HOW TO: Change Rear Discs/Pads on Mazda 3

lovswr

Member
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Mazda 3 I
edit 26 May 2007: Changed pictures to photobucket so hopefully nobody will have a problem seeing them & they are bigger to boot! (hi)



I have an 06 3i & just went over 40,000 miles last week. The rears discs have been grinding for about a week or so & I figured it was time to get some new pads.

Took my car to Tires Plus & I was shown that the pads has almost worn down to the rivets & they had also grooved the rotors pretty bad. Tires Plus wanted just about 400 bucks for new rotors & pads + labor.



Well on a whim, I went back to the Mazda dealer that I purchased my car from. Got the pads rotors & new air filter for 225. Ok, should be a quick in & out job. Little did I know...





Started off no problem. Loosened the lug nuts & then jacked the passenger rear up. Jack stand in place & everything is a go.

First part: take the caliper off. There are 4 bolts total. The extreme top & bottom bolts use a hex key. The two inner bolts need are 14mm. Take the extreme top & bottom bolt off & you should be able to work the caliper off. Don't do as I did & take the inner hex bolts off first, as there is really no room becuase of the brake line. I did it but it was nerve wraking. Once you get the two extreme top & bottom bolts off you will have plenty of room to get to the inner bolts.


Mazda3iBrakeCaliperToolSet002.jpg

This is one of the bolts. All 4 bolts are on the inside, & the normal lefty-loosey & righty-tighty rules still apply, but you will be moving your hands in the opposite direction. edit:Per RickC below all 4 bolts do not have to come off



Mazda3iBrakeCaliperToolSet004.jpg

This is the piece that is connected by the two inner 14mm bolts





Mazda3iBrakeCaliperToolSet013.jpg

I don't know the size of this key. I have a set of 12 & this was the 3rd largest.




Mazda3iBrakeCaliperToolSet005.jpg

Caliper off (use a coat hanger to support it), pads off & old rotor will just come right off. The two little black things are the rubber caps that cover the two outer hex bolts.





Mazda3iBrakeCaliperToolSet007.jpg

This was the onus for me that started this thread. That caliper has to go back in before you can put on the new pads & or rotors. DO NOT JUST USE A C-CLAMP TO FORCE IT!!! Because this is the rear, the caliper piston is tied into the Emergency hand brake. You have to push & twist, in a clockwise direction at the same time. Ahh lowswr, you say, how the hell I am supposed to do that. Well run, don't walk to Harbor Freight part # 40732-OVGA Caliper Tool Set for Disc Brakes



Mazda3iBrakeCaliperToolSet009.jpg

In my 40 years, this has got to be one of the best spent 40 bucks I ever did.





Mazda3iBrakeCaliperToolSet006.jpg

The kit comes with 10 discs of different sizes. Mazda 3 owners don't need any of them. The screw tool has two nibs that will fit perfectly in the two holes on your piston. The plate & the screw tool are separate, but it is easy to figure out how to slide the plate over the handle. Once you get the plate under the outside "teeth" of the caliper, use a 24mm wrench to tighten the plate up. Then just turn the handle (& thus the piston) in clockwise direction. Now you can do this with just some needle nose pliers, but take it from me. Spend the 40 bucks!



Mazda3iBrakeCaliperToolSet007.jpg

I tried for about 4 hours with needle nose pliers. Took less than 3 minutes to get that piston all the way in with the tool :)



Mazda3iBrakeCaliperToolSet014.jpg

I did not know that the brake pads from Mazda came as matched sets. I just grabbed the first two out of the box & spent 90 minutes thinking I had the wrong parts. One with the metal & one without GO TOGHETHER. I put the metal one on the inside, facing the piston.




Mazda3iBrakeCaliperToolSet008.jpg

New Pads & Rotor installed.


Now I am sure that for a lot of people this is old hat. I myself have changed front rotors & pads many times, but I had no idea that it was more involved for the rears. However, I hope that some will find this useful.

That kit will work for many different car manufacturers & from what I understand, if you have anti-lock brakes, you need to twist the piston, in some cases, even for the fronts.




edit: I realized that the extreme outer bolts use the hex key & the inner bolts are 14mm. Text changed above
 
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I assmue there are supposed to be pictures with this? Anyway, thanks for the writeup, it is useful even without the pictures.
 
Rotus8 said:
I assmue there are supposed to be pictures with this? Anyway, thanks for the writeup, it is useful even without the pictures.


There are 10 pics. Are you looking from work or some place with firewall restrictions?
 
roadie said:
I see them all perfectly. Browser problems maybe?
I have tried to view pictures on fapomatic with firefox and IE on two different machines in two different domains. No pictures except the gross ones directly on the site. I suggest you try tinypic.com or photobucket.
 
Very usefull! Thanks lovswr. I had no clue that the rears need to be pushed & TURNED back in.

This will be printed and filled for the day I need it!!
 
MM3Canuck said:
Very usefull! Thanks lovswr. I had no clue that the rears need to be pushed & TURNED back in.

This will be printed and filled for the day I need it!!


No problem.
 
First I want to thank the author for posting this. I would not have figured it out as easily without it. But I would like to post a couple updates for future "backyard mechanics".

1. In the section regarding removing the caliper, you don't have to remove all 4 bolts. You only need to remove the "hex head" bolts using the allan wrench. The other part does not need to be removed. After removing the bolts, remove the spring clip and then use two screw drivers on each end of the caliper and you can "walk" the caliper off. Then simply remove the pads. They stay with the part that doesn't need to be removed. That part acts as a hanger for the pads. Pretty cool design actually!

2. The tool mentioned is necessary to push/screw the piston back into the caliper. BUT, you don't have to buy one. If you have a local AutoZone auto parts store, you can rent one for free. I called mine up, they had two of them, I drove down and got the tool, they charged me $38.41 on my credit card. Said keep it as long as I need it. I brought the tool back in about an hour, and they credited my card back the money. So basically, it's free. You can do this with any tool from AutoZone.

After doing this job the first time, and knowing what to do, I feel I could put new pads on the rear in about 45 minutes now and that includes removing and reinstalling the wheels.

Hope this helps,
 
First I want to thank the author for posting this. I would not have figured it out as easily without it. But I would like to post a couple updates for future "backyard mechanics".

1. In the section regarding removing the caliper, you don't have to remove all 4 bolts. You only need to remove the "hex head" bolts using the allan wrench. The other part does not need to be removed. After removing the bolts, remove the spring clip and then use two screw drivers on each end of the caliper and you can "walk" the caliper off. Then simply remove the pads. They stay with the part that doesn't need to be removed. That part acts as a hanger for the pads. Pretty cool design actually!

2. The tool mentioned is necessary to push/screw the piston back into the caliper. BUT, you don't have to buy one. If you have a local AutoZone auto parts store, you can rent one for free. I called mine up, they had two of them, I drove down and got the tool, they charged me $38.41 on my credit card. Said keep it as long as I need it. I brought the tool back in about an hour, and they credited my card back the money. So basically, it's free. You can do this with any tool from AutoZone.

After doing this job the first time, and knowing what to do, I feel I could put new pads on the rear in about 45 minutes now and that includes removing and reinstalling the wheels.

Hope this helps,



Hey thanks. I have edited my original post with your info.
 
Ok I wanted to make sure because some places say the tool set is just for the rear and others say it is for both front and rear. Thanks for clarifying.
 
I cannot tell you how much I appreciate our forum. Never would have got the rears. Man this is fantastic I will put my new pads on directly. there has been a bit of intrigue on the subject. Thx Lo and all you folks
 
I cannot tell you how much I appreciate our forum. Never would have got the rears. Man this is fantastic I will put my new pads on directly. there has been a bit of intrigue on the subject. Thx Lo and all you folks

Hey thanks. That is what we are all here for, to help each other :D
 
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