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Could someone please give me a quick guide to changing the front pads on stock RS2 brakes. I've had a look and they seem different to any brakes i've worked on in the past. I don't want to go and break anything.
I had a search but couldn't find anything apart form the 996 guide which is a different setup
They are pretty easy. Callipers and discs stay attached. Remove the old pads and slide new ones in. I'd remove one pad at a time so that as you push back the pistons on one side the ones on the other don't come out.
Get in there with a brush and some brake cleaner and make sure that the new pads slide in and out nicely before putting it all back together.
The only hard bit I found was re fitting the retaining spring but these brakes are tough so you'll be hard pushed to break anything!
They are pretty easy. Callipers and discs stay attached. Remove the old pads and slide new ones in. I'd remove one pad at a time so that as you push back the pistons on one side the ones on the other don't come out.
Get in there with a brush and some brake cleaner and make sure that the new pads slide in and out nicely before putting it all back together.
The only hard bit I found was re fitting the retaining spring but these brakes are tough so you'll be hard pushed to break anything!
I can't see how the pads slide out, I've removed the retaining spring but nothing seems to be budging. Looks like there's a clip of some sort top and bottom but that doesn't want to move either!
I remember that mine were in there very stiff. There are two reasons for this.
Firstly there was a bit of a build up of corrosion between the pad and calliper, along with dirt etc.
Secondly Porsche instal their pads using little sticky pads with locating spring lug type things into the center of the piston. So to get around this either pull really hard, what I did first, or if the pads are very low. Push the pad and pistons back fully then remove the pad buy moving it towards the disc then out.
If your not replacing the sticky pads the clean it all and slide them back in, Otherwise you have to clip in the sticky pads to the pistons then there is just enough of a gap to slide the new pads in, past the sticky face, then press them all together.
I'm trying to find a picture of the sticky pads as I'm sure my description has confused you rather then making it clearer!
You haven't confused me, I know what you mean as I have the new sticky pads.
I've got the back pad out, it was quite tight as you say but the front pad just isn't moving, I've had mole grip and allsorts on it. I'll just keep trying, I think it's corroded in there which is probably part of the terrible break squeal problem I had!
Ok... the old pads are out with MUCH agro!!! The pads that were in the car are textars from GSF and that's also what I bought to go back in there. The problem is that the pad seems to big to fit into the caliper and thats why I had so much trouble getting the old ones out. Now I'm not going to put the new ones in if it's going to give me trouble.
I'll take some pics to explain and post up in a minute.
Below is a picture of the calliper with the pads out. I've put a green line on the drawing, this distance is exactly 130mm. The length of the pad is 132mm. To get the pad back in I'm going to have to hammer it in which can't be right. Surely the pad shouldn't be tight in this space where the ends of the pad contact the 2 faces that the green arrow points to. If anyone has any pads laying about, old or new, could you please measure the length for me?
The pad needs free movement so that when you let off the brake, it can come back off the disc and there's not a chance the pads will move back freely if I put the new ones in. I know the difference is only 2mm but it's so tight.
I have a grinding wheel and could take 1mm from each end of the pad but this is far from ideal! Any ideas?
You have some galvanisation build up pushing the steel retaining springs at either end away from the alloy caliper. Hence the 2mm difference. Ideally you should remove the old ones, file the build up away and refit new ones. Search the forum as I recall a thread detailing this using a sealant to stop it happening again.
Which pads are you using ?
The problem is that corrosion will build up quickly again, causing the pads to start binding. I ground the pad backing plates so that they moved freely. Problem with that is that the spring plates are pushed in more at the ends, causing more freeplay as the pad wears down. I put very few miles on my car, so not too concerned about that.
Did you get the Ferodo DS2500 pads? Mind blowing performance compared to the horrible EBC Redstuff that the former owner had fitted.
1995 RS2 on Alcohol (6.8sec 100-200km/h)
1994 80E Avant
1986 2L Golf 2 on Alcohol
I've managed to get the old pads out of the other side too. The caliper in general looked in slightly better condition but I still had trouble getting the pads out again.
I guess it's a calliper out job to take the spring plates out because they're held in with an angled bolt which you can't get to as the disc is in the way.
I don't want to do a quick fix on it only to find that the same problem occurs again further down the line. I'll try and find the thread you're talking about, if you've got a link, could you post it for me please.
I bought the Textar pads from German Swedish but I'm thinking I might take them back and get some of the Ferodo DS2500 ones everyone seems to recommend. First of all, I've got to get these callipers working properly though! Do you think filing back the galvanisation will do the trick?
Adam,i would unbolt the calliper,for the sake of 2 bolts (19mm iirc?) and be careful with the harlines. you can then slot in the pads and offer over the disc.
lets face it the weather is a load of barry white right now so if your motors in bits,time is of the essence.
p.s how much were the pads as i need to get some for mine....
andyg is right.thats how my mechanic replaced the pads the last time.Unbolt the caliper keep it in it's one hand,then just take the pads out without the disc being in the way.You can just keep the caliper on your lap!
I guess I'll need to release the hardlines from the caliper before removing it. I'm trying to avoid and further problems. If I remove the hardlines then they'll need bleeding through and one of the bleed nipples on a rear caliper was so corroded it just broke off flush with the caliper face. It's ok at the moment but I want to avoid having to bleed them. The car's in bits now with no pads in it and it's about to chuck it down so I'm done for today.
I might just grind the pad ends off slightly so that they fit and then look into getting a brake upgrade of some sort, the discs are absolutely knackered on the inner edges, it seems to be one thing after another!!
andyg is right.thats how my mechanic replaced the pads the last time.Unbolt the caliper keep it in it's one hand,then just take the pads out without the disc being in the way.You can just keep the caliper on your lap!
That's a great idea but the pads don't actually fit in the caliper because of the galvanisation, I think I may take the calipers off and perform a bit of refurbishment on them.
P.S. Andy... the pads were about £45 from GSf but had I knows I think I would have gone for the Ferodo ones with hindsight.
looking at that I think i'd be getting them off and sorting everything out, spend the time once and you wont need to do it again for ages.... Plus binding or other issues are not the sort of thing I would want to be worrying about when i need them anchors in an emergency.
Two things I wouldnt compromise on, brakes and tyres - the only things that keep you on the road and stop you falling off it
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