Brake replacement for dummies

Digital · Post by **Digital** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 9:29 pm

I need to replace the discs and pads on my S2 Exige, and rather than doing my usual thing of taking it to the garage, I've been convinced by my friend that it's something I can do myself. So...

In order to do each corner, do I jack at the side jacking point then add an axle stand front and rear for that side of the car? I'm guessing that in order to place the rear axle stand I'll need to remove the undertray at the back?

I've had a look thru these links: http://www.sandsmuseum.com/cars/elise/e ... index.html
and http://elise-faq.info/index.php?title=Pad_change which makes it look fairly straightforward, is there anything else I need to be concerned about?

Cheers,
Jamie

Post by **simon** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:00 pm

Do you really need to replace the discs? My car is a year older and could probably do with new discs but they're not actually at the limit yet. Have you measured them to check?

Digital · Post by **Digital** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:44 pm

Possibly not, the car was in at MMC recently and they suggested the discs would need done shortly, the pads (fronts at least) rather more urgently... The discs do look a bit scored, although I'm no expert. To be honest I was a bit surprised that the discs would need replaced after only 12K

I ended up ordering a set of the EliseParts alu belled discs along with Pagid RS42s so hopefully these should last a decent length of time.

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:51 pm

I was advised to change my discs after 13k as they weren't up to to the job of dealing with the punishment they were receiving. (insert double entrendre here)

Banter aside, I think the ali-belled discs I have are superb! no fade after 40 mins of abuse at Donington. Worth the money, pm if you want.

Digital · Post by **Digital** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:57 pm

Thanks Kenny, had a look through the thread you mentioned earlier

Would be nice to think that sorting the pads and replacing the discs might make my car brake a bit more like yours, I was very impressed at the TT trackday how much more bite your brakes had than my car's. I suspect I could possibly do with bleeding the fluid also to give the pedal a bit of a stiffer feel (ooer).

dezzy · Post by **dezzy** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 1:09 am

I was pleasantly surprised how easy the pad changing was. Where you based Jamie? If it's Glasgow-ish, I'm happy to pop over and lend a hand if it's at a time I'm free.

As for axle stands, we didn't need to remove any undertray bits to sit mine on the stands.

ExigeKen · Post by **ExigeKen** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 3:01 am

Saturday beyatch Dezzy

jj · Post by jj » Sat Jul 14, 2007 7:13 am

How many miles has the car done? I put my exige into MMC for warranty work at 15k and they recommended changing the front discs - they were over ruled, and when I sold it at 25k miles after a few trackdays it was on the same discs.

BiggestNizzy · Post by **BiggestNizzy** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 8:05 am

It's a standard dealer rip-off, pads/disks.

My clio went in for it's 24k service and I was told they needed new pads as the only had 2-3K left on them I said no. 12 months later it went in for it's 36K service and again I was told new pads as they only had 3-4K left in them. Brilliant I said they are getting thicker ! (second guy was right though at 40K I replaced them.)

I also know a man with an BMW840 who replaced disks and pads all round when it went in for a service at a cost of over 1K, the mechanic who did the job is a friend of one of the guys at work he told him it was a rip off for the commision.

I do not hold main dealers in very high regard

hiscot · Post by **hiscot** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 8:10 am

the disc life is related to whatever pads you use
and how its used

robin · Post by **robin** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:16 am

It's easy enough to measure the thickness of the disk and then compare that to the service limits - if in doubt about the service limits, ask the dealer to tell you or look it up in the service manual (PDFs are floating about). Not sure what it is for toyota-based cars.

The brake pedal on the earlier S2 exige were without doubt worse than the later ones - they changed the pedal box design to improve matters in the later models. Changing the fluid is probably a good idea, but may not give you the pedal improvement you are hoping for.

Cheers,
Robin

Digital · Post by **Digital** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 1:12 pm

Thanks for the advice all

Dezzy, thanks for the offer, much appreciated, but I'm the other side of the country - my friend has offered to help out just to make sure I don't completely mess it up

JJ - the car has only done 12K miles, so normally I think you would expect the discs to last a bit longer. New discs are bought and ready to go however, and should be a reasonable upgrade.

Robin, I agree about the newer cars, I had a try of a new '07 Exige S with the new pedal box and was impressed how much better the layout was, not to mention a much stiffer feeling pedal. I need to investigate the modification that adjusts the pedal layout to make heel and toe easier, I asked MMC about this and they hadn't heard of it which I thought was a bit strange

Jamie

dezzy · Post by **dezzy** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 6:58 pm

Digital wrote:I need to investigate the modification that adjusts the pedal layout to make heel and toe easier, I asked MMC about this and they hadn't heard of it which I thought was a bit strange

Ed told me to ask Bill at MMC about this and he did know about it. He just said he wasn't keen to do it because it can lead to all sorts of problems. I've got a bit of 'slack' in my brake pedal before the brakes kick in and I asked if he could reduce that. He said that was normal and adjustment could yet again lead to problems.

Digital · Post by **Digital** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:24 pm

This: http://www.sandsmuseum.com/cars/elise/e ... keadj.html is the link I've seen mentioned a few times with regards adjusting the pedal layout. I just can't see how I'm going to be able to H&T it without some sort of adjustment, probably doesn't help that I've only got ickle feet (size 7

). The later pedal layout just seems so much easier to use. Annoyingly my Puma is really easy to H&T in, for all the difference that it makes

Oh, and tomorrow is the big day, will post back with news on how I got on replacing the brakes, wish me luck

Digital · Post by **Digital** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 8:56 pm

Well, the proposed brake replacement didn't go too well, we got the pads off easily enough but the discs just weren't for moving

Of the 2 wheels we tried, the bolt attaching the disc to the hub doesn't want to move despite being soaked in WD40 and given plenty of encouragement with an allen key and a hammer...

Unfortunately I think the only other option might be to drill out the old bolts, but I wouldn't feel especially confident doing this. It's extremely frustrating as I can see how easy it is to replace the discs and pads, butnot much I can do if the disc bolt is on so tight

Any suggestions other than just take it to a garage (most likely Falkland) to get them to do it for me?

Jamie