Front brake pad worn

[crc_73]

Had a metal on metal noise the other morning, checked the pads at the front, and found that the inner pad on the driver side had worn down to nothing, the other 3 pads are all about the same amount left on them, which when comparing with the new pads I bought yesterday, is about half of the friction material left.

I'm collecting rotors today, and will install rotors and pads at the weekend, but just wondering if there is anything I should be looking out for, a reason why one of the pads wore out in half the time as the others?

I did change the pads a few years ago myself, think they were in a blue box, so might have been Blueprint pads. I've driven the car for the past 6/7 years, about 45k miles, haven't done the rotors, so they're probably due anyway. Well, they are now after the pad running out! Car is a bog standard 1.4l petrol, year 2002, nothing exotic. Has passed tests with no issues on brakes, alignment, etc. Was even braking fine with the metal on metal as well!

Just wondering if there is anything I should pay attention to when I have the caliper apart at the weekend. Thanks.

 

[300bhpdaily]

Hi mate just the usual checks make sure dust boot isn’t torn and the caliper sliders aren’t stuck. While it’s off check the brake lines aren’t cracking etc. Remember to remove the filler cap on the brake res prior to pushing back the piston. And just push it back slowly and take your time doing it mate. If the disc is still help on by the torque screw make sure you hammer the torque socket in proper as if that rounds you’ll need to drill it out. Pretty much all mate.

 

[Woody_72]

The caliper carriers that hold the pads don't use a stainless steel clip like a lot of cars have (they don't on mine anyway) but one thing you should definitely do it file any rust off the parts of the carrier that ears of the pads sit against. Don't go mad, just file them off so you can start to see clean metal through the rust. A major cause of uneven pad wear is the ears of the pads jamming in the carriers, getting rid of the rust helps stop this happening. You can also smear a thin film of grease over the same areas but the counterargument is that the grease just absorbs brake just and ends up causing problems of it's own.

Like 300bhpdaily says, pop the slide pins out, give them a good clean and then smear them lightly with silicone grease.

 

[crc_73]

Thanks both for the hints and tips. I don't remember greasing the slide pins before, maybe that's where I went wrong. I'll give them a good clean and inspection, see if they're still straight and good enough.

Caliper is fairly rusty alright, I'll make sure that the ears slide ok on the carrier. The screw holding the rotor on was gone before I got to it, so I don't have to worry about that. It's still on the other side though, so I'll be careful with that.

When I had the caliper off yesterday, I noticed that the piston looked like it had been rotated maybe an 1/8 of a turn, as the wrinkles on the dust boot looked more at an angle than straight. Is it easy to rotate the piston back so that the dust boot is straight? It didn't look torn, but I'll have a good look at the weekend.

 

[crc_73]

I finally got around to doing this today, I got Mintex discs, part number MDC1019C.

It was only later that I was wondering if they are designed for a particular side, for the rotation of the wheel. I didn't notice any markings on the discs indicating that, but am unsure now. Looking at the old ones side by side, the vanes look the same, it doesn't look like it would make a difference which side they are on, but just checking with anyone who might know for sure?

 

[Woody_72]

That discussion cropped up on here quite recently. The general consensus was that some discs are sided but it tends to only be on very expensive, upmarket cars. I've just fitted Brembo drilled discs on mine and the rows of holes are the same on both discs so they point the wrong way on one side. Probably more important on a Veyron than a Leon .

 

[crc_73]

That discussion cropped up on here quite recently. The general consensus was that some discs are sided but it tends to only be on very expensive, upmarket cars. I've just fitted Brembo drilled discs on mine and the rows of holes are the same on both discs so they point the wrong way on one side. Probably more important on a Veyron than a Leon .

Yes thanks, mine aren't very expensive, just bog-standard, I'm fairly sure I didn't see any arrows or marks on them, and I'm sure they would have been very visible if they were, and I did notice that one of the pads was for the piston-side, so hopefully I'm still observant enough that I would have noticed if there was a marking on the disc.

I looked at the old ones, and the vanes all point to the centre, no fancy spiral stuff for improving airflow, so I'm probably grand.