Excellent job Ray that was my car and it is stopping beautiful now it actually is a joy to drive again thank you very very much. So many things in that brake job that another shop could have took advantage of me and made me spend more money. Thank you again
@@MitchGaar if you'd listened to what Raymondo was saying, he clearly stated that he was keeping the cost down after discussing with the customer. No point in wasting what is effectively a good pad. Kudos to Raymondo for respecting the customers wishes.
@@MitchGaar why, is it stupid? I’m not being confrontational just curious, they had a bunch of life to them still and he redid the surface so they were fresh again. Just curious for the reasoning
Ray in one video: I want to get back to my 10-20 minute video roots. Also Ray: 50+ minute brake job video. Us: We don't care how long the videos are, we just like watchin' em. Excellent video Ray,
Thanks. 33 years later I learn the name of the 1/2 inch 12 point spline tool i needed for the bolts on my mom's '73 VW 412 flywheel, and later on the cylinder head bolts for my 81 scirocco. Also, your shop is too quiet without the doo DEE doo phone ringing. I actuall miss that.
Ray, I would just like to say that you're a bad influence 😂. I changed all of the brake rotors and pads on my parents' car for them, and when the tin of brake clean ran out, I threw the tin and said 'another'. My dad had a puzzled look on his face, so I had to explain. Keep up the great work, and we don't care how long the videos are. We will always watch them 👍🏻
I find it interesting how some people think greasing slide pins is an optional step... I always pull the pins and wipe them off and grease! Mobile mechanic
Das Auto!......Loved this job Ray...had a new 2006 diesel Jetta and a new 2012 CC, both great machines...hope you and family have a great week....Chiefs!!!
Thank you, Ray, for this video. I have to do a complete brake job on my daughter's VW Turbo shortly, and this showed what I need to do and the tools I need to prepare for it. 👍
Eventually you will have to get a clock or a phone that makes the Dooodley Dooo sound. That was the best when you yelled “ Answer the phone!!!” I like many people miss it. Just putting that out there Ray.
I've had slide pins stuck so bad I used pliers and a torch to heat up . Then go in with brake cleaner and nylon brush on a drill. Thanks for the video Ray!
I used to do something similar when scuffing pads, a couple of swipes on a strip of wet/dry sandpaper at the bottom of my aqueous parts washer tray (pump running). Keeps the dust at bay. Rinse with brake cleaner, done.
When Volkswagen came to Canada there's a story that a guy bought one of their vans. He called the dealer one blustery day in Toronto and said, "I swear to God it's COLDER inside this thing than it is outside!" The sales manager replied, "Well lower the window and let some of the cold out."
Comment needs bumped like sam said i also didn’t see it done either unless it was done behind scene. Also if im not mistaken the rear rotors you can slip past the bracket and dont need to remove it.
Never mind the negative ninnies! Its YOUR shop and your decisions on how to repair a vehicle. If someone doesn't approve, they can open their own shop and do it their way! You do what you do best. Repair cars with flashlight gravity! I love the videos and I love the family involvement. If I lived closer, you would definately be the one to keep my fleet running!
An Old Mechanic told me to use a Large Black Diamond/ Bastard File on Pads to make them True/Flat, he said New Ones sometimes have a Hump on them, this will cause a Vibration sometimes when Braking. I have found this to be True sometimes...
Just got tires on my VW Phaeton. I picked up the car and something didn't look right on the wheels. I was watching this video and when you removed the wheel nut caps it hit me They didn't put my nut caps back on. Thanks for what you do Ray.
All I see is one helluva mechanic doing a damn good job in every video that he posts!! I've been turning wrenches for 30 years and sometimes we have to do things others don't like, but we do what ever we can to help the customer in the best possible ways. Like Ray, I personally don't like robbing people of their hard earned money! Some people forget the love and passion of working on cars because they have come to accustom to all the $$$$ Great job Ray!!
I have now joined the Cult of Brake Cleaner, back in my unenlightened days I had to remove the protective oil from new rotors with lacquer thinner on a rag. I have seen the error of my ways and truly repented! Besides, Brake Clean is useful for so many other things. I recently used it to free up a stuck ratchet shifter on a bicycle.
Hi Ray, I have to say that chamfering the leading edge of a pad was frowned upon in my training - the chamfer would act like a guide for road dust etc to fit between the rotor and pad, and a square edge was better at clearing contaminants off the rotor when pressure was applied.
Ray...I've done this exact vehicle and removal of the 13MM triple square fasteners on the rear is NOT required. The rotor slips right out of the caliper bracket no problem. Try it next time...great video none the less.
Just a gripe because this is an automotive channel. I just purchased a used Subaru Forester. I wanted to put new brakes on because I trust my own work or don't trust others. Pads had 7-8mm left, so they were done pretty recently. Slide pin on the right was completely seized, like replace bracket seized. Then, caliper on left was seized. I have to same style piston compression tool Ray has, albeit the cheap one. It failed catastrophically. So a new caliper had to be installed as well. Beware of used car dealers that just like to turn em and burn em.
Just a word of caution about reusing friction materials; I had a pair of brake shoes that had almost no wear at all and so I figured they would be fine (rough it up and go). The wheel kept locking up to the point of glowing. It seemed that some brake fluid had leaked from a replaced wheel cylinder and had gotten into the shoe changing its friction, making it sticky. Long story short, beware of contamination, not always visible.
you have a point about contamination but I had lots of gear oil leak onto rear brake shoes. After I fixed the leaky seal I just sprayed the shoes down with brake cleaner and it worked fine for me? Truck stops great so I don't think you always have to replace. JMO.
Might have been "just another brake job", but finding those frozen slide pins on one rear wheel was a good catch and object lesson for us all. Always clean and re-lube those pins, even if all the other wheels were fine. Good job!
I had an accident back in late 2009 because the pins on my Monte Carlo weren't lubed from the factory. It took 4 years of driving for the pads to wear unevenly to the point of failure (repeatedly "inspected" when I got oil changes, and nobody noticed the outboard pad was fine while the inboard pad was wearing out) and my front left brake failed, causing me to rear end someone else. That was my last Chevy. Yes, lubing those pins is vital.
Ha! That was awesome throwing pops from Friday in there 😂. This is one reason why I like the longer videos. I like watching and learning how to do stuff. I've never done a brake job and didn't know anything about the coating on the brake rotors and prob would've gotten myself in trouble. Thank you for pointing out the little details!
I find when it comes to special tools I don't really mind buying them very much for working on my own stuff. Just buying that special tool is so much cheaper than the price of having somebody else do the work.
The triple square caliper bracket bolts for the rears are notoriously tight in my experience in VAG vehicles. Last time I did this in my driveway in the rain I just skipped that step and managed to slip the discs in past the bracket.
Is it pain in the rear to put the discs on without removing the brackets? Im doing the rear brakes on my Škoda Octavia Mk3 this weekend and this video makes me skip that step too haha
@@Euro.Paleta i would recommend to have a file by hand, sometimes the new brakedisc dosn't really fit. Just file a little phase on the calibre brackets just 1 mm I don't know if the Mk3 is the same but on the Mk2 it works
@@Euro.Paleta I didn't have any issues really, just got to be careful not to scratch the discs. If you can get the old ones off without damaging them then you should be able to get the new ones on, probably... New discs will be thicker because of less wear. I did it on an Audi A3 8P 2011 with little hassle, and that had the same actuated calliper and I believe the same diameter discs on the rear as most other similar VAG vehicles, but I'm basing that of the rear brakes are primarily for stabilisation and parking, the fronts are what will change in diameter in most scenarios. I'd be prepared to take the bracket off just in case. Lexivon do some cheap triple squares I think. I personally felt they were too tight for me to lay under the wheel knuckle and hang off them, testing how well I'd set the stands up and covering me in rust. Enjoy.
a few years back now I had a sticky front brake on my volvo, the calliper piston was sticking, I took it off and nothing I could do was getting it to budge, in the end I actually disassembled the calliper, and used my air compressor, 150 psi got the piston out and i cleaned the rust out of the bore, reassembled it and refitted to the car (and ordered a new one to fit when it arrived) it kept me going the few days it needed to (I was commuting 124 miles a day back then)
As someone who works on VW and live in rust land. Those rear bolts are a pain. I think they are aluminium since they don't rust. Just become very stuck. I always hammer the socket then use 1/2" impact.
Due to the fact that some brake pads still contain asbestos; you should use some type of personal protection or evacuation method when exposed to the grinding dust like on this repair. Stay safe and healthy Ray.
I agree with you. Many moons ago when i was in high school, i had 3 years of automotive technology at our local Votech school. One thing we had to do was wear a mask when doing brake jobs. Safety glasses were mandatory. A clean and organized shop was also mandatory. I love Ray's video and extreme knowledge of his trade. Just wish he would stress a little safety and clean work areas.
Ray, at around time 37:00 when you were spraying out the caliper bracket with the stuck slide pins, brake cleaner splashed onto the camera lens. I sure hope you were wearing safety glasses. I am speaking from personal experience here, I wear glasses and way back in 1978 I had a '73 Chevy Impala Custom Coupe. The rear axle seal was leaking gear lube onto the brake shoes. I cleaned the shoes with brake cleaner and some splashed into my eye from one of the rivet holes in the brake shoe and into my eye from around my glasses. Immediately there was intense pain. I quickly ran about 50 feet to the janitor's sink and got my head and eyes under the faucet. Thankfully there was no permanant damage to my eye. Just be carefull and use PPE!
Hi Ray. I’m from Canada and I’ve never understood the supposed benefits of brake cleaning the rotor. By cleaning the anti rust oil off of the back of hub area will only allow the hub to rust weld itself to bearing. Thus having to beat it off on next brake job, potentially damaging bearing! Also the oil will burn off with the brake pad seating process! Lastly after a few years the space between the rotor linings will seriously rust and actually lose thickness, thus leading to wavy rotors. Plus with all the additional rust flying around, it can jam around pads and lead to increased wear. So I see zero upside to using spray, including the waste of money and aerosolized crap in our environment!
Look at brake manufacturers websites and look at their technical information/guidance and compare that to what you are saying. Oil in brake pads soaks in. Ever seen brake pads contaminated with brake fluid. Does it burn off or just create an unequal brake friction on the wheel concerned? Will agree that brakeclean between rotor and hub can create a great space for rust to form. Can be alleviated by a light spray of fluid film on hub (after both surfaces are thoroughly cleaned like Ray has shown). In Land Down Under I use a light smear of wheel bearing grease which is cleaned off every time the rotor is removed. Area is cleaned of old grease and dust and then new light smear of grease re-applied. If aerosol cans are getting under your skin, you can buy 20 litres of bulk brakeclean and buy a pump up spray applicator. Have been using that system for most of my time as a mechanic (now retired).
I have also battled with stuck brake pins. I have even considered drilling the back side out to drive them out or install a zerk fitting to later be plugged! I do have a 10 mm drill in my brake kit to clean out the corrosion and cooked grease.
not gonna lie, I've done the same thing on cars I've bought. recent one it had fairly new brake pads and rotors, but because the previous owner smoked the clutch and couldn't/wouldn't get it fixed, it sat for almost a year, so the rotors and pads were a bit rough. nothing a random orbital sander and some 60 grit to knock the surface rust off couldn't fix. did the usual break-in procedure again, and the brakes were perfect. I'm not averse to spending the money when needed, but when you can salvage something you might as well.
Since becoming a regular viewer of your channel and a tinkerer/fixer of my own cars, I have suddenly increased my usage of brake cleaner... I wonder why?
Made me smile watching you try to get the triple squared/XZN fasteners out pf the rear, cause i had some MAJOR problems getting them out on my passat too. i usually do my brakes in the driveway but had to go to a lift to get them out, put them on again, go home and finish the job. Threadlock is the key.
Just wait till you round one out then pound an allen head in there. It's great. Cause then regular bolt head bolts go back in. I jacked up my daughters vw Wolfsburg. I wasn't buying new ones. So I just put in regular bolts with a matching thread. Way better
I have found using a short bungy cord to hold the caliber in place saves you a lot of trouble doing this kind of work. Just helps prevent having to fight with the calipers when they like to fall.
@@theundergroundlairofthesqu9261 The nice thing about the bungy cords is they are about a dollar and have hooks on each end. I use 4 six inch long bungee cords (stretch to about a foot long), to hold up each caliper when working. SO all in about $5. Just make sure they are the fiber wrapped multi strand types. This way if the elastic cords inside do fail, the outer fiber wrap will prevent the caliper falling. Have used the same set for over 10 years without issues.
Ah yes, the Canadian Slide-pin Special! Had to do this for my buddy's Hyundai and it was NOT fun 😂 Can confirm though, same symptoms of one pad at 9mm and the other at -1mm.
Since you use BG products, consider using BG Stop Squeal for brake pads, especially semi metallic pads. Careful with the brake dust from those pads, lungs
I've owned 5 VW Passats over the last 25 years. VW is NOTORIOUS for over torquing the rear caliper bolts on all models from the factory. One time I had to use a 5ft cheater pipe on my 2ft breaker bar to get enough leverage to break the bolts loose. You got off easy when compared to some. Great channel and good luck. I also enjoy the Wife Unit channel. 👍
Also many of them are one time use. If it has a torque plus degrees of turn past then it’s definitely a stretch bolt and should be replaced not reused.
Jason R indeed they do. I had a 2011 jetta TDI sportswagen, most fun car I've ever owned and over time I had replaced all of the wheel bearings. If I recall correctly, the torque spec on the hub bolts was 140 ft. lbs. plus 90 degrees. I needed a torch followed by a 4 foot cheater bar on a one inch drive breaker bar to remove each and every one of them.
I did not see the front caliper slide pins pulled and lubricated? Same basic design, needs similar maintenance as the rears... Others have noted this as well?
Ray, always respect your mechanical ability and patience. You need to buy a vice! This would have made the slide pin removal much easier, as well as sanding the pads down. I would have wound back the rear calipers slightly as well. Just a short amount of work to assure the rears are not dragging from the start.
I'll admit I'm saying this from my comfy chair, but Ray needs: a) a real workbench 2) a vise iii) to clean the top of his toolbox Four - a designated quite clean workbench for brake, hydraulic, AC parts fiddling (the dirt on top of his toolbox just freaks me out when he's doing brake/AC/hydraulic parts fiddling on them.)
Heckins yeah my dude! I personally use the Lennox brand metal sanding flap discs for my cordless grinder 6"level, clamp in vise nice and flat employing some paralells then just the weight of the grinder itself as the force. Once the ugly surface on the pads looks fresh and uniform, i then use a 14" piece of 2x2" solid aluminium, machined true. Clamp sandpaper to it, then circular pattern, maybe 10 strokes just to get them as flat as is Garage workspace achievable.
You can’t really use torx on hex if they are seriously tight ! once you’ve achieved maximum thrutch, a torx is likely to round ‘er out ! I used to do brake pads on a nice flat concrete kerb , and shoes with a hacksaw !
I only have one vehicle with over 100,000 miles 123,000 to be honest,but it took 17 years to get there. A 2015 with the same mileage,man they drive a-lot.
Not all mechanics are as honest as you. A lot of guys would just say: "The bolt broke, we need to replace the whole kabootle, that'll be $1500 for the dealer only parts please." ESPECIALLY on a VW. Most Mechs make VWs sound so exotic and mysterious... And EXPENSIVE to do anything to. I actually had one shop refuse to change the oil on my 2003 VW New Beetle, 2.0L, 4cyl. He said to me, AND I QUOTE: "I don't have the special tool needed to change the oil on that car." Talk about blowing smoke up my... butt... BTW, he had a newish VW Jetta sitting in the front waiting for service... That would be why I stopped there.... His attitude lost him a potential long term customer. I have 2 older, high mileage cars that I take care of. I wasn't asking him to trace a typical VW wiring problem, or a mysterious issue that only happens "once-in-a-while"!!!! In my area, I have a SERIOUS lack of good, honest vehicle service shops. I have to drive 15 miles each way to get an oil change, and it costs me $100. (Synthetic oil). AND I drive 50 miles each way to get to a MIDAS for other service. MIDAS!!! Can't EVER get out of a Midas without a $800+ service bill. Don't get me wrong! They do good work. They have a guy that LOVES VWs. But they are so expensive, I go deeper into debt every time I go. I paid them $3500 for what I thought was SUPPOSED to be an exhaust from the manifold back... They claim... That the now leaking flex-pipe, on a lifetime guaranteed exhaust, that they didn't change it... It's not theirs. $300 to replace and weld it in please. I KNOW on these VWs the flex pipe comes WITH the new Catalytic Converter as one piece. I CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE OUT OF NEW YORK STATE!!!!!!
Interesting how to break in the brake pads and rotors. When working at a Ford dealer they told us to get up to 60 and brake hard and not to lock up or engage the ABS and do that a couple of times. I know it is Ford telling me that. LOL
I have found on my VW’s that i have to clean the inside of those triple square bolts because i always find they collect road dirt and don’t allow the socket to seat on the bottom of the bolts pocket, brake clean and a red tube to the rescue, i use scotch brite pad on those rusty slide pins. Good video to know how to properly evaluate the uneven pad ware that the previous person found before the pad slap.
When doing my Jetta (527k miles on the TDI) and Passats, I will add a light coating of never seize to the inner rim of the brake disk/central wheel hub area to help them come off easier the next brake job. And because the wheels are hub-centric, I do the same on the inner hub of the wheel, to make the wheel come off easy should there be a flat tire.
To prevent slip out on recessed fasteners a dab of valve grinding paste on the driver will really enhance the grip, carbide in the paste digs in to the driver and the fastener and will seldom slip out, be sure to clean off thoroughly afterwards, or it will seriously damage moving parts
Ray, one of my friends had that lug nut arrangement and the caps. He did not like the looks without the caps or he would have just left them off. He did figure a way to make the job easier. He drilled three holes all the way through the caps near the top. This, of course, resulted in six actual holes as there where holes both where the drill went in and where it came out. From then on he used a small hooked pick from Harbor Freight to reach in and grab the cap by one of the drilled holes similar to what you were trying and eventually accomplishing with the small wire that you were using to get the cap off.
The cars actually come with a little tool designed specifically for removing the covers, so no need to modify them. Assuming a lot of owners lose it or don’t even know it’s in the tool kit in the boot.
You could speed up your processes by doing same step on left side as you do right side at the same time , as you will already have the tool in your hand , just a thought
I did my mk4 brakes and rotors this summer and my ABS hydraulic pump just decided to unalive itself 🙃 so now I'm riding on brakes version 1980s. 😅 found 3 units. That's for my technician friends, but brakes that aren't anti-lock, fuuuuun.
Ray- just be aware. asbestos is still used in brake pads, and legally allowed. I grind pads too- mainly after riding my motorcycle pretty hard and they can sometimes glaze up.. just be careful nasty stuff.
I find VW using callipers from two separate suppliers odd. ATE on the front and something totally different on the rear. ATEs on the front are the same ones ford used on the rears of the Focus ST and the Mondeo/Fusion
That belt on the sander is screaming out for some tension there! You restored my faith in humanity for lubing the rear slide pins, I will let it slide that you didn’t do the fronts (pun 100% intended).
Excellent job Ray that was my car and it is stopping beautiful now it actually is a joy to drive again thank you very very much. So many things in that brake job that another shop could have took advantage of me and made me spend more money. Thank you again
He give me the option and I told him to go ahead and do this it was on me not him
@@MitchGaar if you'd listened to what Raymondo was saying, he clearly stated that he was keeping the cost down after discussing with the customer.
No point in wasting what is effectively a good pad.
Kudos to Raymondo for respecting the customers wishes.
@@MitchGaar that is just dumb
well maintained vehicle. looks really nice.
@@MitchGaar why, is it stupid? I’m not being confrontational just curious, they had a bunch of life to them still and he redid the surface so they were fresh again. Just curious for the reasoning
Ray in one video: I want to get back to my 10-20 minute video roots. Also Ray: 50+ minute brake job video. Us: We don't care how long the videos are, we just like watchin' em. Excellent video Ray,
Don't lie to him! We only like long videos and will accept pointless rambling, shop updates and tool clean up filler.
I agree...go for the longer videos, Ray.
👍longer is better
Yes! Don't worry
I eat breakfast every morning watching a Ray repair video that’s how I start every morning !!! 😂😂😂😂
Anyone else notice the only time Ray doesn't do the Brake Kleen JUMP Scare routine is when he's using it on brakes? LOL
Thanks. 33 years later I learn the name of the 1/2 inch 12 point spline tool i needed for the bolts on my mom's '73 VW 412 flywheel, and later on the cylinder head bolts for my 81 scirocco. Also, your shop is too quiet without the doo DEE doo phone ringing. I actuall miss that.
Ray, I would just like to say that you're a bad influence 😂. I changed all of the brake rotors and pads on my parents' car for them, and when the tin of brake clean ran out, I threw the tin and said 'another'. My dad had a puzzled look on his face, so I had to explain. Keep up the great work, and we don't care how long the videos are. We will always watch them 👍🏻
Let Ray be Ray. I enjoy the 50+ videos
I find it interesting how some people think greasing slide pins is an optional step... I always pull the pins and wipe them off and grease! Mobile mechanic
Das Auto!......Loved this job Ray...had a new 2006 diesel Jetta and a new 2012 CC, both great machines...hope you and family have a great week....Chiefs!!!
Thank you, Ray, for this video. I have to do a complete brake job on my daughter's VW Turbo shortly, and this showed what I need to do and the tools I need to prepare for it. 👍
@@Im.from.Austria and the second is never buy a VAG product !
Don't forget the belt sander! 🤣 (Actually, I've done that.)
In the UK we call your triple square .. spline drive . We see them a lot 👍 love your videos also.. great watching and learning.. thanks
Eventually you will have to get a clock or a phone that makes the Dooodley Dooo sound. That was the best when you yelled “ Answer the phone!!!” I like many people miss it. Just putting that out there Ray.
I've had slide pins stuck so bad I used pliers and a torch to heat up . Then go in with brake cleaner and nylon brush on a drill. Thanks for the video Ray!
I used to do something similar when scuffing pads, a couple of swipes on a strip of wet/dry sandpaper at the bottom of my aqueous parts washer tray (pump running). Keeps the dust at bay. Rinse with brake cleaner, done.
When I was a kid my dad had a 62 Beetle. Cold ride in the Northern Indiana winter!
When Volkswagen came to Canada there's a story that a guy bought one of their vans. He called the dealer one blustery day in Toronto and said, "I swear to God it's COLDER inside this thing than it is outside!" The sales manager replied, "Well lower the window and let some of the cold out."
This episode sponsored by Dr Ray's Purple Slide Pin Grease - the key to any successful brake job.
it's purple so you know it's good!
Thank you for making a longer video!!
I like the idea that you try to save the customers money and at the same time you do replace the parts that need to be replaced! Good job.!!! R. C.
Replacing rotors is not my idea of cost cutting when they can be machined for much less.
@@johnt.848 Not if they're close to their min thickness.
The front caliper bolts are 7mm Allen. They can be pulled, cleaned, and lubed like normal slide pins.
That was one task that I did not see accomplished on this video unless it happened behind the scenes...
Comment needs bumped like sam said i also didn’t see it done either unless it was done behind scene. Also if im not mistaken the rear rotors you can slip past the bracket and dont need to remove it.
@@josihaknox7256 The rotors can be slipped past the carrier on the style without the bar in front of the rotor if that makes sense.
Never mind the negative ninnies! Its YOUR shop and your decisions on how to repair a vehicle. If someone doesn't approve, they can open their own shop and do it their way! You do what you do best. Repair cars with flashlight gravity!
I love the videos and I love the family involvement. If I lived closer, you would definately be the one to keep my fleet running!
An Old Mechanic told me to use a Large Black Diamond/ Bastard File on Pads to make them True/Flat, he said New Ones sometimes have a Hump on them, this will cause a Vibration sometimes when Braking. I have found this to be True sometimes...
those r humpback pads, not genuine.
Ray, I want to thank you for helping me prepare & replace my calipers & the break pads. Thank you
The stuck slide pins is why I always clean the old grease out of them. I tend to work on older stuff, so I see bad grease often.
Just got tires on my VW Phaeton. I picked up the car and something didn't look right on the wheels. I was watching this video and when you removed the wheel nut caps it hit me They didn't put my nut caps back on. Thanks for what you do Ray.
All I see is one helluva mechanic doing a damn good job in every video that he posts!! I've been turning wrenches for 30 years and sometimes we have to do things others don't like, but we do what ever we can to help the customer in the best possible ways. Like Ray, I personally don't like robbing people of their hard earned money! Some people forget the love and passion of working on cars because they have come to accustom to all the $$$$
Great job Ray!!
Excellent comments
I have now joined the Cult of Brake Cleaner, back in my unenlightened days I had to remove the protective oil from new rotors with lacquer thinner on a rag. I have seen the error of my ways and truly repented! Besides, Brake Clean is useful for so many other things. I recently used it to free up a stuck ratchet shifter on a bicycle.
Hi Ray, I have to say that chamfering the leading edge of a pad was frowned upon in my training - the chamfer would act like a guide for road dust etc to fit between the rotor and pad, and a square edge was better at clearing contaminants off the rotor when pressure was applied.
Look at many sets of pads and see if the OE manufacturer places chamfers on them. Think you will be surprised. Retired mechanic in Land Down Under.
Regarding the slide pins on the last caliper bracket, could it not been excesive heat from the metal on metal that cooked the grease?
Usually it is cosmoline scary on new rotors to keep them from rusting which is like a oil
yea!!! the neat intro is back. I don't know why but it makes me believe we are cut from the same cloth. Hello from Canada
Lots of shops would make you buy pads cause they are making money on you buying the pads! Nothing wrong with scuffing them up and reusing
Wow ! BRAKE CLEANER ON BRAKES. I scuff the pads on concrete. Great job Ray.
Ray...I've done this exact vehicle and removal of the 13MM triple square fasteners on the rear is NOT required. The rotor slips right out of the caliper bracket no problem. Try it next time...great video none the less.
Just a gripe because this is an automotive channel. I just purchased a used Subaru Forester. I wanted to put new brakes on because I trust my own work or don't trust others. Pads had 7-8mm left, so they were done pretty recently. Slide pin on the right was completely seized, like replace bracket seized. Then, caliper on left was seized. I have to same style piston compression tool Ray has, albeit the cheap one. It failed catastrophically. So a new caliper had to be installed as well. Beware of used car dealers that just like to turn em and burn em.
7mm Allen key Ray but keep up th good work rear discs can be removed most of the time without removing the pad carrier
Just a word of caution about reusing friction materials; I had a pair of brake shoes that had almost no wear at all and so I figured they would be fine (rough it up and go). The wheel kept locking up to the point of glowing. It seemed that some brake fluid had leaked from a replaced wheel cylinder and had gotten into the shoe changing its friction, making it sticky. Long story short, beware of contamination, not always visible.
Yeah, same experience with rear shoes.
Oil would make them sticky believe it or not, brake fluid can be washed off by soaking the shoes in water.
you have a point about contamination but I had lots of gear oil leak onto rear brake shoes. After I fixed the leaky seal I just sprayed the shoes down with brake cleaner and it worked fine for me? Truck stops great so I don't think you always have to replace. JMO.
Might have been "just another brake job", but finding those frozen slide pins on one rear wheel was a good catch and object lesson for us all. Always clean and re-lube those pins, even if all the other wheels were fine. Good job!
I had an accident back in late 2009 because the pins on my Monte Carlo weren't lubed from the factory. It took 4 years of driving for the pads to wear unevenly to the point of failure (repeatedly "inspected" when I got oil changes, and nobody noticed the outboard pad was fine while the inboard pad was wearing out) and my front left brake failed, causing me to rear end someone else. That was my last Chevy. Yes, lubing those pins is vital.
Heh, had to take a blow torch to my slide pins the other day to get them out 😅
Ha! That was awesome throwing pops from Friday in there 😂. This is one reason why I like the longer videos. I like watching and learning how to do stuff. I've never done a brake job and didn't know anything about the coating on the brake rotors and prob would've gotten myself in trouble. Thank you for pointing out the little details!
I find when it comes to special tools I don't really mind buying them very much for working on my own stuff. Just buying that special tool is so much cheaper than the price of having somebody else do the work.
There is an adjusting knob on the sander that will tighten down the sanding paper so it doesn't ride halfway off the wheel.
The triple square caliper bracket bolts for the rears are notoriously tight in my experience in VAG vehicles. Last time I did this in my driveway in the rain I just skipped that step and managed to slip the discs in past the bracket.
Is it pain in the rear to put the discs on without removing the brackets?
Im doing the rear brakes on my Škoda Octavia Mk3 this weekend and this video makes me skip that step too haha
@@Euro.Paleta i would recommend to have a file by hand, sometimes the new brakedisc dosn't really fit. Just file a little phase on the calibre brackets just 1 mm
I don't know if the Mk3 is the same but on the Mk2 it works
@@Euro.Paleta I didn't have any issues really, just got to be careful not to scratch the discs. If you can get the old ones off without damaging them then you should be able to get the new ones on, probably... New discs will be thicker because of less wear. I did it on an Audi A3 8P 2011 with little hassle, and that had the same actuated calliper and I believe the same diameter discs on the rear as most other similar VAG vehicles, but I'm basing that of the rear brakes are primarily for stabilisation and parking, the fronts are what will change in diameter in most scenarios.
I'd be prepared to take the bracket off just in case. Lexivon do some cheap triple squares I think. I personally felt they were too tight for me to lay under the wheel knuckle and hang off them, testing how well I'd set the stands up and covering me in rust.
Enjoy.
Yay maximum shiny!!! Thank you brake kleen. Making Rays videos top notch one can at a time.
a few years back now I had a sticky front brake on my volvo, the calliper piston was sticking, I took it off and nothing I could do was getting it to budge, in the end I actually disassembled the calliper, and used my air compressor, 150 psi got the piston out and i cleaned the rust out of the bore, reassembled it and refitted to the car (and ordered a new one to fit when it arrived) it kept me going the few days it needed to (I was commuting 124 miles a day back then)
A+ for ingenuity Ray. I loved the belt sander burnishing tool. Improvise, adapt, and overcome, it's the mechanic way. Excellent video sir!👍👍
As someone who works on VW and live in rust land. Those rear bolts are a pain. I think they are aluminium since they don't rust. Just become very stuck. I always hammer the socket then use 1/2" impact.
Due to the fact that some brake pads still contain asbestos; you should use some type of personal protection or evacuation method when exposed to the grinding dust like on this repair. Stay safe and healthy Ray.
I agree with you. Many moons ago when i was in high school, i had 3 years of automotive technology at our local Votech school. One thing we had to do was wear a mask when doing brake jobs. Safety glasses were mandatory. A clean and organized shop was also mandatory.
I love Ray's video and extreme knowledge of his trade. Just wish he would stress a little safety and clean work areas.
Bah...been suckig asbestos dust for decades...still perfectly heathy .
I love the wife unit.
WU: "I put up my sign"
Ray: "how am i supposed to get this out"
WU: "figure it out" ***walks away***
🤣🤣🤣
Glad to see it's not just me who drops things!
I love the sound of a die grinder first thing in the morning.
Ray, at around time 37:00 when you were spraying out the caliper bracket with the stuck slide pins, brake cleaner splashed onto the camera lens. I sure hope you were wearing safety glasses. I am speaking from personal experience here, I wear glasses and way back in 1978 I had a '73 Chevy Impala Custom Coupe. The rear axle seal was leaking gear lube onto the brake shoes. I cleaned the shoes with brake cleaner and some splashed into my eye from one of the rivet holes in the brake shoe and into my eye from around my glasses. Immediately there was intense pain. I quickly ran about 50 feet to the janitor's sink and got my head and eyes under the faucet. Thankfully there was no permanant damage to my eye. Just be carefull and use PPE!
Ray as long as you and wife unit keep posting videos 30sec to 6.5 hrs I will keep watching God bless and have a beautiful day
Hi Ray. I’m from Canada and I’ve never understood the supposed benefits of brake cleaning the rotor.
By cleaning the anti rust oil off of the back of hub area will only allow the hub to rust weld itself to bearing. Thus having to beat it off on next brake job, potentially damaging bearing! Also the oil will burn off with the brake pad seating process! Lastly after a few years the space between the rotor linings will seriously rust and actually lose thickness, thus leading to wavy rotors. Plus with all the additional rust flying around, it can jam around pads and lead to increased wear.
So I see zero upside to using spray, including the waste of money and aerosolized crap in our environment!
Look at brake manufacturers websites and look at their technical information/guidance and compare that to what you are saying. Oil in brake pads soaks in. Ever seen brake pads contaminated with brake fluid. Does it burn off or just create an unequal brake friction on the wheel concerned? Will agree that brakeclean between rotor and hub can create a great space for rust to form. Can be alleviated by a light spray of fluid film on hub (after both surfaces are thoroughly cleaned like Ray has shown). In Land Down Under I use a light smear of wheel bearing grease which is cleaned off every time the rotor is removed. Area is cleaned of old grease and dust and then new light smear of grease re-applied. If aerosol cans are getting under your skin, you can buy 20 litres of bulk brakeclean and buy a pump up spray applicator. Have been using that system for most of my time as a mechanic (now retired).
Interesting perspective..manufactures don't leave a little instructions in their boxes...
Don't forget the antiseize compound on the threads.....'n the Purple Lube slider pin grease.....
So glad you said parking brake and not emergency brake!
Good morning from Chicago🙂 Raymond 👋🏻hope this day finds you and your family♥️ well!👍 BROTHER! 🍻
i use a alan wrench that fits inside the plastic cap gentle pull and wa la cap off
I have also battled with stuck brake pins. I have even considered drilling the back side out to drive them out or install a zerk fitting to later be plugged! I do have a 10 mm drill in my brake kit to clean out the corrosion and cooked grease.
I replaced push button start button on our 2013 vw tiguan....no issues with 2019 golf r...with even more miles on it same button
not gonna lie, I've done the same thing on cars I've bought.
recent one it had fairly new brake pads and rotors, but because the previous owner smoked the clutch and couldn't/wouldn't get it fixed, it sat for almost a year, so the rotors and pads were a bit rough. nothing a random orbital sander and some 60 grit to knock the surface rust off couldn't fix. did the usual break-in procedure again, and the brakes were perfect. I'm not averse to spending the money when needed, but when you can salvage something you might as well.
Since becoming a regular viewer of your channel and a tinkerer/fixer of my own cars, I have suddenly increased my usage of brake cleaner... I wonder why?
Eric O would be pleased!
u caught the Brakekleen Syndrome contagion.
Made me smile watching you try to get the triple squared/XZN fasteners out pf the rear, cause i had some MAJOR problems getting them out on my passat too. i usually do my brakes in the driveway but had to go to a lift to get them out, put them on again, go home and finish the job. Threadlock is the key.
Resurfacing brake surfaces was always done on a linishing belt or radius grinder, nothing sketchy about using a belt sander.
Just wait till you round one out then pound an allen head in there. It's great. Cause then regular bolt head bolts go back in. I jacked up my daughters vw Wolfsburg. I wasn't buying new ones. So I just put in regular bolts with a matching thread. Way better
I have found using a short bungy cord to hold the caliber in place saves you a lot of trouble doing this kind of work. Just helps prevent having to fight with the calipers when they like to fall.
$10 gets you a set of metal S hooks that are also very good at hanging them up and away.
@@theundergroundlairofthesqu9261 The nice thing about the bungy cords is they are about a dollar and have hooks on each end. I use 4 six inch long bungee cords (stretch to about a foot long), to hold up each caliper when working. SO all in about $5. Just make sure they are the fiber wrapped multi strand types. This way if the elastic cords inside do fail, the outer fiber wrap will prevent the caliper falling. Have used the same set for over 10 years without issues.
@@JJ_ExMachina I used to use coat hanger wire. That's... doable. But your bungees or my current S hooks are better!
@@theundergroundlairofthesqu9261 ... For sure, just simple tools to make things easier and or safer.
I've never used a belt sander, but have scuffed the surface up on smooth pads on the concrete floor a few times.
I like that they used covers on the caliper bolts. Nice detail touch that is missing from most manf.
Ray your presentations are superb,your channel is one of the BEST on TH-cam,thanks
Ah yes, the Canadian Slide-pin Special! Had to do this for my buddy's Hyundai and it was NOT fun 😂
Can confirm though, same symptoms of one pad at 9mm and the other at -1mm.
My understanding is that typically if there's pulsing when braking, the rotors are warped or cracked.
Since you use BG products, consider using BG Stop Squeal for brake pads, especially semi metallic pads. Careful with the brake dust from those pads, lungs
That stuff is so underrated
@@firstlast--- The BG Stop Squeal or the Brake Dust?😁
I've owned 5 VW Passats over the last 25 years. VW is NOTORIOUS for over torquing the rear caliper bolts on all models from the factory. One time I had to use a 5ft cheater pipe on my 2ft breaker bar to get enough leverage to break the bolts loose. You got off easy when compared to some. Great channel and good luck. I also enjoy the Wife Unit channel. 👍
to avoid caliper coming off lawsuit.
As usual Ray another great video. I have done what you done in the past. Keep’m coming while you are having yourself a great day
VW has some insane torque values for many of its fasteners.
Also many of them are one time use. If it has a torque plus degrees of turn past then it’s definitely a stretch bolt and should be replaced not reused.
Yeah, the bolts on mine have much more torque than the engine does 🤓
No kidding. It's completely not necessary at all!
German engineering at its finest!
Jason R indeed they do. I had a 2011 jetta TDI sportswagen, most fun car I've ever owned and over time I had replaced all of the wheel bearings. If I recall correctly, the torque spec on the hub bolts was 140 ft. lbs. plus 90 degrees. I needed a torch followed by a 4 foot cheater bar on a one inch drive breaker bar to remove each and every one of them.
Ray is that a beautiful SAAB sitting on the trailer. I hope you're working on that. If not, then ask the owner if you can anyway.
Re why the straight pick use a short 90 degree pick next saves you time and you won't damage the plastic lug covers
I did not see the front caliper slide pins pulled and lubricated? Same basic design, needs similar maintenance as the rears... Others have noted this as well?
Good morning Ray
Ray, always respect your mechanical ability and patience. You need to buy a vice! This would have made the slide pin removal much easier, as well as sanding the pads down. I would have wound back the rear calipers slightly as well. Just a short amount of work to assure the rears are not dragging from the start.
I'll admit I'm saying this from my comfy chair, but Ray needs:
a) a real workbench
2) a vise
iii) to clean the top of his toolbox
Four - a designated quite clean workbench for brake, hydraulic, AC parts fiddling (the dirt on top of his toolbox just freaks me out when he's doing brake/AC/hydraulic parts fiddling on them.)
Heckins yeah my dude!
I personally use the Lennox brand metal sanding flap discs for my cordless grinder
6"level, clamp in vise nice and flat employing some paralells then just the weight of the grinder itself as the force.
Once the ugly surface on the pads looks fresh and uniform, i then use a 14" piece of 2x2" solid aluminium, machined true.
Clamp sandpaper to it, then circular pattern, maybe 10 strokes just to get them as flat as is Garage workspace achievable.
he got them nice and shiny already.
You can’t really use torx on hex if they are seriously tight ! once you’ve achieved maximum thrutch, a torx is likely to round ‘er out ! I used to do brake pads on a nice flat concrete kerb , and shoes with a hacksaw !
@@CrimeVid he will use same belt sander for engine resurface too, he has yet risen to your high level.
I only have one vehicle with over 100,000 miles 123,000 to be honest,but it took 17 years to get there. A 2015 with the same mileage,man they drive a-lot.
Yep, has taken me 23 years to get 68k on my 2000 Camry. I live close to everything...
Not all mechanics are as honest as you.
A lot of guys would just say:
"The bolt broke, we need to replace the whole kabootle, that'll be $1500 for the dealer only parts please." ESPECIALLY on a VW. Most Mechs make VWs sound so exotic and mysterious... And EXPENSIVE to do anything to.
I actually had one shop refuse to change the oil on my 2003 VW New Beetle, 2.0L, 4cyl.
He said to me, AND I QUOTE: "I don't have the special tool needed to change the oil on that car."
Talk about blowing smoke up my... butt...
BTW, he had a newish VW Jetta sitting in the front waiting for service...
That would be why I stopped there....
His attitude lost him a potential long term customer.
I have 2 older, high mileage cars that I take care of. I wasn't asking him to trace a typical VW wiring problem, or a mysterious issue that only happens "once-in-a-while"!!!!
In my area, I have a SERIOUS lack of good, honest vehicle service shops. I have to drive 15 miles each way to get an oil change, and it costs me $100. (Synthetic oil). AND I drive 50 miles each way to get to a MIDAS for other service. MIDAS!!! Can't EVER get out of a Midas without a $800+ service bill. Don't get me wrong! They do good work. They have a guy that LOVES VWs. But they are so expensive, I go deeper into debt every time I go. I paid them $3500 for what I thought was SUPPOSED to be an exhaust from the manifold back... They claim... That the now leaking flex-pipe, on a lifetime guaranteed exhaust, that they didn't change it... It's not theirs. $300 to replace and weld it in please. I KNOW on these VWs the flex pipe comes WITH the new Catalytic Converter as one piece.
I CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE OUT OF NEW YORK STATE!!!!!!
Looks like it also needs a new Start button. I had to replace the one in my Wife's 2015 Tiguan for the same problem. It's fairly easy.
You have not lived until you take the ridge off the disc with a belt sander...When it's on the car works crazy good.
I had the slide pins stick on my f250 and it did the same thing. I think it had something to do with the truck came from Colorado.
Interesting how to break in the brake pads and rotors. When working at a Ford dealer they told us to get up to 60 and brake hard and not to lock up or engage the ABS and do that a couple of times. I know it is Ford telling me that. LOL
I have found on my VW’s that i have to clean the inside of those triple square bolts because i always find they collect road dirt and don’t allow the socket to seat on the bottom of the bolts pocket, brake clean and a red tube to the rescue, i use scotch brite pad on those rusty slide pins. Good video to know how to properly evaluate the uneven pad ware that the previous person found before the pad slap.
When doing my Jetta (527k miles on the TDI) and Passats, I will add a light coating of never seize to the inner rim of the brake disk/central wheel hub area to help them come off easier the next brake job. And because the wheels are hub-centric, I do the same on the inner hub of the wheel, to make the wheel come off easy should there be a flat tire.
To prevent slip out on recessed fasteners a dab of valve grinding paste on the driver will really enhance the grip, carbide in the paste digs in to the driver and the fastener and will seldom slip out, be sure to clean off thoroughly afterwards, or it will seriously damage moving parts
Love that opening gravity!
Ray, one of my friends had that lug nut arrangement and the caps. He did not like the looks without the caps or he would have just left them off. He did figure a way to make the job easier. He drilled three holes all the way through the caps near the top. This, of course, resulted in six actual holes as there where holes both where the drill went in and where it came out. From then on he used a small hooked pick from Harbor Freight to reach in and grab the cap by one of the drilled holes similar to what you were trying and eventually accomplishing with the small wire that you were using to get the cap off.
The cars actually come with a little tool designed specifically for removing the covers, so no need to modify them. Assuming a lot of owners lose it or don’t even know it’s in the tool kit in the boot.
@@edward.pearson Whose boot and which foot?
I can already hear the REEE’s about how you used a belt sander on break pads and that “YoU ShoRTenEd thE LifE oF tHe BreAkS WhAt ArE YoU DoiNg” 😂😂
Probably buffed off two brake applications. It's the end of the world.
I admit, my first time changing a VW wheel, I tried using a torx bit thinking that the caps were the nuts
You could speed up your processes by doing same step on left side as you do right side at the same time , as you will already have the tool in your hand , just a thought
Great video, but next time please put the sound effect for the brake spray cleaner. That's the reason I watch your videos 😆.
I did my mk4 brakes and rotors this summer and my ABS hydraulic pump just decided to unalive itself 🙃 so now I'm riding on brakes version 1980s. 😅 found 3 units. That's for my technician friends, but brakes that aren't anti-lock, fuuuuun.
"Figure it out!" 😂😂😂 Loved it, Lauren!
Well done thoughtful repair 👨🔧
Ray- just be aware. asbestos is still used in brake pads, and legally allowed. I grind pads too- mainly after riding my motorcycle pretty hard and they can sometimes glaze up.. just be careful nasty stuff.
thank you Ray..an excellent upload,those pads looked brand new,,👍👌
I find VW using callipers from two separate suppliers odd. ATE on the front and something totally different on the rear. ATEs on the front are the same ones ford used on the rears of the Focus ST and the Mondeo/Fusion
That belt on the sander is screaming out for some tension there!
You restored my faith in humanity for lubing the rear slide pins, I will let it slide that you didn’t do the fronts (pun 100% intended).
50-50 good enough.
Customer did want... to save some money - mission accomplished !
but the caliper is not human, will not slide for him, ensuring customer will pay for new pads and rotors next job.