Change rear brakes 2016 X-Perience 272mm discs

[Marcus_F]

Hi everyone,

I was about to replace the rear brake discs and brake pads on my Seat Leon X-Perience 1.6 TDI (2016). It has the 272 mm rear brake discs.

I've done this a few times before on other cars and it has always been very straightforward. I also watched a few videos beforehand and in those cases it looked very simple — just remove two bolts (which I've done) and pull the caliper off.

However, on my car the brake setup looks different. The handbrake cable and brake hose go directly into the caliper, so it doesn't seem like you can just pull the caliper off the same way as in the videos (see pictures).

I haven’t been able to find any guides or videos that show this specific setup with the handbrake cable on the caliper.

Does anyone know the correct procedure for removing the caliper and replacing the rear discs and pads on this setup?

Any tips or instructions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[East Yorkshire Retrofits]

Handbrake off

Pull the caliper off

Remove the existing pads

Wind the piston back

Replace pads

Replace discs if applicable

Reinstall caliper

Job jobbed. No need to over complicate it

 

[Marcus_F]

Thanks for the quick reply! I tried pushing the caliper out, but it was extremely stiff—probably partly due to rust, but also because the brake cable and hose go into the caliper. Felt like I was about to break something. Are you sure there’s nothing else that needs to be loosened on this type of caliper?

 

[RUM4MO]

If you are still really worried, use a screwdriver to lever the handbrake cable out of the lever on the calliper, then use long nosed pliers to let you pull the handbrake cable out of the calliper's handbrake bracket.

Doing that should let you "use" all the available "length" of the flexible hose to get the calliper out of the disc, it will be "stuck" due to the pads gripping the calliper carrier AND the calliper.

Edit:- I tend to use a couple of screwdrivers to ease the calliper off/out. Remember to use something useful to fully retract the pistons - both sides wind in the same direction, ie are right handed threads. Using a proper piston rewind tool is your best plan if you plan to get this done without damaging the piston dust covers OR/AND your fingers!

 

[nd-photo.nl]

@Marcus_F Just to be sure: The caliper needs to be rotated to be pushed back. A tool like this is needed

 

[RUM4MO]

Screwfix £14 if you need one.

Edit:- sorry that only works if you are based in UK.

 

[Marcus_F]

Thanks a lot, really appreciate all the help!

I found the brake caliper tool on Amazon Sweden and ordered it, I also realized I needed a XZN MT14 bit after finding these guides (Golf Alltrack but seems to be exactly the same type).

https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/re...-mk-3-leon-with-independent-rear-suspensi.57/

 

[SuperV8]

Thanks a lot, really appreciate all the help!

I found the brake caliper tool on Amazon Sweden and ordered it, I also realized I needed a XZN MT14 bit after finding these guides (Golf Alltrack but seems to be exactly the same type).

https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/re...-mk-3-leon-with-independent-rear-suspensi.57/

Those caliper carrier bolts are torqued to 90 Nm + 90° so F.T!
Bit of a pain to access from a floor jack, and you'll need a breaker bar.
Some versions the rear discs can be removed without having to undo these tight and awkward caliper carrier bolts.

 

[Marcus_F]

Thanks for all the help — I’ve now managed to replace the brakes.
Compared to other cars I’ve worked on, this one was significantly more difficult.

The XZN M14 was really stuck on there, pita to get off...

Luckily, through a friend’s workplace, I got access to a service pit, which made it possible to reach everything from underneath — otherwise I would never have managed it.

This is what the old brake pads looked like — totally rusted to bits.
No wonder the caliper was so hard to get off.

 

[nd-photo.nl]

Damn that was bad! Good thing you replaced it

 

[SuperV8]

If the pads were this bad - what were the discs like?
I recently had to change my rear caliper due to the piston/handbrake mech being a little seized, same brake as yours.
What were your calipers like? did the pistons wind back fairly easily?

 

[Marcus_F]

The discs didn't look too bad IMO, or what do you think..?
I had to use some force, but not too much, to rewing the pistons.

 

[SuperV8]

They look quite rough.
A well functioning brake disc should look uniform and shiny.
All those radial lines are a sign the brake isn't working efficiently.

 

[BillyCool]

The discs didn't look too bad IMO, or what do you think..?
I had to use some force, but not too much, to rewing the pistons.

View attachment 53707

What does it look like on the inside? Mine were much worse on the inside than the outside. They don't look that healthy.

 

[Marcus_F]

I put on new discs so only have that picture left unfortunately..

 

[Mr Pig]

Some versions the rear discs can be removed without having to undo these tight and awkward caliper carrier bolts.

When I came to do the rear brakes on my wife's car last year I could not get the disks off without taking the caliper off the carrier. The splined carrier bolts were so rusted I couldn't get them out so it went into a garage to get done.

I put my car into a garage for the same job a couple of weeks ago. I told them they'd struggle to get those bolts out and gave them four new bolts to fit on reassembly. When I got the car back they told me the disks came off without removing the caliper! Damn!

 

[SuperV8]

When I came to do the rear brakes on my wife's car last year I could not get the disks off without taking the caliper off the carrier. The splined carrier bolts were so rusted I couldn't get them out so it went into a garage to get done.

I put my car into a garage for the same job a couple of weeks ago. I told them they'd struggle to get those bolts out and gave them four new bolts to fit on reassembly. When I got the car back they told me the disks came off without removing the caliper! Damn!

Haha - yes, sucess depends on the disc diameter and its height as to if you can 'puzzle' it off without having to undo the caliper carrier bolts.
Having said that - I would still recommend removing these bolts (as a preventative maintenance measure) - and re-fitting new, as the rust if left long enough can distort the carrier. Happened on my Audi A4 - fitted new rear discs but didn't initially undo the carrier bolts as they seemed very tight, but the new disc bound tight due to the caliper carrier twisting due to rust on the mounting - right pain to undo those bolts.