Tips for changing pads

Just gimme a shout mate.

 

if you force the pistons back in then the fluid goes back up the pipe and into the resevoir.. so its easier to take the resevoir cap off then you have less pressure to fight against... obv if the fluid level is already high then you may need to remove some from the resevoir first or it will just p*ss out all over your shiny paintwork . no need to use the bleed nipple unless you want to flush the fluid out or bleed them . i just got a few cheap syringes off the bay for that , suck the excess fluid out of the resevoir nice and easy . other than that its clean the caliper and pistonsm smear of copper grease on back of pad/shim if present , and sliding pin and reassemble.. if you not sure either myself, alan or im sure plenty of other people dont mind offering ahand with it.. pretty sure alan is closest but im only up in lydd... altho im sure alan will moan about the lack of tea/coffee he gets when he pops over

 

bah the old git posted as i was typing lol

 

Yeah, if you want a brew, come to my place Jack.

 

Alright think i will take you up on that! thanks for all the advice btw everyone really appreciate it will let you know about it tomorrow night/wed morning

 

Ok, I,ll be home on Wednesday evening.

 

Dont listen to these idiots Jack... Here's a helpful vid..



.

 

Haven't watched vid yet Kev, but does it involve chucking loadsa brake fluid on the patio???

 

He waited until the camera was turned off to discover that pushing the pistons all the way in had caused his reservoir to overflow.

More sensibly, though, remembering that brake fluid is hygroscopic (absorbs water), I think I'd prefer to wash all those parts of the braking system with brake disc cleaner and I'd use gloves, too - brake fluid is pretty aggressive stuff, as is the accumulated brake dust from most brake pads. Not good for skin and really, really not good for lungs... I know there are seals around the pistons and the job was being done very carefully - being a bit more ham-fisted, I'd likely have popped one of the pistons out at exactly the moment I was squeezing more warm soapy water onto the caliper.

A good 'How To' film, though, Kev - well done! If it encourages folks who do not consider themselves to be mechanically-minded to have a go (maybe with a supervising Mate) then it's a Good Thing.

 

One of the worst mistakes with fitting new pads, is pushing the pistons in to allow the new pads to be fitted. This just pushes all the crud that is sticking to the pistons into the dust seals and ultimately the hydraulic seals. I always remove old pads, fit 5mm spacer(alloy or mdf) between all pistons and then pump em OUT until I can see clean pistons. Clean em with suitable cleaner and only then push em in.

 

A good thing to remember is to loosen the pin or pins that goes through the anti rattle spring & pads, before you unscrew the caliper mounting bolts and take the caliper off. Sometimes these pins can seized or patched and are a pain to uncrew when the caliper is off it's mounts.

Sporty, no wonder your teeth are all blacked!

 

went to alans after work today and he helped me out with changing the pads and all the cleaning of the pistons which was really good to learn how to do.. gunna do the back break hopefully sunday if i get the chance cos we only done the front but im pretty confident that i'll have no problems

 

Best keep Alan's number handy! That or a chiropracter, if I take your post literally: "...do the back break..."

 

Haha yeah I've got it saved he's helped me with couple of bits before and once again my English skills have let me down (notice how i put a capital E on England.. surely that makes up for me putting break instead of brake )

 

Know what i've just realized i didnt even write the word England i wrote english? i dont even know if that needs a big E but i dont think i can talk my way out of this one... that was just plain

 

A good point Richard . I did fail to mention this in the vid and someone else on my channel picked up on the same thing.

I left the cap on. I was really surprised i could do this but the pistons moved freely with the reservoir cap on. Fluids all at the correct level etc, otherwise.... yes, i would probably be looking at a tank respray

 

I mention this only because I did exactly that with my old Landy, but then the volume of fluid being moved in a LandRover when you press the middle pedal is much bigger than when you pull the brake lever on a bike - more importantly, I would guess the ratio between volume of fluid being moved and volume in the reservoir is far bigger on a bike, so the net effect of playing with the bike brake pistons is minimal.

 

there is an air gap in the resevoir along with a rubber diapragm that allows pressure changes, to account for pistons moving backwards and forwards so depending on how much fluid is displaced you can push them back in with the cap on. however if your pistons were nearing the end of their travel, but you had topped the fluid up to max line then you may find that there is insufficient space in the resevoir to fully depress them. again it will vary on piston diameter and length as tow much fluid is displaced