E-Brake Light ON and OFF

He did his front calipers... It's the rears that have had problems.

Whoops, read that wrong. I suppose I'm gunna check out AZ, thoroughly test the part, grease it up well, and hope for the best. I read on here, that there is specific brake grease and pad grease, two separate greases for doing your brakes? What do you recommend?
 
Yea... There's two types of grease..
The rubber grease is safe for rubber parts.

I used anti-seize and just caked it on the pins and filled the boots...
Not really recommended but my rust battle is more important.

 
Yea... There's two types of grease..
The rubber grease is safe for rubber parts.

I used anti-seize and just caked it on the pins and filled the boots...
Not really recommended but my rust battle is more important.


Thanks for that info @pcb!

Well, I'm stuck waiting again. Long story short, bought the reman calipers from AutoZone, got 'em on both rear with new pads, new rotors...started the bleeding process, rear passenger side went quickly, then the rear driver side did not go so well. We couldn't get the bleeder screw to tighten tight enough to stop flow of brake fluid...turns out, the bleeder screw was cross threaded from the factory reman...and they say on their site these calipers are 100% pressure tested, hmm, not so sure...as if I need more time/frustration put into this project! I'm ok today, but I was super pissed off yesterday, I just had to walk away. Since these reman calipers are special order, I had to reorder and am waiting on the part to be here Tuesday.

My biggest question while doing the rear breaks is setting the piston with the allen key. I read instructions on this site that say to turn the caliper until the pad comes in contact with the rotors, then back off 1/3 turn. What qualifies as contact? Should the wheel not move with this contact? Or are we talking slight contact, that sounds like the pad is dragging when turning the wheel? Just curious, I want to get this part right and I want this brake job as a whole done correctly, obviously...
 
I'm pretty sure they mean slight contact.

Or.. You could skip the Allen key part, hop in your car and with the engine off, push hard on the brake pedal, then pull your parking brake handle about 50 times while holding the button in.

This will set your brake pistons where they need to be and verify that the self adjusters are working.




 
Well, you're not gunna believe this, but the 2nd replacement part I ordered for the rear left caliper was ALSO DEFECTIVE...see above, the one I originally installed was defective as well. The first one I installed had the bleeder screw cross threaded...so I order another from AutoZone, waited a week, and now the 2ND one I ordered is cross threaded on the bolt where the brake line attaches to the caliper. I shouldn't be surprised, but I just CAN'T BELIEVE THIS. I say I shouldn't be surprised as I had a pair of NEW AutoZone lower control arms arrive defective. And then, the first caliper I tried turned out the be crap...I should have known.

SO, my question to you all now is...what brand can I trust for rear calipers for my P5? I am SO SICK of not having this repair done, it should be easy plug and play...though, I'm really familiar with my rear brakes now lol. PLEASE suggest your trusted brand! Or something that's worked for you? I just want this job DONE! And just FYI, O'Reilly's and Advanced Auto both carry the same calipers AutoZone does, so I'm passing on them. I will most likely order from Rock Auto.
 
Raybestos seemed to be great, but alas, the allen wrench/gear behind the piston that allows it to move in/out was stripped on BOTH calipers. I'm at a complete f**king loss as to what to do at this point...NEW OEM calipers from the dealer are $215/each. Can anyone help? Or know of any other sites that sell NEW calipers and not reman? The dealer is telling me that the reason I went through trying THREE PAIRS of rear calipers (and having no luck because of stripped screws) is because they were reman and not new. I'm about to lose it. I just want to drive my car again!
 
Wow, that sucks. Makes me glad that my car came with new calipers on the back.

After having so many defective ID think a parts store would be happy to order two or three more until you get a good pair.
 
Thanks @MrGiggles, that is pretty much my plan now...I'm gunna order a few pairs and when they come in, I'm gunna take a few tools up to the store and test everything right there before I take the calipers home. Now, just to refresh my memory, once the calipers are on, I need to push out the piston until the pads touch the rotor and then back it off 1/4-1/3 turn, correct? At this point, I should be able to spin the wheel without hearing the pads drag/scrape on the rotor? Then, bleed the brakes all around and once that is completed, give it a test drive around the block a bit to "seat" the new pads? What if I'm having trouble with my e-brake? Or should it adjust naturally, once the brake pads are seated and not dragging?

Thanks for any/all info past and present! I'm hoping I can finally get this job knocked out so I can move on to replacing my rear passenger door actuator...
 
If your P-brake was working properly before your brake job then it shouldn't need to be adjusted.

Give it a bit of time to seat the brakes and pull the lever a bunch of times to work the adjusters to take up the slack.

If your P-brake handle still has too many clicks then it can be adjusted...
(mine is about 10 clicks but I don't want it too tight for fear of dragging.... the cable needs to release enough to enanable another notch on the adjusters)

 
If your P-brake was working properly before your brake job then it shouldn't need to be adjusted.

Give it a bit of time to seat the brakes and pull the lever a bunch of times to work the adjusters to take up the slack.

If your P-brake handle still has too many clicks then it can be adjusted...
(mine is about 10 clicks but I don't want it too tight for fear of dragging.... the cable needs to release enough to enanable another notch on the adjusters)


Awesome, thank you @pcb!
 
i stopped buying brake calipers from autozone/advance because they ALWAYS gave me the wrong ones and left be stranded for a few days. i went to napa instead. been a happy camper since.
 
Thanks for your input! I have another pair ordered at AZ that I'm going to check out today...if these are defective as the first 3 pairs have been, I'll check out NAPA!
 
Welp, the 4th pair of AZ rear calipers worked for me! Ordered them in store, tested all the parts before purchasing, threw em on in about 20 minutes, per side...and I'm good as new. So, if anyone is reading this and planning on replacing their rear calipers, I highly suggest ordering the parts in store and taking some tools to the store to test them yourself before purchasing. These reman calipers are made with that crummy pot metal, so I was receiving a lot of stripped parts...very annoying. I tried 4 pairs before I found a pair worth a f**k. Happy hunting!
 
congrats! it's really sad you have to jump through hoops to verify what you bought is working as advertised. that system really sucks man
 
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