I wish my first post was a happy one... lol but I need some help. I recently changed the rear brake pads on my 03 mcs. Everything went fine except the caliper retracting tool I used was really hard to twist, (compared to some youtube videos where they do it with little effort). Once I had everything back together I went for a test drive, they squealed a little so I thought they were just getting broken in. The next day I drove on the interstate to work (about 20 minutes), when I arrived they sounded terrible. Like I had not replaced them. When the pedal was pushed it was screeching, when the pedal was not pushed less squeal.

As soon as I was back home I checked to see if I had done something stupid like leave the old pad on, but nothing seemed wrong until I tried to spin the rotors, both of them seem like the brake is half on??

Since then I've been reading like crazy trying to find whats up.. theories...
parking brake cord needs adjusted... adjusted and tight in 4 clicks
bad caliper... why both at once?
master cylinder? abs? me?
also just tried to bleed one side with an automatic bleeder... no luck?? a tiny bit came out.. my friend is coming over to do it the old fashioned way in a bit..

all help is appreciated!!

 

Did you apply the anti-squeal grease between the caliper and pad (all points where it can touch the caliper -- not the rotor)? Usually when they squeal it's a vibration being picked up in the system. Some do squeal during the break in period (I've read ceramics are worse about it), but I've never experienced this and I've replaced more than 20 sets.

You mention about rotating the wheels feels like the break being set ... have you checked your parking break pads? They are inside the drum hub on the rear rotors. Sometimes you do need to adjust it over time and yes, this can also lead to squeal.

I've never had to do it, but here's a quick howto and the latter:

http://blog.bavauto.com/9450/mini-pa...stment-how-to/

 

Parking brake pads? They use the same pads don't they? The parking brake cord is attached to the same caliper.
http://mini.sewellparts.com/oem-cata...-R53-2003.html

I DID forget to use the grease but i have forgotten it before and the squeak is small and goes away... this seems different

also I just tried to bleed the other side, and the same thing happened, nothing comes out. After reading , I thought the bleeder screws were clogged so i took one out and cleaned it. now just air comes out????

 

HA! You're absolutely right. I had recently said this backwards on the Challengers forum. Challengers use a drum brake for the parking brake where the Mini's use the disks as the parking brake.

I've had missing greasing just one of the ***** that hold the pad in place cause squealing. If it squeals a lot during breaking, it's most likely just grease missing (that or you have something between the pad and the rotor).

When you're bleeding the brakes, did you pressurize the system (don't know if the 03's are different in bleeding than the 08s) or forget to put the cap on the reservoir? After you and your helper cycle pump the brakes 5 times, you should have clean fluid coming out. If you have air (or nothing at all), then you might have contaminant in the lines. I won't be much help there.

 

i followed the how to here.. to bleed my brakes
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ed-how-to.html
do you need to put the lid on the reservoir in between fill ups?
anyone? please?

 

Yes, you need to be able to build pressure to force fluid through the system when pumping the brakes.

 

I do not bleed with the lid on the reservoir and have never had a problem bleeding the brakes. Just make sure to keep the reservoir full.

Did you get the rear brake clips installed properly? I always have trouble with the clips trying to come loose during pad installation. Maybe a clip is not on properly and is rubbing.

 

update
ON the money quikmni
brought it to a mechanic and the interior clips were not properly installed... what a relief it wasn't something expensive... just bought my lock actuators...

where are these interior clips.. are they just like the ones i can see on the outside?

 

quiefanator1 - the clips are integrated into the inner rear pad, and attach at three points to a groove on the rear caliper piston. Did you not see them when replacing the original pads?

 

Glad you found the problem and it was not a expensive problem.

 

agreed quikmni

also the crappy harbor freight brake bleeder gave me the air bubbles while bleeding, not the car... praise Zeus

eric, yes I did see the clips on the interior brake pads but since the tutorial said nothing about it.. I thought they were not important

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...beginners.html

 

I thought they were not important

really......

should you be doing brake work on your car if you think reassembling them correctly and bleeding them properly is unimportant?

You do realize it's the brakes that stop the car right?

Jeez.......you people scare the crap out of me.

Just for the record, it's always important.

 

wow thanks for the insults... I took the time to find the information, get the tools, and try to do everything the right way.... when I saw the clips I reread the turorial and found nothing about them, they were small metal peices I didnt even think they were clips! i made a mistake and im trying to learn. I dont need some 6th gear guy comming in after the problem is solved, giving me crap. go bother another thread.

 

Yeah? You wannna learn? Then maybe you should listen to people like me who have the skills and training and get off your high horse. There were no insults, I simply asked you to think about what you did, and question whether you should be doing thinggs for which you're not skilled or trained.

What you did was dangerous, not just to you but to others on the road too, because you have no knowledge or experience except what you read in a tutorial, and because there was nothing mentioned you thought - wrongly - that it was unimportant and just went ahead - tralalalalalala.......instead of asking first. Tutorials written by people as experienced as you might not be all the accurate, might they?

People who have experience working on cars look very carefully at the parts as they remove them, and learn how it's supposed to work, then they put them back together correctly.

I can't count the number of times someone who wanted to save a few bucks put their brakes together wrong, on all sorts of cars and trucks......people can die when mistakes like this are made.

You may learn from your mistakes......if you live thru them.

 

Dave's got a valid point. A much better way to learn would be to buy a Bentley manual if you're going it alone or invite someone with experience over to walk you thru the correct procedures in conjunction with using the manual. Using a member written tutorial off the net may work well and it may not. The author may not necessarily be skilled at the task and, as you found out, may be leading one down a very unsafe path. Until you have the experience to determine what is correct and what is not it is awful difficult to tell right from wrong in a member written tutorial.

 

I too shake my head at some of these replys .... on the other hand I've been accused at times of being on the nasty side

comments:

you did good by searching for a DIY guide here.

unfortunately here does not link to the many updates and corrections to the DIY

the 'clip' issue IS a well documented one

here's the pic' I've used in warning


*******

I try to hook up with new owners in my neighborhood so they can come over for their first oil change and I can warn them about MINI idio's

 

FWIW, I've had very good luck with tutorials here.
FWIW #2 - When working on wheels/suspension/brakes - there are two sides. Only disassemble one side at a time. The other side serves as an example for how it should go back together.