tuj

I've posted this because I couldn't find any good info when I did a search.

To change front brakes:
-open hood, take cap off master cylinder, put rag around in case of spillage.
-jack car up
-remove wheel
-unbolt the bottom bolt of the caliper (14mm)
-swing caliper up
-take out pads, put new ones in. Retain the anti-rattle clips at the top and bottom of the pads
-use a clamp and one of the old brake pads to push the piston back.
-swing caliper back in place, replace bottom bolt, put wheel back on, don't forget the master cylinder cap.

Rears:
same as front, but you can't use a clamp to push the caliper back. Instead you're supposed to use a special service tool (SST) to turn the caliper. I used a pair of needle-nose pliars, which worked just fine. There are 4 slots in the caliper, and one of these must align with a rivet on the back of the inside pad.

expo1

What about the anti-rattle grease and bedding-in the new pads? You do these two things?

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

Did mine Fri as well....but I changed out the brake lines, and clutch line, added ATE fluid and painted the rotors and calipers. I used a pair of small vice grip tips to turn the rear piston........Thank "G*D" fo the inventor of speedbleeders. Those little buggers are the best thing since sliced bread and bikini's :D

I wouldn't want to try and bleed the clutch with the normal bleeder, unless you have a vacuum bleeder...cause it's hard to reach it...it's up beside/behind the oil filter

All in all a very satisfying day...no more rust...better pads for street use ( Hawk HPS) and a lot better feel in both the clutch and brakes

tuj

Yeah, I took the car out and bedded the pads. I left that off because I fig. if you're changing to up-market pads, you'll know about bedding. I put Hawk HPS on front and rear today in prep. for a trackday at Mid-Ohio! I've got 12k miles and I do a lot of autox and hard driving, so I figured my stock pads would be shot but they were only about 1/3 to 1/2 worn.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

I was surprised at the lack of wear as well. I have 26K miles on mine ...with about 80% on the rear and 70% on the front. So far the Hawks seem to have less brake dust? I'll give it a few more days to be sure.

bxb40

Hm, if all that dust is not from the pads - it must be from the rotors Not a good / cheap thing....

Cooder

Do I have to take cap off master cylinder? Can I skip that?

expo1

You need to do this. When you replace warn pads with new ones in order to get the caliper to fit you will have to push / rotate the brake piston back into the caliper. Doing this will send brake fluid back through the lines and into the master cylinder. With the cap still on you will have a hard time doing this. When I last did this I used an ear-cleaning syringe to ‘suck out' the extra brake fluid as I put in the new pads.

Cooder

Oh right, I see now. Thanks.

Cooder

I have another question. I'm replacing my OEM front pads with OEM after 50,000 miles. Can I reuse the other parts like the shims and clips? If I clean them with that CRC brakleen spray, will they be as good as new? The reason I want to do this is because the dealership charges less for the brake pad set without hardware.

expo1

Yes, if you clean them and note which shim goes where. Do you have the shop manual for this job? If not PM me.

Cooder

I got this diagram from elsewhere on this forum:

Another question I have is which CRC Disc Brake Quiet product do you think is better to use, the squeeze tube or the spray? The product name is exactly the same and both are red in color. In another thread, Polak specifically mentioned to not use the spray but he didn't explain why.

expo1

I used a little on the front, can't hurt so long as you don't use a ton. As for the rear the piston needs to be turned , not pushed in. This cheap tool helps LINK.

Cooder

I'm doing my brakes right now and I can't get the 14mm bolt behind the caliper out. I can't get the bottom or the top one out. I'm using a socket wrench and the bolt just keeps spinning. A Mazda tech said I need an air gun. But I don't have one. Can anyone help me out?

expo1

Try an open end in-between the caliper and bolt I think it's a 17mm but I might be wrong,

Cooder

Ok, seem like there's another nut in the middle of the bolt. I'm thinking I can hold that middle nut still with a adjustable wrench and then try the socket wrench on the end nut. Does this make sense?

Your advice will be appreciated.

Cooder

Ok, thanks, that's what I was thinking.

expo1

Yep, need a open end.

Cooder

Yeah, you're right. Even an adjustable wrench is too thick to get in there. I got a bunch of regular wrenches, everything except the right one! So now I'm off to the auto parts store. What a waste of my time. Ha ha.

Thanks for your help, expo. Without it, I would have hurt someone by now. I know DIY threaders mean well but please please please include the details. For example, there are two threads on DIY brakes and one says 12 mm, the other 14mm. Come on!!!!!

expo1

I think the 17mm are what holds the whole caliper to the housing. My regular open ends were also to ' fat " to fit on that nut but I have a set of cheap dollar store tools for when I don't feel like going into the basement and it had thin open end's that worked great. Bring one of your too big wrenches with you so you have something to compare with.

Cooder

Ok I got everything off with the 17 mm open end "skinny" wrench that I just bought, cleaned everything with CRC Brakleen and CRC Quiet Brake, and put the new pads into the guide clips. And you guessed it. The caliper is too narrow and won't envelop the new pads.

I read elsewhere about using a clamp to compress the piston, but I have no idea what that means. The shop manual says the piston is the cylinder shaped thing that is right against the brake pad that is on the back side (the piston even makes a circle mark on the shim, right? Seems like it is covered by a thin rubber material. I'm confused how to compress the piston.

expo1

Look at the photo in my above post, that ‘hump’ in-between the bolts is where the piston resides. You will need to push the piston back into it’s housing. When you took off the old pads did you notice a circular stain on one of the shims? The piston made that. So look for something in the caliper that looks capable of making that mark and with a clamp and the old pad if not needed any more, you do not want to damage the piston. If you plan on doing your own brakes again you can find very cheap brake tools from Harbor Freight that can last a long time if you only use them 2-3 times a year.

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

Try Robin's site for help:

http://www.hi-impact.org/ryang/modif...x8_brakes.html

Cooder

Ok you guys, thanks for all the help. I finished the job. I had to go to the store 3 times, once to get a big 4" clamp. There were some construction workers in the neighborhood and they helped me. One had owned a first generation RX7. So I put an old pad over the piston to serve as a flat surface for the clamp. Everything went well.

Two interesting things, though. First, the shop manual picture shows that the brake pad on the inside has two shims, one of which has the punched out ribs. However, my passenger side front brake was reversed. I'm sure shims don't make a big difference either way but I still put them back where they should be.

Second, my passenger side front brake had an additional clip (the driver's side didn't have it). It's about 3/8" wide and is shaped kind of like an "h." I believe it might be the wear indicator that squeals when the brake pads get worn down. Is this correct?

My front brakes began to squeal just a little about 2 weeks ago. During an oil change, the dealership said they were at 5%. But today I compared the old pads to the new ones and it seemed like there was plenty of pad left. The passenger and driver side pad sets were identical- one was 2/16" and the other was 3/16". The new pads are 6/16". In other words, looking by eye, each pad set had one pad at 1/3 depth and another at 1/2 depth compared to a new pad. Seemed like there was plenty of pad left to be used. What do you guys think? Is that wear indicator clip too conservative?

Anyway, I removed that one clip. I figure I get oil changes so much that my dealer will keep me updated on pad wear like they always have.

Edit: I did a search and found Machan's (aka Rotary Brother) two threads titled "Extra clip from brake pad DIY." He has a picture of the exact same clip that I have. He also had it ONLY on his FRONT passenger side and on the inside pad, just like me. G048 mistakenly identified it as a guide plate/clip. Each brake pad has two guide plates/clips that go right into grooves on the caliper mounting support, one on top and one on the bottom. When I took the pads off, the guide plates/clips stayed on the caliper mounting support but that one clip (that's in Machan's pic) stayed on the inside passenger side brake pad. Razz1 thought it was there to reduce squeal but I am not so sure. If it's there to reduce noise, why would there be only one and only on the passenger side? I believe it's the wear indicator that is designed to cause squeal when the pad is worn too low. For this purpose, you wouldn't need more than one.

BaronVonBigmeat

Interesting! That would explain why my front right brake is squealing, and not my left--even though they are both equally worn.