pfsantos

iTrader: (1)

OP - whether the way you're being given advice is to your liking or not, doesn't change it from being GOOD advice. Never work on a system for the first time by yourself. Anyone having experience with rear disk brakes (and some common sense) will be an asset to stand by you.

Some FSM, parts fiche and training manual links are in my sig. (I think the pic. above is from there).

It is not clear whether you removed the caliper away from the caliper bracket. You want to remove the two screws that hold the caliper to the caliper bracket. These screws not only hold the caliper on, but are part of the slider mechanism which allow the caliper to slide. When the piston on the inside pushes out, the caliper slides towards the inside so that the outer brake pad compresses against the rotor.

Although for pad replacement you could theoretically remove just the lower screw and tilt, a lot of times the slider is seized enough to the calper that you cannot do this. You'd have to therefore remove both screws, (make sure the e-brake is off) and rubber hammer the caliper away from the pads and bracket.

It needs to be repeated that the rear caliper pistons will only compress by turning them while applying a bit of force pushing them inside. The sliders need to be properly unseized and freed up or replaced - use slider grease.

To remove the rotor you have to remove the caliper bracket. The two screws (one of them you believe to have the nut rounded or damaged) are sometimes fine, but covered in crud, rust, etc., so make sure that isn't the case. You can sometimes tap a the proper socket with a plastic mallet and it will move the crap around the bolt head out and you end up with a decent head.

I beat around the bush a little, because you have to look at the whole system and everything around it and not just replace what's broken, but do an overall check of everything - be thorough.

ITSWILL

iTrader: (12)

checking out this post really makes me appreciate all the times my father had me help him do little repairs on our cars. I know for sure doing my first brake job on my own would have been really dangerous!

enj01, you must know someone who can help you and if you dont maybe it would be a good idea to look into a local car club where you could get some help. I understand you were coming here for help but unfortunately you cant find that over the shoulder kind of help here.

Good luck.

TitaniumTT

Here's the perfect ******* example kid. About 12 years ago I was spinning wrenches in a local garage to put myself through college when this guy walks in, an aquaintance of the owner. He start complaining about his brakes so I throw the car (phord taurus) up on the lift and check it out - yup - pads are shot the **** so I gave him a quote. He didn't like it and left. About 6 months later he comes BACK in again, complaining about his brakes. He said he had them taken care of by another shop but they never felt right. Turns out he lied and he did them himself. So as I'm driving the piece of **** in the pedal goes down to the floor and there is this wierd whirring noise. Best way to describe is when you talk into a fan. NEVER heard brakes make a noise like that. So I send the piece of **** into the air and blast the wheels off and the first thing that I notice is the inside of the wheel is wet I look at the outboard drivers side and the the rotor is a little rusty I look at the inside and there is no friction surface left on the rotor!!! The cooling vanes were exposed!?! The ******* dumbass screwed up on the pad locating pins and effectively jammed the caliper not allowing it to slide. The inside pad was doing all the work and wore itself down so fast that the pad with no material left on it wore 1/2 way through the rotor. Oh, the piston in the caliper was leaking like a siv and he had virtually no brake fluid left. In other word his inexperience alomst left him out of control with no brakes. Retarded SOB, ended up costing him like 3x the original estimate.

So I say it again, put the tools down and step away from the brakes until you learn a few things - like what a bolt looks like for one.

Acesanugal

iTrader: (5)

I think everyone in this thread needs a time out!

kontakt

He's trying to keep you from getting you and someone else hurt. He is not saying you are too stupid (or are ya?), he's just saying that you don't have the knowledge. That's nothing to be ashamed of, you came here and asked for the knowledge. The issue is that the brakes are possibly the single most important safety feature on any vehicle. This is why it is extremely important to do everything right, and not everything is as obvious as it.

Anyone doing a brake job should either know what they're doing, or be supervised.

My dad had me watch him do the brakes on our truck the first time I did brakes, and then watched me do the brakes on the sedan. To me, that is the very least training someone should have to do a brake job on their own. Anyone who doesn't know that every caliper is held on by at least 2 bolts does not have the knowledge to do the job safely.

We are also saying that you shouldn't drive around on known bad brakes as you openly admit. If you crash because of it I hope they find this thread so that the insurance company knows that the brakes were a known issue.

MmSadda

iTrader: (2)

....by 'deformed bumpy nub', do you happen to mean 'bolt'?

MmSadda

iTrader: (2)

Like other have said, you should get some help on this. First, primarily watch someone else do your first side, then have him watch you do the second and advise if necessary. Then you can do it on your own in the future.

OH, and TT has probably forgotten more about the FC than you've ever read, heard, or known. That said, I understand that you are a delicate little flower, so we'll all try to be super nice to you today.

MmSadda

iTrader: (2)

so, did we ever get to remove that gosh darned nub that was all bumpy and buggered up?

TitaniumTT

WIN