>Seriously though, my Mintex Red Box brake pads just arrived from Autotech.
>That place rules.

So, why is enveryone so down (as in not liking) on Autotech, yet you and I
seem to like them?

>Anyone do the install (of the new brake pads) themselves?

I have...

>Just wanted to know if I could do it me-self, ya know.

Sure, but you will need some tools...

>Got 42k on the stock
>pads, and things are starting to squeal like an old girlfriend of mine.  ;)

More than I wanted to know...unless you have video tape ;-)

>
>Broke 'em out of the box. They look pretty manly all right. They smell like
>a machine shop. Cool.

Please tell me you bought new rotors...if you didn't, go get them NOW!

>Special tools needed? Do I have to "bleed" anything? (besides my knuckles).

Nothing exotic in the tool area, just get a set of metric wrenches and a
reliable socket set, brake fluid (buy it from the dealer...why take
chances), hex key wrench (not sure on the mm size ) for removal of caliper
retaining pins, brake cleaner (in an aerosol can...usually methyene
chloride, but may have new non-chloronated solvents now), c-clamp, someone
to help.

>From my memory (means I can forget stuff)

1) Jack car up and support (So you are safe).

2.)  Remove front tires/wheels.  Open hood.  Remove cap from brake fluid
resevoir, suck out (with a turkey baster or shop suction bulb) most of the
brake fluid from the resevoir.

3)  Pick a side to start on.  Loosen caliper retaining bolts, pull them out
when loose (may need to lightly tap with a hammer).  Lift caliper off disc
and support (so it don't hang on the brake line).

4.)  Remove disc retaning screw and then rotor (may neet to tap gently with
hammer).  Save the retaining screw(philips head)...put it in a pocket or
somthing...you will need it for then new rotor.

5.)  Put new rotor in place and secure with retaining screw.

6.)  Remove pads if they didn't fall off the caliper on their own.

6.)  Use the C-clamp to seat piston back into caliper.  Once in, reinstall
new brake pads and retainer clips (if needed).

8.)  Place caliper with new pads back in place and secure with retaining
bolts (them long suckers you took out earlier).

9.)  notice in pushing the piston back, the resevoir level has risen,
remove old fluid with bulb and top off with fresh (pour slowly so no
bubbles form and so you don't spill, brake fluid will dissolve paint!)

10.)  Place cap on resvoir.  Pump brakes (car off) to seat pads on rotors,
pump until the pedal feels firm (3-5 times usually).  Hold to floor, have
helper loosten bleed screw, and let fluid out.  Repeat until fresh new
fluid comes out.

11.)  Repeat on other side.

12.)  Inspect work to ensure all is secure and all tools are accounted for.
Ensure no "left over parts" exhist.

13.)  Drive car to check for function.  Follow Mintex break in procedure
and enjoy.

>Man, I love this car, this list, and all the cool dudes in here.
>
>I can feel it,......there's alot of love in here.....   :D

Quit sucking up...your welcome.

***********************************************************
Brian Gracek
bgracek@cloudnet
Saint Cloud, Minnesota, USA
Proud Member of the Minnesota Air National Guard...Let Freedom Ring

Joe, to change and bleed the lines, first open the master cap and put a
piece of plastic wrap over the reservoir.  Replace the cap.  This will
keep the fluid from draining out of the lines when you disconnect the
hoses.  When you bleed afterwards, remove the wrap and follow std
bleeding procedures.

Gary Lin

Hi all,

Finally got my host problems solved - missed not being on the list for the past
few days!

Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience with replacing my brake pads (did
the front a few weeks ago, and the rear last night). ...I always like it when
people write about doing a particular maintenance procedure or upgrade that I'm
thinking about doing, so I'll do the same...

A few weeks ago:  I upgraded the front rotors on my '95 GLX to the Velocity
slotted rotors, and Ferodo pads.  I had 62k miles on the stock pads (including
a few autocrosses), and the brake-pad wear indicator FINALLY came on.  Pretty
straightforward installation, following the Bentley's manual, and European
Car's procedure from a long time ago on "Project GLX".

My problems:  Velocity did not have the Ferodo's for the GLX in stock, but they
did have the exact same pads for an Audi.  The only difference:  The plug for
the pad-wear sensor is shaped differently.  I cut the plugs off the new pads,
and soldered on the plugs from the old pads, and everything worked fine.

Second problem:  I read on the list a while back about how easy it is to
mutilate the rotor retaining screw when trying to get it out.  It IS indeed
soft metal.  I followed the advice that I got from the list, and used a
handheld impact driver to get the screws out.  (Of course, I first tried using
a regular screwdriver, and nearly stripped the screw.)  The impact driver
worked great, though.

Third problem:  I wanted to "save" the front rotors, in case I ever needed to
use them again - they weren't in that bad a shape.  But the suckers just would
NOT come off the hub!  (They obviously don't use antiseize at the factory.)
 So, I finally gave in, took the hammer, and WHACKED it all the way around.
 THEN they came off.  Got a lot of dents in the old rotors - guess I'll make a
clock out of them or something.

Installation was a snap.  Used plenty of antiseize between the rotor and hub,
so it won't be so hard to get off next time!

FYI:  I never knew how the brake pad wear sensors work, until I got the old
pads out.  Basically, there's just two wires that go into the pad, and they're
electrically connected with some sort of powder-like substance in the pad.  As
long as this connection is made, the wear-sensor light in the dash stays off.
 When the pad gets worn down near the limit, the power-like substance wears
away, the connection is broken, and the light comes on.  Viola!


Last night:  Installation of rear brake pads.  I wanted to upgrade to the
slotted rear rotors as well, but Velocity's machinist is apparently in the
hospital, and they won't have any rotors for a while! ..Plus, they were out of
the Ferodo's.  They recommended Pagid pads as almost as good, and said on the
rear, it really wouldn't make a difference.  OK, I bought them.  I still
planned to replace the rear wheel bearings, and have the rotors turned, but I
got lazy.  I just replaced the pads, and that's all.  (I figure the bearings
should last through this set of pads, and then I'll replace 'em.  Plus, the
rear rotors looked pretty good - if the new pads wear quicker b/c I didn't have
the rotors turned, the cost will be offset by the fact that I didn't have to
spend more time and money having them turned...)

Problem:  According to Bentley's, when retracting the rear caliper piston, you
have to turn it clockwise as you push it in.  I know there's a tool that'll do
this.  But it's like $60, I think.  According to EC, they used a c-clamp, and
as the clamp turned, it turned the piston.  Great!  So, I planned to use a
brake-pad-piston retractor tool that had a fixed (not floating) end on it,
thinking it would work like a c-clamp.  It didn't.  Once it got tight up
against the piston, it wouldn't go any further, and the piston didn't rotate.
 My (crude) solution:  I tightened up the retractor, then used a pair of
lock-jaw pliers "lightly" clamped around the piston to turn it about half a
turn.  Tighten up the retractor, and turn the piston some more, and so on.  I
noticed that I really didn't even need pressure on the piston - merely rotating
it caused it to retract.  So, it took a lot of care and a few extra minutes,
but it worked!


Results so far:  The car stops, so I'm happy.  I haven't wailed on the brakes
yet, but it stops as well as it did new, and the brakes don't squeek at all.
 So far, the front pads are not as dusty as stock, but I've heard stories
saying Ferodo's are quite dirty. ...Looking at my rear rotors today, I can tell
(I think) where the high spots and low spots on the rotors are - maybe I
should've had them machined. ...But, I figure in a few days, the pads will have
"fit" themselves to the rotors, and we'll be good to go!

...I didn't flush the brake fluid when I did the pads. ...I replaced it with
Super Blue a year ago, and will do it again next year...  The pedal isn't soft
at all, and I won't be doing any track events until next year anyway!

Sorry for the longwinded message!  Just thought I'd share.

Any questions?

Dave

anderson@msai.mea

I'm getting ready to swap out the rotors and pads on my Jetta GLX vr6 and I
was wondering wheatear or not I'll need some specialty tools. Do I need to
invest in a rotor puller or a caliper piston compressor? Please advise. I
looked on the gti-vr6 library, but I guess it has bandwidth problems. Any
suggestions before I start?

Thanks,

Hi Tony -

Most of the special treatment concerns the rear brakes:

1) You'll need a special caliper piston compressor for the rear calipers.
When retracting the piston in the rear caliper, the piston needs to be
turned as it's pushed back in to properly reset the parking brake mechanism.
I'd made a homebrew tool to do that, but one of these is probably better:

http://www.parts4vws.com/catalog/product_detail.asp?PartNumber=T%2E91100A

2) The rear wheel bearing races are pressed into the rear rotors, so you'll
either have to swap them or get new ones and press them in (or have them
pressed in).  I did the "swap" thing once, and it was a royal pain to press
the old ones out and the new ones in (I only had a hammer and a brass drift
as tools).  It costs a bit more, but it's FAR easier to simply buy new
bearings and have the races pressed into the new rotors.  I know that
http://www.parts4vws.com will do that for you; perhaps other places will
too, or you could simply find a local shop to do it for a few bucks or a six
of beer.

3) Don't forget to remove the ABS sensor wheels from the old rear rotors and
put them on the new ones.  Once the rotor is removed from the car, you can
usually press the sensor wheel off by poking a thin screwdriver through the
wheel bolt hole in the rotor and press on the sensor to slide it off the
inner hub.

The fronts are fairly standard disc-brake practice:

4)  A large C-clamp will do for retracting the piston; it's easiest done
while the caliper is still in place on the car.

5) The only special tool for the front that I can think of is that if you
don't have one, you should also get an impact screwdriver to remove the
flat-head phillips screw that holds the front rotor onto the hub.  I got one
for < $10 at a local hardware store.

6) What year is your car?  If it's a '94 or '95 I suspect that you have
"brake pad wear sensors" integral with the front pads.  If your replacement
pads don't have them (they'll have a wire/connector sticking out of them) I
think you'll need to put a jumper on the connector that plugs in to them in
order to keep the dash light off.  On the other hand, if you have a newer
car but the replacement pads have a weird wire/connector sticking out of
them, then simply clip off the wire on the pad to get it out of the way.

7) If you haven't ordered the rotors yet, and ever drive in the rain, I'd
suggest getting at least slotted rotors for the front.  I've found that the
stock (non-slotted) don't drain well when cold (which can get exciting
-o  ).

That's all that I can think of.  Good luck!

Bob T.
'96 GTI-VR6


"Bryan Schmidt" <bschmidt25@wi.rr> wrote:
> Hmm.  When I replaced my front pads and rotors the piston on the left
>  caliper retracted without even having to use a tool.  The right one, on
>  the other hand, would not go back in without a fight.  I spent over an
>  hour getting that thing back in the caliper.