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User avatar
By Newton
#2950908
dubmas wrote:hi,
i fitted some mitex m1144 rear pads today. they fitted fine. but reading this again i realise there was no "pip" on the back of the pad that faces the piston "cross".
i therefore didnt align the cross on the piston to be at "12 oclock".

do you think this will have an adverse affect? ive taken it for a drive today and it seems fine.
i suppose the pip is added protection against the pad moving against the disc?
any ideas? has anyone noticed this on mintex pads?
cheers.
sam
No its to stop the piston turning so fitt the pads with the "pip" or "peg" you may have the wrong type for the Ep3 go back and have them do a check. Had the same problem no PIP so went back and had the correct ones
User avatar
By mr bilko!
#2952488
OK guys, the reason I brought the pip on the back of the inner pad to everyone's attention is because if your pads have this pip & it aint lined up with the cross then the caliper won't fit over the new pads. There's no other reason to line it up apart from that afaik.

The scraper is a better idea than you think and works perfectly well - I usually fit the pad with it on to the inside (piston side) of the caliper for this reason: In the dealership they check pad wear by looking thru the wheel spokes with a torch and not by removing the roadwheel (you have time saved bonus schemes to thank for this) The outer pads generally wear less than the inners if the pads are a little sticky - a common issue - and can lead the mechanic to believe there's lots of life left on them when in actual fact the inners could be close to worn out.

Hope this clears up any confusion and you enjoyed my 10p's worth :-D .
User avatar
By dubmas
#2952888
thanks for the replies guys.
i got the pads cheap off ebay so i cant return them,
ill just keep a close eye on them.

as the piston applies lateral pressure to the pad, does it just go in and out of the caliper, or will it try to spin like when you rewind it?
i guy it cant ry to spin too much becasue a little pip aint going stop it spiining much anyway. haha.
oh well. at least its just the rears. :)
User avatar
By mjhamilton
#2952958
dubmas wrote:thanks for the replies guys.
i got the pads cheap off ebay so i cant return them,
ill just keep a close eye on them.

as the piston applies lateral pressure to the pad, does it just go in and out of the caliper, or will it try to spin like when you rewind it?
i guy it cant ry to spin too much becasue a little pip aint going stop it spiining much anyway. haha.
oh well. at least its just the rears. :)

the only reason that the rear piston needs to be twisted to go back in is because of the handbrake mechanism.... I doubt it will rotate once up against the pad but even if it does it will just mean that the ratched on the HB will need to be reset ever so often..

The HB of the EP3 is so poor anyways I normally do this a couple of times a year anyway so I wouldn't worry about this too much
User avatar
By mjhamilton
#3011540
dubmas wrote:thanks for the replies guys.
i got the pads cheap off ebay so i cant return them,
ill just keep a close eye on them.

as the piston applies lateral pressure to the pad, does it just go in and out of the caliper, or will it try to spin like when you rewind it?
i guy it cant ry to spin too much becasue a little pip aint going stop it spiining much anyway. haha.
oh well. at least its just the rears. :)

just to add... the Mintex pads I got for the rears didn't have the pip either.. but I really do not see this to be an issue.. the cross in the piston is there more to allow you to use a tool to wind it back in than for any other reason......
User avatar
By Barney
#3025553
Good guide :thumbup:

Replaced rear pads this morning (thanks m1ke for the pads), as they were on the squeely indicator but only on one side, the other side the pads have loads of life left ? whats the deal ?

Should i replace both sides ?
Why would one side wear down so much more than the other ? tracking, sticking caliper ?
User avatar
By mjhamilton
#3025585
Barney wrote:Good guide :thumbup:

Replaced rear pads this morning (thanks m1ke for the pads), as they were on the squeely indicator but only on one side, the other side the pads have loads of life left ? whats the deal ?

Should i replace both sides ?
Why would one side wear down so much more than the other ? tracking, sticking caliper ?
always replace the entire axle at the same time.. no exceptions....

do you mean the other wheel or the otherside of the disc on the same wheel?.. if it is the latter then don't worry too much as the piston only pushes the inbound pad and pulls the outbound one.. so inherently the inbound pad will wear a little faster.. this is why the wear warning bar is on the inbound pad only...

... if your issue is the one axle set of pads are wearing faster than the opposite then this could be either a bad set of pads (some cheap ones with varying compound quality) or the most likely cause is that one of the calipers is sticking causing excess wear... there are guide pins that the caliper moves along and these can become warped or corroded... sometimes a refurb kit, strip and clean will resolve but others have found a new caliper (£99 from ebay) is needed

also check your handbreak cable condition.. if one side has stretched the when adjusted it could be pulling one caliper and again causing wear on one side more than the other
User avatar
By mjhamilton
#3025760
Barney wrote:its on the other axle, oem pads.

Is it £99 for a new caliper or a refurbed one ? How do i tell if a caliper is sticking ?
go for a drive... give it a good brake test.... stop and see if one side is hotter than the other... this is a good place to start... also don't engage the handbrake and raise the car.. rotate each side and see if one side is more 'sticky' that the other..

£99 on ebay for refurbs.. they seem pretty good from all reports...
User avatar
By Barney
#3025764
mjhamilton wrote:
Barney wrote:its on the other axle, oem pads.

Is it £99 for a new caliper or a refurbed one ? How do i tell if a caliper is sticking ?
go for a drive... give it a good brake test.... stop and see if one side is hotter than the other... this is a good place to start... also don't engage the handbrake and raise the car.. rotate each side and see if one side is more 'sticky' that the other..

£99 on ebay for refurbs.. they seem pretty good from all reports...
:salut:
User avatar
By Barney
#3026367
Done the other side now, the piston on the side where the pads had a lot of life left was way way free'er than the other side, does that tell me anyting?
User avatar
By mjhamilton
#3026379
You mean when pushing it back into the caliper?

If so then your wriggling it around May have been enough to remove some excess crude and rust and it May be ok

Just do the checks i stated above and see how it goes, . . . If the piston is tight you May get away with a £25 refurb kit from ebay, plus some patience, time and swearing
User avatar
By mjhamilton
#3026900
Barney wrote:Yes one side, with no pads left was nails to wind the piston back.

i'll see how it goes with the new pads in :salut:
see how you go.... another thought popped into my head.. I guess a sticky caliper would create more brake dust and the wheel would get dirtier on one side faster than the other....

.. good luck :bigthumb:
User avatar
By 06 plate
#3150291
Found this how to loads of help! Good job :)
User avatar
By mr bilko!
#3154715
Again I feel like I need to put some input on this thread & answer some questions.

The piston doesn't turn when applying force to the pads so the pip is purely there for no reason other than it must line up with the cross if your new pads have them on otherwise the caliper won't fit over them.

As a rule of thumb, the side whose pads are worn the most is the one with a potential issue, ie, the caliper's sticking or the pads are sticking in the caliper carriers. Either way you must fit new pads to both sides of the same axle anything other than this is just pure recklessness.

As a final note (for the time being) If you're unsure exactly what to do - leave it to the experts ffs :shock:
User avatar
By leekard
#3181138
Your guides quality mate, cheers, I've had 1 problem thou, as I've done the second side of the car, I've done everything the same but now it's all back together the pad and disc are constantly rubbing, is there anyway of adjusting it so they don't constantly rub, thankyou
User avatar
By mjhamilton
#3181285
Take it all apart clean and grease the slide pins
User avatar
By r1dude
#3346286
very useful thread thanks. unfortunately my piston is stuck solid. even bought the correct piston winding tool but no luck budging it. gotta find me a passenger side rear caliper now for my 2003 ep3. anyone got any suggestions on a decent trustworthy place to get a used one from? not egay, lol.
User avatar
By mjhamilton
#3346338
r1dude wrote:very useful thread thanks. unfortunately my piston is stuck solid. even bought the correct piston winding tool but no luck budging it. gotta find me a passenger side rear caliper now for my 2003 ep3. anyone got any suggestions on a decent trustworthy place to get a used one from? not egay, lol.
Dum, question but did you remember to take the lid off the fluid bottle before trying to wind back?

Also a couple of persuasive taps with a hammer on the sides of the caliper can free things up

Long time ago I had and Ep3 for 220k kilometers in[…]