Which Xantia front brake pads

[Stickyfinger]

Hardly uncommon for a car to have its brakes upgraded.....
Brake tools....cannot go wrong for £9.00
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XXR-TOOLS-35P ... 4638e0de23


and the best quality small flare spanners you can purchase even if your children go hungry....

[MikeT]

Hardly uncommon for a car to have its brakes upgraded.....
Brake tools....cannot go wrong for £9.00

and the best quality small flare spanners you can purchase even if your children go hungry....

That's £9 current bid (plus postage). Bet it's at least doubles that before end. Besides, I have no intention of replacing front pads on "a wide range of cars".

However, Haynes tells me the Xantia pistons wind in clockwise. An ebay search for "xantia wind back tool" keeps coming back with Left-Handed tools. I guess I just need to buy the RH version (for as little as £6 incl p+p) but not 100% sure. Although I didn't need such a tool previously and didn't cause a problem, the already deformed piston seal tells me that's the risk of not using one?

Set of flare nut spanners now ordered - though I doubt they're the best quality.

And I'm still none the wiser on which pads I need to order. Seems only option is to remove old pads - what a drag!

[Stickyfinger]

I thought that when I got this set of re-winders, used on 4 cars now, it is a keeper set and will not be a waste in years to come..... You can use flat bar etc, but I don't like the risk to seals.
Look at the Buy-Now sets, not much more.

Why not take out one pad, photograph it next to a ruler. replace it and post up the image.
Get a Tin of PLUS-Gas.....spray on all nipples/bolts/nuts the day before.

[MikeT]

Why not take out one pad, photograph it next to a ruler. replace it and post up the image.
Get a Tin of PLUS-Gas.....spray on all nipples/bolts/nuts the day before.

It's personal (so don't want to sound like an old whinger but...) it's not that simple for me anymore, sadly. Ditto for why I've stopped collecting tools for possible future use. The future's not so orange anymore.

[Stickyfinger]

I agree....it is personal choice....best of

[citronut]

i always used to use a square shank large screw driver to wind these and BX front pistons back, but after purchasing the correct wind back tool i wished i'd done it sooner,
as it not only turns the pistons but puts inward pressure at the same time,

i only bought a small set and with only the right hand drive winder,

regarding the flare nut spanners
you have to be careful with the cheap ones as they dont fit a snug as better quality ones

[MikeT]

I found thread on here somewhere saying a pair of 90degree long nose pliers work well too (which I have) and circlip pliers. I was thinking about buying the single cheaper (RH thread, right?) tool though. Just prefer not to if it's not necessary.

As for the cheap(er) flare nut spanners, will just have to see. I'm not as ham-fisted as some but if they do round off the nut, I've got a speed wrench (bites like a pit bull!).
As well as plus-gas, would application of heat be beneficial too in this case?

[MikeT]

Got the spanners, might get a chance tomorrow PM to tackle a few jobs seeing as I got the flare nut spanners now.

Interestingly, while going through some old paperwork, I found the receipt for the last pads - APEC 803 back in June 2010. They've aged well and a wild guess tells me maybe 20,000 miles

[Stickyfinger]

I hope you got PlusGas on ANY nipple 24 hrs before using a spanner of any type on them safer yes by a lot, 100% never

[MikeT]

Didn't bleed the brakes as I haven't managed to get the old hoses off.

I asked before but will ask again, does anyone know the nut size I need? I thought maybe the flare nut spanner kit I bought was really poor quality - 10mm wouldn't go on in a month of sundays and the 11mm was giving about 10-15degrees freeplay. I then tried all my open ended spanners to chose the "tightest" fit but like the flare nut spanners, 10mm was way too small and 11mm too baggy for my liking. Acess, lighting and my eyesight stopped me assessing if the nuts were rounded off (they felt and looked ok AFAICT) so what to do now?

What I did get done was to change the brake pads, though I nearly didn't when I pulled the O/S caliper open to find they had at least half their friction material left!

Old set in front, new pad behind.



Only when I opened the N/S caliper did I find one pad near it's limit (the inboard pad was just as re-usable as the two above). What's weird, is the N/S caliper looks in best all-round condition and once started, I could wind the piston with my fingers all the way back in! The O/S was a mess though. The piston dust seal needs urgent attention so caliper service is now added to the job list. And the new pad springs I fitted, didn't seat as firmly on the O/S. The top fits tight, but the bottom is not and is, I suspect, the reason for the brake squeek I'm often hearing.

Anyway, just doing that has rewarded me with aches and pains I need to soak away in the bath. So if someone can tell me what nut size the brake pipes has, I'd be grateful. Oh, and when I've got that loose, how on earth does the retaining clip come off? Again, poor lighting, eyesight and access stopped me getting a good looksee but I couldn't see any obvious cut out, indicating where to place effective leverage? Cheers!

[citronut]

the usual cause for one pad out of a set wearing abnormally quicker than the others is, the caliper slides are seized or partially seized,

the nut at the caliper end of the flexi is usually 14mm, and the nut at the metal pipe adjoining the flexi is usually 11m,

the fixing for the body end of the flexi is either a curvered spring steel blade with a u shaped cut out the fits into a groove/slot in the flexi's feral, and above the mounting bracket/mounting,

i usually grab the edge of the blade with vice grips and move it side to side whilst pulling on it,

the other type of fitting is a spring steel arch with a hole for the flexi to come through, this type is held in place ( on top of the mounting bracket ) by the metal pipe flare nut,

as for brake squeek this can be caused by new pads being fitted were the disc has a lip/rusty band at the inner/outer edge/s, so the edges of the pad runs on these lips/rusty bands,

if i ever fit new pads to discs in this condition, i bevel both inner and outer edges of the pads off with an angle grinder

[citronut]

ps.

you could try a 7/16th AF spanner on the possible 11mm flare nut

[MikeT]

you could try a 7/16th AF spanner on the possible 11mm flare nut

Isn't 7/16 slightly larger than 11mm though?

[citronut]

you could try a 7/16th AF spanner on the possible 11mm flare nut

Isn't 7/16 slightly larger than 11mm though?

ok i couldnt remember which way it was

[myglaren]

According to this table 15/32" = 10.319mm so might do the job.
Or 27/64" Good luck finding one of those!

I would likely attack the 10mm with a little file and make it fit - or the nut, of course.