Advice please:

I tried to replace the rear brake pads on my 07 vRS without success. Disassembly was fine but I could not get the piston to retract into the caliper to make room for the new pads. I don't have the correct purpose built tool for that job but on other cars it has been possible to push it back using something as a lever. I also tried loosening the bleed nipple to relieve pressure in the system into my bleeding kit.

Is there some trick I am missing?

Thanks

You need a caliper rewind tool for the rear piston as it needs to be turned as it's pushed back into the piston.

Gotcha. Now I vaguely remember many moons ago having to do the same thing with a rear caliper on my Rover 220 coupe at the time. I have admitted defeat on this job and it is being sorted tomorrow by my friendly, trusted garage. It's better for my blood pressure....

 

Thank you

My rear pads need replacing, but main dealer wants to do the discs too. At 35k miles it's on its first set of pads and discs, and unsurprisingly there is almost no visible wear to the discs. Given its the rear brakes which contribute little to the total braking effect I really can't see why they would need replacing.

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I got 50k from the front pads+disks and 60k from the rears.

 

VRS does seem to be quite hard to the rears compared to other cars I've had.

 

35k seems pretty low unless you are standing on them everyday or they've rusted.

Edited 10 March, 201412 yr by Aspman

Much of the force in gentle/moderate braking is directed to the rear wheels in order to avoid front suspension dive (nasty!), so they seem to wear quicker than you'd expect.

I worked for a large commercial vehicle foundation brake supplier, the engineers told me that rear car brakes account for <10% of all braking effort. I would have thought rear wheel braking at any speed would be highly unsettling to the cars stability.

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A snippet from http://www.knowyourparts.com/product-category/the-basics-of-brakes-and-bearings/

 

"Another factor that has accelerated brake wear (especially rear brake wear) in certain late model vehicles is the change to electronic brake proportioning. The proportioning valve that normally reduces hydraulic pressure to the rear brakes has been eliminated so the rear brakes will handle a higher percentage of the brake load and be more aggressive. The antilock brake system performs the job of brake proportioning by keeping an eye on how the rear brakes are behaving. If the rear brakes start to lock up when braking hard, the ABS system kicks in and cycles pressure to the rear wheels to prevent them from skidding.

This approach helps the vehicle stop in a shorter distance, but also increases rear brake wear dramatically.  This means the rear brakes will often wear out before the front brakes."

This approach helps the vehicle stop in a shorter distance, but also increases rear brake wear dramatically. This means the rear brakes will often wear out before the front brakes."

The rear pads went first on mine at 70k ish. Still on original discs all round at 95k, although about to change front discs and pads.

A snippet from http://www.knowyourparts.com/product-category/the-basics-of-brakes-and-bearings/

"Another factor that has accelerated brake wear (especially rear brake wear) in certain late model vehicles is the change to electronic brake proportioning. The proportioning valve that normally reduces hydraulic pressure to the rear brakes has been eliminated so the rear brakes will handle a higher percentage of the brake load and be more aggressive. The antilock brake system performs the job of brake proportioning by keeping an eye on how the rear brakes are behaving. If the rear brakes start to lock up when braking hard, the ABS system kicks in and cycles pressure to the rear wheels to prevent them from skidding.

This approach helps the vehicle stop in a shorter distance, but also increases rear brake wear dramatically. This means the rear brakes will often wear out before the front brakes."

Interesting link thanks, I didn't know that, and explains why the front pads are only half worn. The rotors are a bit blemished, not scored but not shiny worn like the fronts. Do I need to get them skimmed with the new pads, or will they just bed in? There is no noticeable wear in the rear rotors, barely a lot on the outer edge. Front rotors showing noticeably more wear. So bizarrely the front rotors worn more, but pads fine (unless they changed them in the "free" servicing; unlikely I'd have thought); and rear pads worn, discs fine.

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My rear pads need replacing, but main dealer wants to do the discs too. At 35k miles it's on its first set of pads and discs, and unsurprisingly there is almost no visible wear to the discs. Given its the rear brakes which contribute little to the total braking effect I really can't see why they would need replacing.

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Because the dealers know they can squeeze an extra couple of hundred quid out of non-car-minded folk by pressuring them to have often unnecessary work done on such a vital safety component.