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[feeutfo]

whats that noise?.... Ah yes, back pedaling.  ...

Also worth checking the caliper sliders move freely and are not dry. Do not use copper slip for this, grease only.
 

...... Do not use copper slip for this, grease only.
 ......

Why?  :-/  :-/  :-/ I've used it for (more than 27  ) years!

[Andy B]

whats that noise?.... Ah yes, back pedaling.  ...
 ......

Not at all ...... IMO 'proper' grease is no good for the metal to metal contact of the pad's backing plate & the caliper, which is exactly what was discussed in the first place as the sliders don't generally rust due to the boot.

[feeutfo]

whats that noise?.... Ah yes, back pedaling.  ...
 ......

Not at all ...... IMO 'proper' grease is no good for the metal to metal contact of the pad's backing plate & the caliper, which is exactly what was discussed in the first place as the sliders don't generally rust due to the boot.

Pull the other one Andy  .... aaaanyway, as originally stated in response to the original poster, if hes not run off by now, do not use copper slip on the sliders, use grease. And to keep Andy happy, bless him,( )"if" yous pads squeak and you really want to put copper slip on the pad backing you can obviously, but it wont last more than a week before any squeak returns, at which point put the shims on that should come with the pads to sort the squeak out properly.
Hth. :-)

[Andy B]

whats that noise?.... Ah yes, back pedaling.  ...
 ......

Not at all ...... IMO 'proper' grease is no good for the metal to metal contact of the pad's backing plate & the caliper, which is exactly what was discussed in the first place as the sliders don't generally rust due to the boot.

Pull the other one Andy  .... aaaanyway, as originally stated in response to the original poster, if hes not run off by now, do not use copper slip on the sliders, use grease. And to keep Andy happy, bless him,( )"if" yous pads squeak and you really want to put copper slip on the pad backing you can obviously, but it wont last more than a week before any squeak returns, at which point put the shims on that should come with the pads to sort the squeak out properly.
Hth. :-)

 .....    

must resist  ...... must resist ......

[SMD]

im ready to do this...

tool wise, im going to buy this: http://www.screwfix.com/prods/77004/Van-Car-Accessories/Sockets-Hex/Forge-Steel-Socket-Set-3-8-19-Pieces
is this enough and does it have the right size bits?

lubrication wise, http://www.screwfix.com/search.do;jsessionid=VOBE5X2DKAR4YCSTHZPCFFQ?_dyncharset=UTF-8&fh_search=copper+grease&searchbutton.x=0&searchbutton.y=0&searchbutton=submit
is this ok to use? do i need a brake cleaner too?

I always jack the front by locating saddle of jack in the 'lifting cup' on end of chassis arm and then put an axle stand under the main chassis rail.

any chance of a picture please?  

EDIT: i assume torquing the wheels is not necessary?

[Andy B]

....... ..
EDIT: i assume torquing the wheels is not necessary?

You should do really. 81 ft/lbs by the book. If you have to change a wheel on the hard shoulder, you can leave it out to get going, but you don't want your wheel parting company from the hub. :-? Conversely, you want to be able to get the bugger off without a 6' scaffold pole when you're on the hard shoulder.    

[SMD]

had a go at changing the pads today. the wrench that came with the car was nearly rounded so getting the wheel off was a PITA.

looked at the condition of the discs and the back look like this:



Is this what they are supposed to look like? Or are they buggered? Didnt change the pads in the end as I wanted to check here first to see if the discs needed changing too.

fronts look ok:

[Cybertrucker]

Is this what they are supposed to look like?

No.

are they buggered?

Yes.



The back of the disc is badly damaged.  The whole of the pad hasn't been pressing against the disc, and this has allowed part of the disc to rust.  It should be shiny almost to the edge of the disc - see the pic of the front of the disc to see what a nice shiny track should look like.  If you put a new pad in that rust will shred the pad where it rubs against it. Your new pads will be damaged quite quickly, and you may get braking problems as well - if the rusty bit grips the pad too hard your brake might grab, causing the car to pull to that side on braking.
 


The front face looks a lot better, but there's still evidence of damage there. If you look at about the 11 o'clock position you'll see a couple of cracks radiating outwards towards the edge of the disc, and another one at about 10 o'clock.  There are also a lot of radial lines visible on the bottom third of the disc.

The inner damage has probably been caused by the pad not being changed in time and so there's not enough of the friction material left on the pad to contact all the disc, or by the caliper not being able to move freely on the sliders (and I'm not getting drawn into the argument about Copper Slip!).  The damage on the outer face is caused by overheating, either because the brakes have been overused due to some 'overenthusiastic' driving, or possibly in this case because the outer face has been doing all the braking because the inner face hasn't been contributing much.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it's time to dig even deeper into the pocket and shell out for new discs.  Change both sides, don't try to just change this side if the other side looks okay - it's false economy, and could cause the brakes to work better on one side than the other leading to the car pulling to one side or the other when braking.

[Cybertrucker]

EDIT: i assume torquing the wheels is not necessary?

If you've been tinkering with cars for about a hundred years, like some of us on the forum, you'll have a pretty fair idea what "tight enough" feels like (though even we resort to a torque wrench when doing things like tightening head bolts).  As you're taking your first steps in the wonderful world of car repair, though, you won't have that 'feel', so I'd recommend that you buy a torque wrench and go by the numbers.  Otherwise there's a good chance that you'll overtighten or undertighten the bolts.  If you overtighten them it will make it harder for you to get the wheels off (and punctures always happen at night when it's peeing down and you're wearing your best suit and in a hurry to get somewhere!).  It's also theoretically possible that you could overtighten them to the extent that they start to stretch and can break off while you're driving along, but unless you're built like Godzilla or use a scaffolding pole you're unlikely to get them that tight.  If you undertighten them there's a very good chance that they'll come loose again and your wheel can fall off.  

Use a torque wrench - as well as the wheel studs you'll be able to use it on nearly every nut or bolt you take off.  Just about everything on the car has an official torque setting, as calculated by Vauxhall and listed in the various manuals (eg Haynes) so you'll be able to use it on just about every job you do in the future.

[SMD]

thanks for the informative reply  

[TheBoy]

when replacing the discs/pads, ensure the calipers are nice and free...

[Cybertrucker]

Out of interest, and for the education of any OOFers who read this thread in the future, when you do replace the discs and pads is there any chance you could post pics of the pads back to this thread?  If you could photograph the friction material side and indicate which pad was the inner and which the outer on this wheel we can match the wear/damage on the pads to the rust/damage on the discs and perhaps explain to you (and others) exactly what's happened.

[TheBoy]

Out of interest, and for the education of any OOFers who read this thread in the future, when you do replace the discs and pads is there any chance you could post pics of the pads back to this thread?  If you could photograph the friction material side and indicate which pad was the inner and which the outer on this wheel we can match the wear/damage on the pads to the rust/damage on the discs and perhaps explain to you (and others) exactly what's happened.

Or better still, to the Maintenece Guide

[ali]

I have read this post with interest as its my next job on both cars I have got one set of pads already although not sure of make and had hoped not to have to change discs. The front looked ok when I had a quick look but never looked at the back I have learnt how to do things to make the car run better, glow plugs etc but making it stop is a bit more important than getting it going!!! If I get that wrong Im not just stuck with out car   So going to get garage to do them. I have been quoted for pads & discs £190, thats just for 1 car.  Is that about right and as I have had some real bad luck with garages how do I know who to trust :-? maybe I should ask the question in general if  anyone can reccomend anyone local to me

[Andy B]

Out of interest, and for the education of any OOFers who read this thread in the future, when you do replace the discs and pads is there any chance you could post pics of the pads back to this thread?  If you could photograph the friction material side and indicate which pad was the inner and which the outer on this wheel we can match the wear/damage on the pads to the rust/damage on the discs and perhaps explain to you (and others) exactly what's happened.

Can't remember which one it was now!        


as you can see ..... there wasn't much left!