Worn Brake Pads?

[Alexpb2401]

So Mazda in Leeds said my front brake pads were 70% worn and needed replacing and stupid cost...

Went to replace them myself today and doesn’t look anywhere near 70% to me (amateur)

One is unevenly worn but rest look good?

P.S how do I fix the uneven issue/is it easy?

Thanks

[warpc0il]

The pads wear unevenly when the caliper doesn't move smoothly on the slide bolts/pins

Clean the pins and grease with ceratek

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[PeteH]

Unfortunately, one of your pads is worn about 70% on one edge. And that's all it takes, since you can't have any part of any backing plate hitting the disc. So they were correct to advise you to change them. No reason to pay dealer prices though. Bembo pads from EBC are fine, and if you fit them yourself it will end up costing a fraction of the price.

It looks like one of your slider pins is sticky. You should remove all your slider pins, make sure they are free of corrosion, then put them back with a small amount of high temperature brake grease (such as Ceratec).

Hopefully that will fix the issue, and mean you don't have to throw away three perfectly good brake pads in the future.

(Dave beat me to it..)

[Alexpb2401]

Thanks both....

Already have the Brembo but when I try pull down the calliper it won’t close....like the pads are too thick...?

Any tips?

[Ollie]

Did you wind the piston back in on the back and push the front back? I had that issue when I last changed my brakes I thought the pistons were far enough back but it turned out they still had a way to go!

[warpc0il]

https://www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk/forum/v ... 30&t=48895

[Alexpb2401]

That’s the guide I was following.

Don’t think it was piston but rather the pin at the bottom didn’t want to slide, which I’m assuming could be the cause of them wearing unevenly?

All fitted and went to drive. Extremely spongy..... is this normal? Tried some start and stopping and pumping the brake etc.

If I pump with the keys turned on but the engine not running it gets back the tightness but when driving is like almost non existent

[qwakers]

i found brembo pads to be extremely spongey myself. they came off after 1 trackday and went in the bin.

[PeteH]

They will also be spongy if you have sticky pins. You really have to sort that before driving it. They could stop your brakes working, or jam them on. And sticky pins only ever get worse...

[Alexpb2401]

So when I mention having problems earlier closing the Caliper, I realised something was wrong went the other side was easy as pie.

This bottom pin is stuck. No movement at all, tried walking it, pulling and all sorts and no luck. Any ideas? (Don’t have a blow torch)

Easily replaceable or am I looking at new callipers?

[Ollie]

Get a pair of grips and twist it slowly. I had a badly corroded slider pin that was stuck but with a pair of grips and patience it eventually came out. If you can roll the rubber boot back and spray some WD40 or such around the pin as well. I imagine when you get it out itll either have no grease or the grease will be extremely dirty.

[New Duke]

It will come out, but stuck ones can be stubborn. Does it rotate at all even if it won't pull out?
If you have an impact gun try that on max to shock it free. Otherwise try a hammer and chisel/screwdriver to shock the pin out, it might take a fair bit of force so be careful of your fingers. Don't worry if you split the rubber boot, that can be replaced later. Or grips as already suggested.

Guide for cleaning up pins below, although you're probably due a new set which are cheap on eBay:

[Alexpb2401]

Tried with the DW40 under the rubber with hammer and screwdriver and does seem to budge even a tiny bit. I’ll retry tomorrow.

Still concerned that isn’t the main problem for the sponginess though as surely that’d go but just wear the pads unevenly.

I topped up the brake fluid from what was lost during the changeover.

Unless this bedding in the takes a very very long time but I’ve been driving and braking for a while and doesn’t seem to be any better

[qwakers]

stuck pins will force the caliper to flex rather than the pinss slide to bring the second pad against the disk. this makes it spongey.


plus brembo road pads are garbage...

[PeteH]

If you're driving the car with a known stuck pin you are risking a serious accident.

[Alexpb2401]

stuck pins will force the caliper to flex rather than the pinss slide to bring the second pad against the disk. this makes it spongey.


plus brembo road pads are garbage...

someone said they were good before

[qwakers]

i suppose they are ok if you dont mind excessive dust and fading if used any where near ‘fast road’ usage. they do the job of stopping the car. they even work on track. just no feel and dont get theem too hot,

[New Duke]

stuck pins will force the caliper to flex rather than the pinss slide to bring the second pad against the disk. this makes it spongey.


plus brembo road pads are garbage...

someone said they were good before

I've got to respectfully disagree with qwakers. I used those pads for 25k miles and loads of track days in various conditions. For £25 per axel they are ridiculously good value (and who really cares about brake dust, it's easy to clean off). They're super pads for most use cases. They're all you need even for very fast road driving and I defy anyone to manage to overheat them on a public road unless all you do is constant emergency stops. They're great on cold/mild track days too. If you can overheat them in those conditions then it's probably more a driving style/mechanical issue.

Yes in warm/hot track conditions they fade after a few laps and wear quickly. So just like road tyres (and drivers) they need to take breaks. I've worn those pads from brand new (fitted the night before) down to the metal backing plate in 40 miles on track in 30+ degrees ambient heat. But in milder conditions on the same circuit used up less than 50% of the pad.

So if on track your driving style punishes brakes, or if you'll be tracking in scorching temps then none of the OEM pads will survive and you should pay loads more and get 'serious' pads. If you're one of the vast majority that won't apply to: the Brembos are perfectly good (and plenty for the road).

[warpc0il]

Be aware that Brembo are among the favourite brands for fake pads...

[shroom]

My slider pin was seriously siezed in mine. You need to be really brutal with a set of pliars or mole grips and keep twisting and pulling.

Buy some new ones off eBay as they are super cheap and give both sides a new set.

Out of interest why did you loose brake fluid from doing a pad change? I know you can have to remove some when pushing the pad back but wouldn't be much. Maybe watch a few videos on YouTube as you seen pretty green to car maintenance (not pointing fun) and brakes are pretty important things! Don't mess them up and have an accident

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[shroom]

i suppose they are ok if you dont mind excessive dust and fading if used any where near ‘fast road’ usage. they do the job of stopping the car. they even work on track. just no feel and dont get theem too hot,

Levels ain't it if the guy doesn't know what a slider pin does I don't suppose he is going to be the next Lewis Hamilton around the B roads or even a track for that matter lol my £25 pads didn't fail at Combe at all I just didn't go quick enough and had plenty of short breaks :-)

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[Alexpb2401]

I’m very green to it ha! But once you’ve done it once you can do again in quarter of the time, I’m finding most of it is the confidence to just do it, the guides are good but without clear pictures it’s makes you second guess somewhat.

The brake fluid was a slow drip as I tried to get the piston back and get the Caliper closed again when the slide pin wouldn’t move. If id done the other side first I would of realised the bottom slide pin was the issue. Learn by doing eh

I’ll retry getting the pin out today and re-grease until the new ones arrive. If that doesn’t fit the spongy issue do we think it could be air in the lines? Or something else?

Does the fact that when I pump the brake quickly the sponginess goes temporarily mean something?

If it was the Caliper pin I wouldn’t get that would I? Would always be spongy

(I Don’t resent the Lewis Hamilton comment as I’m much less of a nob than he is)

Thanks again for everyone’s help

P.s when I have driven it I’ve been on quiet, straight roads and not gone above 30/35

[MARKTHOMASBRAND]

You have Rotary Revs on your doorstep if you can't sort it yourself

[goodeggbob]

hi mate,have you done anything that would have let air into the system? were the brakes songy before you started? just trying to eliminate a few things. .

[PeteH]

I assume you opened the bleed nipples when you were pushing the pistons back? Generally you don't need to, because the fluid will just get pushed back into the reservoir. You should end up with more fluid in the reservoir than you started with, and may actually have to remove some fluid from the reservoir to stop it over flowing.

If you opened the bleed nipples then you may have let air in. But until you get your slider sorted out you won't know if you have another issue.