Disco 1 rear brake pads

Ok, so if I do have a wear sensor system, do they just need resoldering? Or is it a plug?

And presumably it'll be obvious if I have such a system because the old brake pads won't just pull out because the wires will be attached, right?

Sounds about right but i dont think you'll have that system fitted.

the old brake pads from the front didn't have any wires going to them, and I took them in to be done when they started making a horrible metal-scraping noise and sticking on!

At that time, there was no warning light, so you're probably right. Anyway, i'll just cut the wires as close to the brake pad as possible and pretend they're not there

Best to check whether yu have the wires coming down onto the caliper assembly rather than looking at the pads - if you have those wires and a connector mounted on the caliper assembly then its best to use them - every little helps. I think the warning light is the same as the handbrake warning light.

something i always do when changing pads on my bikes and cars. is to undo the master cylinder cap/lid when pushing the pistons back in. you dont need to take it off, just loosened. makes it a bit easier. do watch out for fluid spilling out of the top though.

The Mad Hat Man said:

Best to check whether yu have the wires coming down onto the caliper assembly rather than looking at the pads - if you have those wires and a connector mounted on the caliper assembly then its best to use them - every little helps. I think the warning light is the same as the handbrake warning light.

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I assume it'll be fair obvious if they're there or not... having never seen any before though, if they're not there, how will I know I'm not just being blind??

Will it be really, really, really obvious?

well......
lets put it this way - if you have any wires and or a plug going (if my memory is correct) to the offside front and rear brake/hub areas, I am not aware of anything else it could be

fair enough!

so there are two "things" going down to the front wheel areas... one is obviously the brake hose.

The other is a flexible thing that you can see going underneath the suspension mount here:



I've not looked where it goes yet, but will try to get out there at lunch time... i'm sure it'll be obvious when I actually look at it!

this might make it easier to understand.............

ah, ok... i've never seen one of those setups before, so I'm guessing I don't have such wires. Also, the fact that the pads that were taken off a month ago had no wires is probably a good indication too.

Maybe they're encased in that tube thing that goes underneath my suspension mount though. I'll take a look later if possible.

Also, I swear I only have one brake hose, whereas that diagram shows two... which seems obvious, so i must have two!

let's stop this thread for the moment... it can't be that hard. i'm sure i'll figure it out! thanks for the advice and diagram!

Only one fluid pipe to the caliper as you have ABS.

ok... it's starting to make sense

one brake pipe, no sensor wire (it seems), and another thing... which is presumably the ABS sensor? it comes along the back of the rear axle to the wheel, goes back over the axle towards the front and into the side of the hub... I can't think what else it'd be, to be honest! The ABS would have no way of knowing if a wheel was stopped or not otherwise!

Oh, and the calipers are absolutely *caked* in stuff... mud, waxoyl, all sorts! lol

:nopics:

best I can offer you is this one again...



At the top-right you can see a bendy, ribbed pipe-thing going through the gap underneath the suspension mount. This is the front-right one. There is the same stuff going to every wheel. As it gets closer to the wheel, the ribbed outer casing stops and the inner wire (with it's own casing around it, of course) pokes out the end and then goes in through the dust plate... i'll get a pic tomorrow for ya!

Think about it though - I have ABS... how would the ABS sensor work? I can't know by going through the axle and it can't know through the brake pipe... this wire certainly doesn't go to the caliper.

:nopics: - i agree though - i will take one tomorrow!

It's the ABS cable.

good - that's what i thought

Also, copper grease between the piston and pad?

so... as long as I can get the crap off that's caked on there, should be quite an easy job! whaddya reckon? 15 minutes including jacking it up per wheel? maybe 30 mins including cleaning?

Why rush, go in expecting 30 mins each and be surprised when it takes less

youll need a hammer to tap the new pads in nicely, and a flat screwdriover to scrape the ****e out of the caliper where the pads fit, so that you get a nice smooth square fit.

other than that it really is easy

for reference my 92 3.5 v8 200 shape has pad wear sensor system.

i think its a high spec with 7 seats, roofbars, twin sunroof and rear speakers so i dont know if that has anything to do with it. annoyingly it hasnt been working recently. it did used to work at some stage but of late it hasnt been coming on.

and to think i completely rewired the rear axle loom cos the woring was completely corroded

having said that, as i type this i seem to remember taking the bulb out cos it was on all the time at one point.


hmmmm, must check it.

sorry for the hijack

cheers

Mr Noisy said:

for reference my 92 3.5 v8 200 shape has pad wear sensor system.

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so you'd think mine had them then, being a '97 300Tdi Disco ES.

Can't see any though. Weird.

Maybe they were removed when the 2" lift was put on. Maybe i'll find the wire underneath all the Waxoyl etc... once I start to take the old calipers out. Maybe it'll be attached to the inside pad already, maybe it'll be clipped to the axle because the pads I have now didn't have wires when they were put in by the previous owner...

1997-98 discos don't have them in fact I have never heard of any 300 series having them. RRc did and it was carried on to the first discos to use up the RRC surplus stock I expect.