Brake Pad fitting - A guide - Mk2

[Austin]

This is a guide to changing the brake pads. This was on a Mk2 Scala - with help from Ant it did have vented disks, back to solid now, as vented wore out!
I just acquired some Mitex pads, that have barely been used, so I decided to change, as the others only had about 4mm left.

Tools needed:

6mm Allen Key
11mm Spanner
Wheel nut wrench
Jack

1. Loosen the wheel bolts, apply the handbrake and jack up the car.



2. Remove the wheel
3. Turn the wheel in the direction that makes the brake calliper more accessible.



4. Using a 6mm Allen Key loosen the bolts holding the calliper to the brake carrier



5. Push the calliper forward at the top and pull away from the bottom



6. Rest the calliper on top hub or something else, so prevent straining the flexi-hose.



7. Place the new / replacement pads into the brake carrier.



8. The calliper may need adjusting, push the piston back, if it won’t move then loosen the bleed nipple and push the piston back so that there is enough space for the disk and pads, then retighten the bleed nipple.




9. If you’re lucky, you may be joined by some company.



10. Fitting, is the reversal of fitting.
11. If you’ve loosened the bleed nipple to re-fit the calliper then the system will have to be bled.

Hope this helps someone :)

[stu.gtx]

I always loosen the cap on the reservoir so I can push the pistons back without presurising the system. That way you don't need to bleed the system afterwards either

[GTXTRA]

nice one Austin - if you were able to email me this with photo attachments in order i can post up on FAQ for everybody?

[GTXTRA]

now on FAQ - cheers Rich!

[the edmundator]

I would like to add the following advice:

4a) Find that the holes in the caliper bolts are corroded and rounded off. Cut off the rubber and plastic sleeves that line the hole so that the head of the bolt is exposed. Use a pair of mole grips and a lot of profanities and remove the knackered bolts. Order brand new bolts, plastic sleeves and rubber sleeves (I think the sleeves come as a kit from VW, from memory). Refitting the sleeves into the caliper is a pain in the arse, so will require many more profanities.

In the pictures there don't appear to be any brake-pad retaining clips (stops them rattling in the carriers). On removal, if your car is anything like mine was, you will simply have to scrape out a selection of small bits of ferrous oxide. New retaining clips came with my pads, but are also available separately from places like GSF.

8a) You can compress the piston without needing to bleed the brakes/loosen the bleed nipple. I used a strong grip with my hands, quite a large selection of profanities, and squeezed the piston far enough in for the new pads to fit in place. The handle end of a rubber mallet inserted into the piston and pressure on the other end can also help to get the piston back. You might not feel like you're getting anywhere, but small progress will be made. Have a cup of tea at the ready.

I have some pictures of how bad it can be somewhere... I'll see if I can dig them out.

[Austin]

In the pictures there don't appear to be any brake-pad retaining clips (stops them rattling in the carriers).

Correct - they've gone astray! Rattle rattle rattle! Cheers for the other advice. I just knocked the pictures together when doing it. And the other bit about the corroded callipers - mmm - these are reconditioned ones, with new bolts, fitted about 6 months ago.