Failed "MOT" - rear brakes

[darbuck]

if they are on it that long and if your doing a lot of mileage chances are they need replacing but if you know they have only 10000 miles on them they might not . A good rule of thumb is if they have a lip of more than approx 3mm on the outer diameter or the surface feels extremely rough you should replace them.That sonax seems similar to the gt7 i use.As for the bolts there is two holes on either side of the caliper to allow you to inject lubricant you can just about get a squirt of oil into the lower end o the bolt hole and dont forget the ear plugs they squeel like a pig. doing it yourself fair play to you.

[Bandit12]

Ok at the request of Ben, here is a quick guide to replacing brake pads and discs but not calipers.
Remember to use a decent trolley jack or axle stands to support the car while you are working on it. sounds obvious but you may need to use alot of force to shift some of the bolts and the last thing you want is the car collapsing! Also take pics of each stage so you can refer to them especially concerning the location of the pad spring clip.

Jack up car and remove rear wheel

Have a helper put the rear brake on to lock the disc then using impact driver loosen and remove the disc retaining screw

Remove the brake pad retaining nut and bolt then remove the pads cover, there is spring loaded clip underneath to help keep the pads in position so remember which way round it goes and it may also be corroded so give it a clean with a wire brush.

re-insert the brake pad retaining nut and bolt and tighten as this will hold the caliper together when the 2 main bolts are removed thus avoiding any fluid leakage and the need to re-bleed the brakes.

Now the difficult bit. Slowly unbolt the 2 brake caliper holding bolts no more than a quarter of a turn each at a time until they become finger loose . Go slowly as these are likely to be threadlocked and corroded. It is normal for them to make a cracking or creaking noise Use lots of plus gas or similar and once they are both out carefully remove the caliper, It may require a smart tap with a rubber or rawhide mallet to break through any corrosion. Then support it with string or similar so it does not hang down on the brake hose.

Remove the disc, this may be stuck on so the use of a rawhide or rubber mallet may be needed to bash it off. You may find it easier to remove the disc shield but it really depends on how stubborn the disc is.

Put on new disc and line up the retaining screw and do up.

Clean up rear caliper with emphasis on the mating surface, any corrosion remove with a wire brush.

remount rear caliper(opinion is divided about whether to put any grease etc on mating surface, I used copper grease but that may have been a mistake, I'll find out next time I remove my calipers ).

Using threadlock and fresh bolts and washers remount the caliper and tighten to correct torque setting. I used copper grease on the top half of each bolt then threadlock right at the bottom to avoid them mixing as you pass the bolt through the caliper.

Remove the pad retaining bolt and nut

Clean up the pistons if required then using a flat blade screwdriver, carefully push each piston back (no special tool required to wind in the rear pads, only the front ones because of the handbrake mechanism) and after ensuring the contact surfaces for the pads are nice and clean, put a bit of copper grease on the sides of the metal part of each pad and on the anti rattle shims. This is to help the pad move smoothly in the caliper as it is pushed by the piston but please make sure there is no contamination on the actual brake pad material.

Put the pads into position, doesnt matter which way round they go just make sure they are kep as a pair. Put copper grease on the retaining bolt and line up through the pads and caliper.

Before tightening the bolt, replace the pad spring clip, again use some copper grease and then the pad cover.

Once again have your assistant pump the rear brake and hold the brake on so you can fully tighten the disc retaining screw. This does not have to be mega mega tight that you chew the head as the disc is actually retained by the wheel.

Replace the rear wheel, lower onto the ground then double check the wheel nuts are tight.

Repeat for the other side

Double check brake fluid level in the reservoir and top up if required

Take for careful test drive making sure there are no funny noises as you brake and that the brake pedal is not spongy etc.

After successful test drive with no bits falling off and not running over any policemen return home and crack open a beer as the jobs a good -un

Just remember it will take a while for the new pads and discs to bed in.

Hope that helps mate

[Ben82]

Brembo discs and pads ordered from Opie. Hopefully they'll come next week.

Thanks Bandit for that So to add to the shopping list - a Torque Wrench and some string.

[Bandit12]

Dont forget the Copper grease and a big hammer

[dnsey]

...and a looooong breaker bar!
Seriously, the longer the better, as it makes removing the bolts more controllable. Some thick-walled pipe to slip over a shorter bar will do.

[Ben82]

Steve, look what I managed to pick up today:

[myglaren]

Excellent Ben, that's a very big spray can though, does it fit in your car?

I was on the lookout for Plus Gas and could only get some of that WD stuff but read somewhere that it is at least as good if not better than Plus Gas.

Although I sprayed liberally when it came down to it nothing was toughed - I was preparing for replacement of the trailing arm bearings but in the end they weren't touched - it was a rattling brake pad, lost a spring somewhere along the way.

[Ben82]

Just about I'm probably going to go over it a number of times over the course of next week just to be on the safe side.

[Ben82]

Today I popped into the local Citroen dealer to get some of the parts needed for doing the job. They had half of them and the other half they had to place on order to get there on Monday, so I should be picking up all the Citroen bits (bar the retaining pins that I'm getting my parents to bring, with being something like 78p a pop in the UK and £4 a pop in Sweden - need 2 but getting some spares just in case).

Opie were having troubles with their suppliers for the impact driver, so I opted for removing that from the order and just having the rest shipped. I have since found a Draper Expert 22322 which has the right Torx bits (I believe anyway) included, that was also cheaper too. And that should be here on Wednesday.

I found the WD40 as shown earlier too, so that's another thing checked off the list.

Still to get:

Copper grease "Kopparpasta"
String (I'm sure the cat will have fun with that!).
a 1m Breaker Bar (seems to be the biggest I can get here).
a Torque Wrench
Brake Cleaner
Brake Fluid (if anyone knows off hand which DOT the C5 takes, let me know, I will get around to checking under the hood at some point!).
Wire Brush
A decent hammer.

I might get a Caliper File and maybe some Caliper Grease ( http://www.biltema.se/sv/Bilvard/Olja-o ... 000034132/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) which might be better than the copper grease, or are the citroen ones picky?

[Hell Razor5543]

I would add a scaffolding pole to that, to extend the breaker bar. That way you can put the load on more evenly and gradually. If it jerks, you may snap a bolt, and then you will have problems.

[Ben82]

I would add a scaffolding pole to that, to extend the breaker bar. That way you can put the load on more evenly and gradually. If it jerks, you may snap a bolt, and then you will have problems.

That might be a bit more difficult over here Will see if I can find something to extend it.

[myglaren]

You may find something suitable here

Or a look around building sites, you may be able to beg a scaffold pole from one of the contractors there.

[Ben82]

You may find something suitable here

Or a look around building sites, you may be able to beg a scaffold pole from one of the contractors there.

Thanks Steve, I probably never would have found that They're quite close to Biltema where I need to get some other bits so will pop in there sometime this week.. What kind of length should I get?

[myglaren]

I'd say about 150cm would do.
(anyone who knows better please feel free to say so - I have only needed to use this option on one occasion to try and remove a Xantia wheel with a flat tyre - broke the wheelbrace and took five big strong firemen to get it off in the end).

Tell them that it wants to be as similar to a scaffold pole as possible - rigidity and thickness.
If you tell them why you want it they will probably come up with a suitable piece, these places often have offcuts and scrap bits that they will either give you or charge next to nothing for.

[dnsey]

I've used sqaure section steel tubing before now (the sort of thing table legs are made of). Anything will do which fits over your bar and will take the force without bending.