the bed-in information. That's the most extensive set of instructions I've seen.

About 3 months ago Mer and I replaced the pads and rotors in her Focus. Afterwards, I made several low speed stops to bed-in the pads. They seem to be fine now, pull evenly, no pulsing, etc.

Several years ago, my luck wasn't so good. I replaced the pads (not the rotors and didn't turn the rotors) on a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The rotors weren't replaced because they seemed to be in good shape with plenty of wear surface available, no serious grooves or discoloration. After a few low speed stops with the car all seemed to be well. In a few days though, some serious pulsation developed and wouldn't go away. After several days the only solution was to replace the pads and rotors as a set. $$$. Everything was fine after that.

Do pads and rotors have to be replaced as a set? At a minimum, do rotors have to be turned when the pads are replaced? What do you think?

Carl

I've installed new pads on used rotors many times with no problems.

Carl,

Most instructions I've seen say something like "inspect the rotors -- if they are within manufacturing tolerance, without scoring/carving/etcl, just replace the pads". And I'm sure I've done this many time, but not anytime recently. I'm sure there can also be a bit of a bet involved -- "sure they'll seat".

Now, I do know if you don't catch your pads in time, you can toast the rotors. (yes, it was a "learning experience" -- heh)

Hm. Mer's burned off a set of pads already? hmmm...

kim.

Yep. 22,000 miles of in-town driving's what did it. Of course, I think FoMoCo put a thin set of rotors on the car to keep the unsprung weight and the overall weight of the car down.

It was in the shop for another reason and they spotted the thin pads and rotors. It was a good catch on their part but I wasn't up to paying $550 for them to do the job.

C

Yeh, this is a similar story -- by coincidence, we rented a Focus for the weekend -- that is one peppy car -- though with the wetness of the pavement, it was often fighting for traction even with modest pressure on the gas -- 1st must be pretty low.

Doing the pads on these newer cars is so simple. On the mazda, you compress the caliper, undo a bolt, and the whole thing swings away revealing the pads. A few minutes later, the new pads are in and you swing the caliper back on. Paying someone to do it would be sensible if you had zero time.

kim.

On my Land Rover, just remove wheel, pull tow pins, compress piston, pad slides out, new one slides in, replace pins, done. Takes longer to get everything together than the job itself.

On my VW Jetta, compressing the rear caliper pistons is a big PITA without the special VW/Audi tool. It's a special tool that screws and compresses the piston into the caliper while at the same time. I found a $5 tool at the flaps that almost fit and with the bench grinder I made it fit. It was still tough maintaining pressure against the tool and turning the piston at the same time.

I think now though you can find an inexpensive tool at Harbor Freight or the FLAPs with several pucks to fit lots of different rotor pistons that need to be screwed in. I guess VW isn't the only one.