Did brakes now the front is wearing alot faster and i have no e brake ????

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2003 Mazda protege5
so i got new pads and rotors i couldnt for the life of me figure out how to get the screw behind the rear calipers to adjust the tension to put the new ones on so i took of the e brake bracket/cable on the LR and after the rear wouldnt budge so i loosened the screw no i have nothing catching in the rear and to much in the front i dont understand ??
 
There is a bolt on the backs of the calipers. IIRC, it has a copper gasket on it.

You remove that, and inside the hole is the adjuster, you a hex/allen wrench to tighten down the piston, it helps if you have some one spin the tire while tightening.

When the tire stops spinning, and cannot be moved by hand, back off maybe a 1/4 turn.

Then adjust your parking brake.

Don't forget to put the bolt back in.

That's how I do it.
 
that would be great if you can and also when u say "When the tire stops spinning, and cannot be moved by hand," is that like a normal strength turn or like putting your purse down strength ? i was also having trouble with the bracket on the e brake cable it kept wanting to hit the strut-- minkushunter
 
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when u say "When the tire stops spinning, and cannot be moved by hand," is that like a normal strength turn or like putting your purse down strength ?
I don't have a purse, but it is probably somewhere in between. It shouldn't be too hard to turn, you could probably do it with a driver.


that would be great if you can
I am not anywhere near my P5 right now, but I will try to find a picture for you.
 
pic12-6100__ra_p.jpg

I put a red arrow pointing to the bolt with the copper gasket that you need to remove to get to the adjuster.

The adjuster is loose inside, and it might come out with your hex/Allen wrench. I think it is clockwise to push in the piston, and counter-clockwise to release it. But, I am not 100% sure.
 
I did my rears recently. you have to fiddle with it to get the adjustment just right. I was even able to go back and adjust it with the car on the ground. when I did my rears the brakes seemed to be grabbing too much but after driving around a little bit they seemed to have self-adjusted now they work great. if your pads are wearing unevenly they are either installed incorrectly or the calipers are bad.
 
I did my rears recently. you have to fiddle with it to get the adjustment just right. I was even able to go back and adjust it with the car on the ground. when I did my rears the brakes seemed to be grabbing too much but after driving around a little bit they seemed to have self-adjusted now they work great. if your pads are wearing unevenly they are either installed incorrectly or the calipers are bad.
I had a similar experience when adjusting my rears, it took a few times to get them right.

As for the OP's uneven wear issue, I'd bet money that it is wearing more in the front due to the rears' pistons not being adjusted. The rear may not even be braking at all.
 
Working at a brake shop we never ever adjusted disc brakes only drum brakes. I didnt even know we had an adjustment.
 
Working at a brake shop we never ever adjusted disc brakes only drum brakes. I didnt even know we had an adjustment.

I believe this.

Mechanics not properly installing my P5s rear brakes was a big part of me doing all my own work on my cars. I only go to a repair show for alignments and tire mounting.

Every time I had my rear brakes done by a shop, they said my rear calipers were seized, because they didnt know how to get the piston back in.
 
Working at a brake shop we never ever adjusted disc brakes only drum brakes. I didn*t even know we had an adjustment.

I was quoted $250 for all four pads and rotors but then got a call to say the calipers were seized.
It ended up costing me $740 for one new rear caliper installed and they magically got the other one going.

About 6 months later, I was at a Mazda dealer where they ran my VIN to find out that both my rear calipers had already been replaced.

Our caliper might be different, but they have software called Mitchell that tells them everything about every car and being as he didn't look it up, it cost me $500.

As for the OP,.. If you've got your rear pads and rotors installed with the P-brake hooked up, you can just get in your car push the brake pedal hard, then pull the P-brake handle about 30-50 times.
This operates the self adjusters to set the rear calipers.

If you don't have your rear brakes installed or fully connected, you'll need to back off the calipers to make room for the thicker new pads.

You can also rotate your brake piston to turn it in but you could rip your boot if it's stuck to the piston and it's best to use the adjuster screws.



Hers a thread showing the internals of the rear calipers...
(Photobucket stole my pictures,.. I'll put them back in at the end of the thread.)

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123863018-Rear-caliper-dissection&highlight=
 
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As for the OP's uneven wear issue, I'd bet money that it is wearing more in the front due to the rears' pistons not being adjusted. The rear may not even be braking at all.

Agreed,.. The rear calipers set the brake pedal height.

If the rear calipers aren't set right, your brake pedal will travel a lot further with the front grabbing first.


When everything is set right, you should have 5-7 clicks on your P-brake handle.
If not, there is an adjustment for the handle.

 
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