Changing the Car Brakes

Last night I went over to Eric’s to change my car brakes. I had never attempted to do this in my life, so I enlisted the help of Simon as well as Eric and Mike who provided some observational duties and the occasional ‘searching for a missing part’. Around 7PM, we set out to change all four brake pads and rotors on the Mazda3 with the notion that we would be done in 1.5 hours.

3 hours later with the sun down and the mosquitoes out, we finally test drove the car and were happy with the results. It was a little grueling at times, but we got through it. The first rear tire started out decent; got the wheel off, got the brakes off (with a lot more effort than needed because I had forgot to take the parking brake off!), took the rotor off, and then we hit a snag. The tool Simon had borrowed did not fit into the caliper. There were five different attachments and none of them fit. I now recall Mazda telling me that we needed a special tool for the rear caliper. We were pretty upset at the fact that the Japanese have to do things a little differently. Almost enough to make us go into the shop and get the thing done professionally.

But our engineering spirit came out and we managed to find a way to push and twist the caliper back into place without the special tool. After that, the brake pads weren’t lining up correctly and wouldn’t go over the rotor. This required another bit of time to think about but we figured out what went wrong and after 1.5 hours, we had the first brake done.

Once the learning curve is breached, it is smooth sailing. The next brake took us 30 minutes. We then moved to the front brake which we thought would take less time (more ease of access, less finagling) but the dang rotor was rusted on and we had to hammer it out and that took 15 minutes. What a pain in the ass. I realize now why I never had any interest in mechanics…I have no patience for that sort of thing. Mike also pointed out that I seem to be a little careless when I’m hammering away. Case in point, I accidentally hammered in one of the tire bolts. Luckily I hit it straight on and it just popped out so we popped it back in otherwise we would have been in a mess of trouble. I will have to pay more attention in the future when I’m prying away at something near someone’s fingers. Thanks for the tip Mike!

The final tire had to come off with the sun down so we brought out the light and the mosquitoes were out as well. We were tired but determined to get it off fast. No such luck as we were plagued by the rust problem again and it took us another 20 minutes to hammer this rotor off. Let it also be noted for historical reference that the front pads and rotors most definitely did not need to be changed. Mazda had told me they still had two months in them, Simon figured about another 20,000 kilometers. There was little wear on the front pads. So for those who are venturing into changing their own brakes, take a close look at them and determine if they really do need to be changed!

Three hours later, the job was done, I hopped in the car (Simon provided a handy plastic sheet for the car seat in case there was grease on my jeans) and I went around the block and the brakes worked fine. I had this idea that they would be stopping on a dime as soon as I touched the brake, but they feel the same as always which is fine by me.

All in all, I was happy to have Simon show me how to change my brakes. I like learning and the mechanical ways of this world have always eluded me. I now now what brakes consist of and understand when someone talks about calipers, rotors or pads. I really appreciated him taking the time to explain it all to me and the fact that he took time out of his evening to help me complete the job! I encourage everyone to go ahead and try and change their own brakes, with the help of a mechanically minded friend!

Now all that is left to do on the car is to fix the dent in the driver’s door, get a transmission flush and give it a good spring cleaning!