Changing Brake Pads

[smark]

Buy some copper brake grease. Apply it to the contact points on the back the brake pads. EBC brake pads come with a grease similar to that.

Those groove on your rear rotors, are from small rocks, Debris stuck between the pads and rotors. Scoring the disc face.

Try and drive your car a good 500 miles. Allow the new pads, to break into the new rotors. You got nothing to loose.

Good luck.

[Ez2517]

Buy some copper brake grease. Apply it to the contact points on the back the brake pads. EBC brake pads come with a grease similar to that.

Good luck.

Thank you. The pads that I bought (TRW GDB2032) have kind of a flexible coating on the back, so I did not apply copper paste (otherwise I would have done that). The installation leaflet that came with the pads also does not mention that one should apply any paste, so I assumed that this coating (feels like something between tar and rubber ...) replaces the paste.

Brandy

[Ez2517]

There are a lot of details that can cause you an issue when doing brakes. Here are some tips. Some are specific to the 500L and other Fiats.

Did you:

• Clean the hub to make sure the hub is clean of rust and dirt so the disc lays flat against it.
• Use new brake hardware that fit properly. Sometimes aftermarket hardware doesn't fit properly.
• Screw the piston in with a caliper tool.
• Check to make sure the caliper slide pins move easily. Re-greasing with the proper grease and replacing the caliper pin boots is a good idea.
• Make sure the pads fit easily into the brake bracket and are not too tight where they will start to bind.
• Place the brake pad with the audible wear indicator attached on the inboard side. The audible wear indicator should be positioned at the bottom when installed.
• There is a small post on the lower backside of the inboard pad. Make sure that this post lines up with one of the slots on the piston to ensure the pad interfaces with the piston correctly.
• Correctly tighten all the mounting bolts to the proper torque spec. Thread locker is highly recommended.

Thanks a lot for the long list. I followed most of the points, however I did not remove the brackets, and the pads did not fit easily at all. Also the removal of the old ones was a pain. As I ordered a new set with new brackets, I will wait until they arrive and spend more time cleaning )))

Kind regards
Brandy

[Ez2517]

It may simply need a new set of caliper clips. Companies like QuietGlide make kits of stainless, backed by a coating of rubber, which do a good job. (I think only available for 500L and 500X.) Lubricating the caliper glides is important and replacing the rubber coverings will keep the lube in place. http://carlsoncatalog.com/

You don't mention the car's age... how long it took to reach 25K miles. It's worse where salt (chemicals) are applied to the road. For cars that are driven daily, it isn't bad, but cars that sit for days (with e-brake applied) the friction material stays wet and can corrode to the rotor/drum. My PU can sit for weeks, so I chock a wheel in wet weather (or park on flat ground), so don't need the e-brake. For grooves, if driven on dirt/rock roads, they can sometimes wear unevenly (pick up dirt or tiny rocks) but (as you indicate) the friction material is the usual cause for grooving. (Then there are cars driven w/ the e-brake not completely released.)

There are also cases where a caliper's slides aren't properly lubed or the calipers don't release. You'll usually see differing wear on inner or outer pad or one wheel's pads significantly more worn than the other side on the same axle. I had a GM car with defective factory front calipers, both sides, that warped the rotors 2000 miles after leaving the lot. A rebuild fixed the issue. It's one reason I rebuild/replace calipers on most brake jobs, or at very least lube all the mechanical parts, and replace hardware.

The car is from late 2014, and has approximately 35k on the clock now. However, due to a job change, it sat in the driveway most of the time since almost a year. Salt is definitely an issue here in Austria.
I will fit new clips as soon as they arrive. We'll see....with stuck brake pads I would expect a constant rubbing/screeching noise. This one here sounds like someone hitting a table with a metal rod...

Brandy

[douglawrence42]

Is your clunk speed dependent?

[Ez2517]

Is your clunk speed dependent?

Yes, it is. my first thought was there must be an issue with one or both of the new discs. But visually I cannot detect any issue...

Brandy

[douglawrence42]

Have you had the wheels off again? I would guess something isn't seated right. If its the discs you are worried about, you could measure run out and that would tell you if they are true and seated correctly.

[Ez2517]

Have you had the wheels off again? I would guess something isn't seated right. If its the discs you are worried about, you could measure run out and that would tell you if they are true and seated correctly.

Hi,

yes, that was the first thing I did - take off wheels and discs again, clean everything once more, but to no avail.

Next try is to put in another new set of pads and new clips. If that does not help I'll put the old discs back in to see whether that helps ...

Brandy

[Ez2517]

So, 2 days ago, the new parts arrived and I replaced clips and (once more) the pads (out came the new TRWs, replaced them with Brembos). For now, the noise is gone. I guess the problem was caused by re-using the old corroded clips. I still have no idea how that would cause that rhytmic, ticking noise. I would have expected 'stuck' pads to simply rub on the discs, making a constant grinding noise. What I noticed is that the 'acoustic wear alarm' looks different on the TRW and the Brembo pads. On the Brembos, it looks exactly as on the factory pads. But I dont think this was the reason for the noise ... Anyway, problem solved ))) Brandy

[douglawrence42]

Glad you got it solved. I've re-used clips successfully, I guess you just got unlucky.

[Ez2517]

Glad you got it solved. I've re-used clips successfully, I guess you just got unlucky.

Probably it depends on corrosion. The clips look like stainless steel, but mine still were partially corroded. We have lots of salt here in winter ...

Brandy

[map]

That's great news, though I'm surprised you had to replace the pads again. Corrosion, age, and/or heat can take the "spring" out of the clips.