Relacing front Disks -any problems ? 2006 Octavia

[ecr]

The title says it all really. My front disks need changing (at 160000 miles) and id like to do the job myself. Any "gotchas" ? Does anyone have torque figures for this job ?

Thanks in anticipation .....

[Tilt]

Many would 'slap me silly' but I do not use torque figures. I use common sense.

 

Does everyone use torque wrench when changing a wheel? :no: .

 

Bolts have been around much longer than torque wrenches.  .

 

A pretty simple job really. Use copper grease on the shims / clips / and back of pads.

Edited 31 January, 2016 by Tilt

[King85]

Many would 'slap me silly' but I do not use torque figures. I use common sense.

 

Does everyone use torque wrench when changing a wheel? :no: .

 

Bolts have been around much longer than torque wrenches.  .

 

A pretty simple job really. Use copper grease on the shims / clips / and back of pads.

 

Agreed, if I can get the figures i'll use them but no problem if not. Pay attention when you take them off to get an idea of the tightness required.

 

I do torque my wheel nuts when I put them on tough but that may just be me.

[gav_is_con]

The grub screw could be difficult to remove for the disk. Impact driver useful for this.

If you need to remove the caliper and carrier to get the disk off. I am not saying you have to [emoji1]. The carrier is held in with a special torx/Allen key type pin. So check you have all tools before jacking up at the weekend and realising you haven't, like I did when I first got the Octy.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guest]

workshop-manuals.com

[wiilydog]

Brake caliper carrier bolts are 190 nm

[logiclee]

 

Does everyone use torque wrench when changing a wheel? :no: .

 

 

 

 

Yes. I have a torque wrench in the boot.

[TsvRS]

Agreed, if I can get the figures i'll use them but no problem if not. Pay attention when you take them off to get an idea of the tightness required.

 

I do torque my wheel nuts when I put them on tough but that may just be me.

A bit pedantic maybe but because the wheel bolts are (and should be) unlubricated the torque to remove them could be far too high for putting them on.

[Tilt]

Does everyone use torque wrench when changing a wheel? :no: .

 

 

Yes. I have a torque wrench in the boot.

Are you everyone then, Lee??? :think: .

Edited 31 January, 2016 by Tilt

[logiclee]

Are you everyone then, Lee??? :think: .

 

Just one of many.

[King85]

A bit pedantic maybe but because the wheel bolts are (and should be) unlubricated the torque to remove them could be far too high for putting them on.

Thus why I said it's just an idea of tightness.

[Tech1e]

Wheel bolts are 120 Nm.

What Octavia as FSIII equipped cars you don't have a seperate carrier to remove.

*Edit typo

Edited 1 February, 2016 by Tech1e

[brad1.8T]

 

 

Does everyone use torque wrench when changing a wheel? :no: .

I do these days.  The correct torque for the wheel bolts (120Nm) is suprisingly "loose".  My "nip up"  was about 180Nm and the local tyre-monkeys use about 250nm.  And I thought I had a calibrated elbow (professional mechanic, blah, blah, blah).

 

To the OP:

This book is for a Golf but all the torque settings are correct for the Octavia too.  It also tells you which bolts are "stretch bolts".

 

http://www.norcalmotorsports.org/users/bryan/mods/Golf_R/Tech/2013%20Golf,%20GTI%20&%20Golf%20R%20Quick%20Reference%20Specification%20Book.pdf

[Tilt]

I do these days.  The correct torque for the wheel bolts (120Nm) is suprisingly "loose".  My "nip up"  was about 180Nm and the local tyre-monkeys use about 250nm.  And I thought I had a calibrated elbow (professional mechanic, blah, blah, blah).

 

To the OP:

This book is for a Golf but all the torque settings are correct for the Octavia too.  It also tells you which bolts are "stretch bolts".

 

http://www.norcalmotorsports.org/users/bryan/mods/Golf_R/Tech/2013%20Golf,%20GTI%20&%20Golf%20R%20Quick%20Reference%20Specification%20Book.pdf

Just curious, brad, but any reason why you have put the words stretch bolts in quotation marks?

 

I have my own thoughts on these and would be interested to hear others opinions.

[wiilydog]

guess stretch bolts are only suppose to be used once as they are tighten to specific torque + certain degree, so you are suppose to get new ones every time they have been removed.

[Tech1e]

A fair few of our bolts also have a green coating on the. This is to prevent a reaction between the steel bolt and an aluminium component. These bolts should also be replaced if removed b

[brad1.8T]

Just curious, brad, but any reason why you have put the words stretch bolts in quotation marks?

 

I have my own thoughts on these and would be interested to hear others opinions.

Mainly to highlight that they aren't standard bolts.  I do tend to re-use them on my own car 3 or 4 times but acknowledge that each tightening cycle weakens the bolt.  It's not something I recommend others do.  They are cheap to replace in the UK but down here in AUS spares prices are 200-300% more.  

 

A better idea (for me) is to replace the stretch bolts with standard grade 8 bolts and a dab of loktite.  You have to work out the appropriate torque if you do that.

 

This isn't a problem on the front brakes as there are no stretch bolts fitted (that I can remember).

[ecr]

For future reference, this is what I did:

Jack the car and remove the wheel. This exposes the disk and caliper. Lever the brake pads away from the disk so that the caliper can be pulled free from the disk (there will be a wear ridge on the periphery of the disk). Remove the 2 bolts holding the caliper to the upright and tie the caliper up out of the way (don’t strain the brake pipe). Remove the one countersunk torx screw holding the disk to the upright .The disk can now be removed (a few hammer blows will unstick it). Reassemble in reverse order using the correct torque on all fastenings and Loctite on the caliper to upright bolts. I used 190nm on the caliper to upright bolts as advised above in this thread 

[Vegasphil]

Plenty of advice in here. Lots of useful tutorials on YouTube as it's quite an easy job.

I always wd40 the grub screw and hit it with a hammer to shock/loosen before unscrewing. You kind of only get one shot and if you round the screw off it adds a lot of time and faffing to get it off!

[xman]

I've just changed front discs/pads on fsiii fitted 2011 Octavia. I'm a little confused by some of the advice here.

Firstly the carrier does not need to be removed, just the 2 slide pins that the caliper floats on. Buying a decent 7mm brake caliper Allen key tool (laser brand on eBay under £4) or using a 7mm Allen key socket bit is essential for ease of removing these.

They are tight to remove but not 190nm!! I would guess no more than 50 or 60nm. Surely the 190nm applies to the carrier bolts. The front pins don't have loctite applied afaik. 190nm on the slide pins is likely to strip the pin/carrier threads.

The disc is "secured" with a small countersunk torx bolt, using a correctly fitting torx bit I didn't have a problem with these. A rubber mallet should be used to persuade the discs to part from the hub, but I found that a small squirt of penetrating oil in all the wheel bolt holes helped, it readily sank in between the disc and hub joint and the discs literally fell off.

A tip for removing discs off the hub

[xman]

Further to my previous post, I also question why you need to use copper grease on the clips or backs of pads. There are no shims, the outer pad doesn't move relative to the caliper and the inner pad doesn't move relative to the piston. All this will do is mix up with brake dust and become cement like goo. If anything might benefit from a very very thin smear of copper grease it would be where the pads slide against the carrier, even that I have some doubts.

There is no doubt that regular cleaning and stripdown every couple of years to clean the caliper/carrier/slide pins of gunk is the way to stop pads sticking and maximise disc/pad life and optimise performance. A good garage will charge no more than an hours labour to do that, years ago it was part of a major service.

All bolts should always be tightened dry, don't use grease or oil on the threads or seats as this will make over tightening/ stripping etc much easier. Torque figures are always dry, never lubricated unless specifically stated.

I think its good practice to open the bleed valve before pushing back the piston, as it will not push dirty/thermally cycled fluid back through the abs block, and also stops it spilling out from the reservoir. You can use a bleed kit to stop air getting in at this stage.

Finally, I used a torx key to remove the disc securing screw. This allows far more leverage than a driver.

Edited 27 February, 2016 by xman

[brad1.8T]

For future reference, this is what I did:

Jack the car and remove the wheel. This exposes the disk and caliper. Lever the brake pads away from the disk so that the caliper can be pulled free from the disk (there will be a wear ridge on the periphery of the disk).

You forgot about removing the cap off the master cylinder and extracting excess brake fluid and putting a rag over the top so it doesn't squirt all over the paintwork.  Don't retract brake pistons unless the lid is off.

 

I've just changed front discs/pads on fsiii fitted 2011 Octavia. I'm a little confused by some of the advice here.

Firstly the carrier does not need to be removed, just the 2 slide pins that the caliper floats on. Buying a decent 7mm brake caliper Allen key tool (laser brand on eBay under £4) or using a 7mm Allen key socket bit is essential for ease of removing these.

They are tight to remove but not 190nm!! I would guess no more than 50 or 60nm. Surely the 190nm applies to the carrier bolts. The front pins don't have loctite applied afaik. 190nm on the slide pins is likely to strip the pin/carrier threads.

 

There's no need to guess, just RTFM that I linked to.

 

The caliper carrier to hub bolt is 190Nm.

 

The slider pin bolt is 30Nm.

 

The brake disc to wheel bearing bolt is 4Nm

 

The wheel bolts are 120Nm

 

 

Are you sure the discs can be removed without removing the carrier?

 

 

 

Further to my previous post, I also question why you need to use copper grease on the clips or backs of pads. There are no shims, the outer pad doesn't move relative to the caliper and the inner pad doesn't move relative to the piston. All this will do is mix up with brake dust and become cement like goo. If anything might benefit from a very very thin smear of copper grease it would be where the pads slide against the carrier, even that I have some doubts.

There is no doubt that regular cleaning and stripdown every couple of years to clean the caliper/carrier/slide pins of gunk is the way to stop pads sticking and maximise disc/pad life and optimise performance. A good garage will charge no more than an hours labour to do that, years ago it was part of a major service.

All bolts should always be tightened dry, don't use grease or oil on the threads or seats as this will make over tightening/ stripping etc much easier. Torque figures are always dry, never lubricated unless specifically stated.

I think its good practice to open the bleed valve before pushing back the piston, as it will not push dirty/thermally cycled fluid back through the abs block, and also stops it spilling out from the reservoir. You can use a bleed kit to stop air getting in at this stage.

Finally, I used a torx key to remove the disc securing screw. This allows far more leverage than a driver.

Good advice.

 

I use copper or moly grease an any "touching" surfaces as it reduces the likelihood of brake squeal.

[xman]

Are you sure the discs can be removed without removing the carrier?

Definitely no problem (On the fsiii with 280mm discs). As soon as the disc comes away from the hub it can be twisted to clear the hub and slide sideways. Plenty of room to clear the carrier.

[xman]

I used 190nm on the caliper to upright bolts as advised above in this thread

I fear you mean the slide pin bolts which should be 30nm !!!

[brad1.8T]

I fear you mean the slide pin bolts which should be 30nm !!!

Upright = hub carrier.

 

If he's used 190Nm on the sliders then they've sheared off already