Brake caliper clean up.

[Anchorman]

I changed the wheels back to the original 19 inch summers and used the opportunity to clean up the calipers which after 12 months and 12000 miles were looking quite poor.

Brake pipe clamped, caliper off and then the carrier, all the parts including pads, shims and carrier clips all cleaned. Following reports on here that the guide pins were not properly lubricated, they were stripped out too. Well mine were well greased and like new pins!

I had new pads on stand by but mine were 6mm and the new ones 9.5mm. They were made by Ferodo in my home town and have made their way to Hiroshima for building on to my CX-5! I checked all the edges for lift, cleaned out the groove and assembled the shims with clean ceratec grease.

A word of caution. When you push the pistons back in, if the boot inflates like this, make sure you get the air out or it will get trapped by the pad and end up split. Certain doom will follow.

I used a small pick to carefully let the air out.

After much cleaning and wire brushing, the parts were dried in the obvious place,

Build it all up, pop the pads in at the back and twist them in,

Put the caliper back, guide pins and bleed the brake. When done it looks like this.

Eventually with the wheel fitted, it looks a treat,

 

[batmancx]

nice write up Anchorman ! awesome job, what kind of wire brush did you use to clean the calipers, can you post a link or picture?

the calipers look brand new now.
so you just used wire brush and brake degreaser/cleaner spray ?

thanks for the tip on the dental pick/trapped air in piston boot.

also did you add new grease to the pins and rubber boots , if so did you Sil-Glyde ?

 

[Guest2019C20]

Nice write-up, great photos. I would have used a LOT less shim anti-squeal grease. I'd worry it would migrate onto the pads/rotors. I generally wipe a microscopically thin layer on the back of the pad, and on both sides of the shims.

 

[Conrad 16.5]

Well done sir! Nice write up.

Did you consider painting the calipers while you had them off?

 

[madar]

I had a problem squirreling the piston boots in as well, damned air bubble just didn't want to go away.

 

[CX-5um]

Calipers look brand new. Good job.

 

[Ride92]

looks good! I'm going to be cleaning my brakes and wheel well area when I switch back to the stock wheels for summer as well. The one thing I'm going to do is paint the rotor hats black again. They are showing signs of surface rust and don't look so good anymore.

 

[finch204]

Nicely done! Looks great!

 

[Anchorman]

nice write up Anchorman ! awesome job, what kind of wire brush did you use to clean the calipers, can you post a link or picture?

the calipers look brand new now.
so you just used wire brush and brake degreaser/cleaner spray ?

thanks for the tip on the dental pick/trapped air in piston boot.

also did you add new grease to the pins and rubber boots , if so did you Sil-Glyde ?

I’ve shown a picture of the wire brushes. Mine are sold by Pagid here in Europe but I imagine you can get similar in the US. I think the small ones came from Lowes (I spend summer in the US). The grease I used is also shown. Its called Ceratec and is ceramic based. It has a high lubricity and is safe for the rubber parts and perfect for the guide pins too. The pads are there for scale.

Nice write-up, great photos. I would have used a LOT less shim anti-squeal grease. I'd worry it would migrate onto the pads/rotors. I generally wipe a microscopically thin layer on the back of the pad, and on both sides of the shims.

I would have done at one time but you can see from this photo that even after 12 months and 12000 miles, there was still quite a lot between the shims from original assembly. A lot of people make the mistake of using copper based grease which is a disaster as all it does is congeal after a few weeks to become a solid mess of clay which is what that product is based on. None of the brake manufacturers use or recommend copper grease for any reason around a brake - horrible stuff. Ceratec stays just where you put it and won’t melt even at high temperature. I used to develop friction materials for Ferodo (hence the handle) and modern pads act as a thermal barrier to keep heat forwards through the disc (the medium used to dissipate heat) and to protect the bond between the friction material and the backplate. Oh, and by the way, I use the same ceratec grease liberally around the hub when I mount the wheels and even after a year they drop off as good as new with none of that corroding to the hub mullarky.

I had a problem squirreling the piston boots in as well, damned air bubble just didn't want to go away.

These are the picks I used. I bought this Kobalt set from Lowes. The air took a bit of chasing out but you have to be patient!

looks good! I'm going to be cleaning my brakes and wheel well area when I switch back to the stock wheels for summer as well. The one thing I'm going to do is paint the rotor hats black again. They are showing signs of surface rust and don't look so good anymore.

Yes, with the luxury of time I would have possibly given mine another coat. Some discs are black and some silver but as long as you don’t look through the wheel at a rust top hat then it doesn’t shout at you.

My nemesis came today when I cleaned up the wheels before putting them away until the autumn - I hate cleaning and waxing wheels! I first washed them with TFR and then soaked the tar with tar remover;

They do eventually clean up. I bought these 17 inch wheels second hand so unlike my 19’s they are never going to be perfect;

Then to coat them with a wax sealant. I use Chemical Guys Jetseal 109 which is allegedly used treat aircraft bodies. It provides a good coating and makes the wheels easy to clean. Am I wasting my time? Maybe but it gives a nice finish and certainly makes me feel better about not leaving them exposed to brake dust and tar.

We get Seattle weather here for much of the year so while we had an unusually nice day I also gave the engine a quick wash down;

The door shuts get done every wash;

.....and it is now starting to look better for the summer;

 

[Anchorman]

I also practised putting the rear brake into maintenance mode. This is a combination of pressing the handbrake switch and the accelerator pedal to initiate the motors winding the parking brake right back. I just wanted to try for when I paint the rears sometime soon. I will detail the process with photos when I get round to it. I will be changing the oil tomorrow and resetting the oil maintenance indicator ready for presenting it to the dealer for service. It has to go there for inspection as they add it to the digital inspection record. There is no service record book!

 

[blackcx5]

thanks Anchorman ! for the tip on the Mintex Cera Tec, looks like good stuff can handle up to 1000C with no problems ,

I think much better than copper grease, I can confirm your statement that those metallic greases do eventually clump up and turn to clay after a while.... I'll use the Cer Tec on the brake pads back but still stick with Sil-glyde as that has proven to work well and not swell up the rubber boot of caliper pins...

thx for picture of wire brush, did you use any spray cleaner or just cleaned with the wire brush ?

just got the Ceratec from eBay fro $3.65 shipped to USA

http://www.ebay.com/itm/182457472816



for caliper pins, NAPA Sil-Glyde

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

 

[Anchorman]

thanks Anchorman ! for the tip on the Mintex Cera Tec, looks like good stuff can handle up to 1000C with no problems ,

I think much better than copper grease, I can confirm your statement that those metallic greases do eventually clump up and turn to clay after a while.... I'll use the Cer Tec on the brake pads back but still stick with Sil-glyde as that has proven to work well and not swell up the rubber boot of caliper pins...

thx for picture of wire brush, did you use any spray cleaner or just cleaned with the wire brush ?

just got the Ceratec from eBay fro $3.65 shipped to USA

http://www.ebay.com/itm/182457472816



for caliper pins, NAPA Sil-Glyde

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

I used a normal engine degreaser to get the heavy grease off then brake cleaner to evaporate any residue off. The paint was silver smoothrite which is a high temperature paint which you can also get with a hammered finish. I will study that sylglide when I come over in June.

 

[Ride92]

I don't think you're wasting time or money waxing the wheels. I use Collinite 476s Durable double coat wax to wax my wheels. Seems to last long time and definitely makes washing them easier.

 

[Anchorman]

I don't think you're wasting time or money waxing the wheels. I use Collinite 476s Durable double coat wax to wax my wheels. Seems to last long time and definitely makes washing them easier.

I use Collinite on the body but will try the liquid version when this Jetseal runs out.

 

[gova]

Ain't brake dust going to mix with this goo you put on the pads? It must eventually, me thinks.

 

[Ride92]

I use Collinite on the body but will try the liquid version when this Jetseal runs out.

Are you talking about collinite 845? If so that stuff is great! Easier to apply and remove on the body then the 476s is although if applied thin like it's suppose to be I don't find 476 difficult to remove at all. The thing I like about 845 is that it doesn't turn the plastics white as long as you wipe off in due time and don't let the sun bake it on

 

[tomcat1446]

........
A word of caution. When you push the pistons back in, if the boot inflates like this, make sure you get the air out or it will get trapped by the pad and end up split. Certain doom will follow.

I used a small pick to carefully let the air out.

nice write up thx...... just a suggestion,

maybe a Neiko rounded spoon tip O-ring tool might be better and less likely to puncture the rubber boot ?



https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

 

[Anchorman]

nice write up thx...... just a suggestion,

maybe a Neiko rounded spoon tip O-ring tool might be better and less likely to puncture the rubber boot ?



https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

Never seen such a tool but yes that should work well. The boots are quite tough.