Time for brakes!

Post by **jblackburn** » 16 Oct 2010, 17:28

I'll see how they hold up. I'm hoping they resist warping better at least. I like to have fun on twisty mountain roads every now and then

Do you have the springs on the front of the calipers? I'm about 95% sure that's why my right side only was squealing. I need to get my hands on one from somewhere.

Oh, and it's Justin

Post by **patrioty3k** » 17 Oct 2010, 10:51

Hey there Justin,did you mean the springs in the pic below?Or, are there other spring hardware?The pic is from Napa you can get 2 for about $7....I do have this spring,maybe I should buy a brand new one.....

Post by **jblackburn** » 17 Oct 2010, 15:57

That's the one. At $7 it might not hurt - it's there to keep the pads from chattering around which will cause the squealing while braking. Good to know that NAPA has it - Advance carried the caliper bolts, but not that piece. There's got to be one of those somewhere around here - the closest Volvo dealer's about 50 mins and I try to avoid them if possible.

t5ftw · Post by **t5ftw** » 17 Oct 2010, 21:06

jablackburn wrote:Got her back together! As always, some minor complications.

I went with Akenbono ceramics and the Zimmerman cross-drilled rotors. Thanks to everyone for the advice.

Thanks especially to fellow Blacksburg member t5ftw for coming out to help me & having all kinds of awesome tools. We had a good day of changing brakes, trying to find missing parts, and changing the coolant on his car.

That was a priceless education for a nub like me. I think I can try changing pads myself now. Justin risked burning himself by hot coolant to help me out. My car seems to run better after flushing the coolant and replacing thermostat and ECT. It was well worth it. LTFT dropped a little bit like 1-2% as well. Temp doesn't drop anymore when I cruise at highway speed on a cool day like it did before. So, I am ready for the winter, except my tires.

Post by **patrioty3k** » 25 Oct 2010, 16:16

My bad....even my wife said the squeal was from the rear drivers side.....until i opened the door, and heard it....I replaced the pads,I do need a new rotor,caliper,i'm thinking this is original from '95, i broke the bleeder valve off....anyway,no more mr. squeaky for now!So the rotor,still in good shape was squealing on the bad pad.....

: stuffhey 005.jpg (53.96 KiB) Viewed 2023 times

Post by **jblackburn** » 25 Oct 2010, 20:15

Either that bleeder valve was stuck good, or you got a little over-enthusiastic with it! It does look like your caliper was sticking anyway - both pads should have even wear on both sides.

ratfink_v70_2000 · Post by **ratfink_v70_2000** » 26 Oct 2010, 04:56

Hi, ok so got all ready to do rotors and pads on front only to discover that the previous owner/mechanic has rounded both of the top 15mm caliper bolts at the last rotor change. I can get the bottom ones out easily. From looking at it do the bolts just slip through the spindle and screw into the caliper hanger as I'm thinking I could cut the head off the bolt and remove the rotor and hanger together and separate them after? Thanks in advance.
Rich.

Post by **jblackburn** » 26 Oct 2010, 07:04

That may work. You will at least be able to get the caliper holding bracket off, and then you can hit the rotor off. At that point, you will have to drill out the remaining parts of the bolt.

I love how mechanics just break/lose things and leave them...

Post by **JDS60R** » 26 Oct 2010, 23:29

Driver side is easy - just lever up the caliper and it will loosen the bolt. If not - use a cam drive socket to turn them. If they are actually truly round then take a file and file them to the next size down.

If not use a hammer to restore the sides and then use a cam drive socket or a bolt-out type socket. This is a great excuse to buy new tools (and caliper bolts) if you don't have them.

Cam drive sockets are not flat and have an extrusion in the middle of the bolt face that catches the center of the face instead of the corner. A bolt out actually digs into the metal and uses the resistance to allow removal.

Sears carries the bolt-out type and harbor freight or metrinch will have cam drive sockets.

In college we would just hammer on a cheap 12 sided socket or try to move the calipers with one bolt out to get things moving. Who ever stripped them probably forgot to clean the corrosion under the bolt head. By moving the caliper you drive out the corrosion a lower the torque on the bolt.

You can also take a metal chisel and a 3 lb hammer and beat the chisel into the head forcing it to turn.
I can usually do one of those methods faster than drilling off the bolt head but you can always do that as well

You should post your location - you may have a local guru with better tools who is willing to help.
If you are in Nashville TN then stop by and I will get the bolts right off for you.

ratfink_v70_2000 · Post by **ratfink_v70_2000** » 27 Oct 2010, 03:14

Hi,thanks for replies. I'm in UK. Yeah I had thought about knocking a socket over the head, had to do that to get locking wheelnuts off that someone kindly airgunned on way too tight! My original idea was to just cut the bolt head off and then as the rotor pulls away from the hub the caliper hanger will come with it. Then the hanger will have the remains of the bolt in it I can put the bolt in the vice and spin the hanger off. It's not a lack of tools it's how bad the bolt has been rounded off, someone has definately had a go before at getting this bolt off and failed.
Rich.

Time for brakes!

Re: Time for brakes!