Protege5 brake issues

[Kermit51]

Hi all,

I'm a new Mazda owner, bought a Protege5 in May. Almost a month after we bought the car, the front and rear brake pads, rotors and calipers were replaced. As it turns out, the previous owner had done the same work and replaced the whole brake system in 2010. I'm not too familiar with cars, but it seems odd to me that the entire brake system would need to be replaced within 2 years of it being done in the first place. Does anyone have any idea what would cause the brake system to fail like that? And any tips for preventive maintenance so I can save myself this repair bill in 2 years?

 

[wallabe]

How many miles does the car have on it? Other then miles I would say cheap replacement parts, but even still they would hold up for some time.

 

[tweety2300]

Did you do it yourself? What exactly went wrong?
Sounds more like a shady mechanic to me

 

[wallabe]

Calm down Tweety, Kermit meet Tweety our resident "Mechanic" hater. LOL

 

[JiggaBro]

im 100% with tweety on this one. hardly EVER do you hear of someone ACTUALLY needing the ENTIRE brake system REPLACED.

 

[tweety2300]

Times are hard they gotta make their money too. I can understand the rear calipers seizing as that's common but there is rarely any issues with front brakes.

After 2 years I can see pads being replaced. Rotors if your very rough with the brakes and ride them down a mountain every day. But absolutely no reason for the calipers after 2 years.

On average pads should last 2-3 years, rotors 4+ years, calipers can last for more than 10. I have 2 original calipers on my mp3 the other 2 were replaced last year.


I don't hate mechanics, not all of them are bad but there are a lot of shady ones out there.

 

[616Nickel]

That sounds dodgy. The P5 has a known issue with the rear calipers seizing and needing to be replaced, but I haven't heard of systematic problems with the front calipers, let alone the rotors.

I replaced my left rear caliper a few weeks ago when I noticed that the piston wouldn't move when trying to adjust the parking brake. When I flushed the brake fluid, what looked like water along with debris came out with the old fluid, and when I took the caliper apart, I found that rust had accumulated on the piston, locking it in place, as shown in this post. At the same time, I checked all the other calipers and greased the sliders, and they all seem to work fine. I believe the remaining three calipers are original, and if so they've lasted for 168,000 km.

In retrospect, I could probably have gotten away with cleaning out the caliper and sanding the rust off the piston rather than replacing the whole thing, and maybe I'll try that if the other rear caliper seizes up. And I'll be completely flushing the brake fluid every year, to prevent water from accumulating in the caliper reservoirs right at the lowest point of the brake system. But the front calipers--lacking the complex parking-brake adjustment mechanism--are really pretty simple, and it's not clear to me what would possibly justify replacing the entire system after only two years. Replacing the pads or worn/warped rotors, sure. Flushing the system, absolutely. Replacing a seized rear caliper, yes. But the whole thing? In the absence of a more detailed explanation, something seems fishy.

 

[tweety2300]

I mean a seized caliper can destroy a rotor and pads. The fishy part is all 4 corners at the same time after just 2 years of doing the same thing