On my last car I done my MOT early in line with summer, as I hated fixing cars in Autumn/Winter. I save loads of money as I use a good MOT garage that even does the beam alignment for free and let's you fix with him or elsewhere. They are so busy it's quicker to fix it elsewhere sometimes, all the taxi drivers use that guy too.

@thpxs0554

Ай бұрын

@@user-ue2hp1pc6h yes, I re-mot’d my car in the summer to save sorting it out in January.

nice one,hope this sorts my problems out,couple of little this you do what I missed

@thpxs0554

20 күн бұрын

@@thomasrussell382 thanks, make sure the pip on the piston lines up with the cut out on the back of the pad and make sure the pads can be pressed in with your fingers not a hammer, and you should be good to go. The main issue is the pads keep getting stuck in the sliders and wearing away very fast

My wife has exactly the same Astra J 2010. It failed the MOT on emissions and hand brake 'problems'. We were quoted £575 for the CAT and fitting it, but they are not fixing the handbrake. They have, however, said that on removing the wheels that they 'needed' to replace the discs and pads as they were rusty(!). This was neither an MOT failure OR advisory. They are now saying that the handbrake will need to be looked at by Vauxhall as it 'may need a new motor' etc. The handbrake was reading 100kgs on the left and 70kgs on the right - which the garage stated is an MOT failure. So far, the fabricated bill is £1200 and STILL no M.O.T., some 3 weeks on. Utter incompetence from Halfords Service Centre. This seems a relatively easy problem to solve and by the looks of this video, could have been done at the same time as replacing the pads?

I've got to do this job, plus changing discs on my 2011 Astra J. I've watched loads of videos, but this is the best one, very helpful. Mine has the same kind of EPB.

@thpxs0554

9 ай бұрын

Thanks for the comment. I’ve added a note to the description 👍

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Best video I could find, You are a great Teacher. Just about to do mine. The tips you give will make it a breeze. Subbed

@thpxs0554

11 ай бұрын

Thanks Kevin, my videos are generally crappy but some people find some of them useful.

Excellent.

thanks for video . my astra gtc has been sat for 2 weeks and the right rear wheel is seized . i will need to have alook and change the pads probably . has helped alot .cheers

@thpxs0554

6 ай бұрын

Sounds like the handbrake is stuck. It may be fully electric and not a hybrid electric with cables. It could just be a broken wire not allowing the current to release the brake or a failed handbrake motor in the calliper. You should be able to remove the plug and apply 12 volts from a battery to see if it unwinds, ( you will have to reverse the polarity if turns the wrong way) if that doesn’t work then you can usually unscrew the holding bolts and the motor comes off. That’ll free up the wheel. Tight pads aren’t enough to seize the wheel. I’m sure it’s handbrake related

@jlindell6532

6 ай бұрын

is a electric with cables . like the one in the video. the rims are very rusty as just bought the car . if i marked the handbrake cable underneath then applied the parking brake it should move by how much? cheers@@thpxs0554

@jlindell6532

6 ай бұрын

i have marked the handbrake cable and both moved about 8mm so not the cable stuck . i have tried to remove the caliper but the 13mm vibration thing is rusted out and i don't have a 18 open spanner . looking inside i can see the piston is out about 9mm and the back of the pads is destroyed by rust .so most likely the piston is stuck to it . @@thpxs0554

@jlindell6532

6 ай бұрын

i couldn't get the caliper off as the 18 head was rusted too bad. so took the caliper bracket off with everything attached the problem was rusted pad to the disc . it will move now so taking to garage for new pads . cheers@@thpxs0554

Hi, handbrake being unbalanced is a failure if the imbalance is 30% or more. Which yours is . The motor pulls a single cable which then goes to a balancing coupling and that pulls both the cables to the wheels. So unless the balance coupling is seized up I’m not sure what the issue is. A stuck caliper slider maybe but that would also have shown up in the foot brake test. It’s something specific to the handbrake, and that’s either the motor, the cables the balancing linkage or possibly the caliper lever mechanism. If you’re getting 100kg on one side then the motor is ok. The main cable is ok and the cable from the balancer to the caliper, that just leaves the balancer coupling, the low side’s cable or the low side’s caliper. If it were pads or discs it would show up on the foot test.

😊 like way u still use copper grease i have always used it

Wire brush everything clean and then run a small slat pry bar to clean the corrosion buildup in the calliper grooves saves having to file them down filing should be a last resort, Would have put discs on that can see from then disc colour its gotten very hot likely to have warped the discs and cause judder under braking. Big up the copper grease though too stuff

@thpxs0554

Жыл бұрын

I take your points, I advised her the discs were shot all round but She wouldn’t pay for discs, single mum with no money, family friend, puts me in a difficult position, she got an advisory on them at the mot, I was hoping they’d fail and force her hand on the issue, she’d worn the fronts down to the back plates. This is poverty motoring at the very bottom end. But the brakes met the service levels at the mot so I won’t see that car again until something breaks. The tyres were down to the wire. I do brush out the pad grooves then use a screwdriver to scrape them clean but the pads are very tight on lots of cars, I really only take the paint off and that makes a noticeable difference,

I've always dropped a little copper grease on the outer rim of the pads and loctite on the bolts but what bit are you putting the anti seize compound on? Thank you so much for this video! You've saved me at least an hour of swearing!

@thpxs0554

Жыл бұрын

Hi, I put it on the pad-horns that sit in the locating grooves in the caliper . Most callipers these days have a stainless steel liner in those grooves anyway to stop corrosion but I’ve still had many many pads jammed solid ( like on this car) and I’ve needed to chisel them out of the groove. That’s why I file off the paint layer if I can’t slide the pads in with finger pressure. When the brakes are released the piston doesn’t really move back as such, the pressure just goes, and if the pads are really tight in the grooves then they stay in contact with the disc and wear faster, generate heat that expands the already tight horns and makes them even tighter and over heats the disc and possibly the bearing if it’s really tight.

What can happen if protrusion does not fit into the hole on the brake piston?

@thpxs0554

8 ай бұрын

When the big screw inside the caliper turns ( on operating the handbrake) it drives the piston out, if the piston isn’t stopped from rotating then it could in theory rotate endlessly with the screw and not move out, it will definitely cause the pad to go out of square against the disc and lose contact area if it were a single pin pad, because all the hydraulic pressure is concentrated on a small pin on one side of the pad it would skew in the caliper. You’d end up with a wedged pad and a worn disc .This would also skew the piston in its bore against one side of the seal .Probably foot brake performance would be unbalanced and it may set off an ABS light or trigger traction control due to unbalanced wheel speeds under hard braking. But under normal driving it would probably all feel fine.

Im looking at changing my discs and pads, and i have read up you need to put the brakes in 'service' mode with jt being electric handbrake, do you not need to do this aslong as the handbrake is off ?

@thpxs0554

11 күн бұрын

@@Ryan-cd9pm Hi, this electric handbrake isn’t really electric, it’s just got a motor that pulls the cable exactly like you would if you had a handle to pull up. And it’s still got the old manual type callipers. I’m not sure why they only did a half arsed job on it. If you have this type then it’s exactly as I did in the video and you can easily tell by seeing if you have pulling cables going to the brakes, or electric wiring to the calipers , but if you have electric callipers then you have to put them in service mode, or disconnect the cable plug at the caliper and apply 12 volts to the caliper and the motor will wind the piston back for you . There’s lots of videos on doing this on VW Audis etc. when you start the job have the handbrake off when you turn the ignition off. That way the pads won’t be wound up tight against the discs and you can simply unplug the wires and drive the piston back with 12 volts from a battery charger or a spare battery. You reverse the polarity to change the piston direction out or in.

@Ryan-cd9pm

6 күн бұрын

@@thpxs0554 thanks, I followed your video and got it done, only thing I was confused about was the piston didn't get resistance when winding back, it just kept going and going, wasnt sure why. Otherwise your video helped 🙂

@thpxs0554

6 күн бұрын

@@Ryan-cd9pm glad it helped, the resistance comes from the rubber seal in the bore and the grip of the dust gaiter on the piston, I think there’s a long threaded bar inside that the piston screws along as you turn it ( there is on all the VWs I did a few years ago ) . Maybe the bar was rotating with the piston, you have to apply pressure with a G-cramp and wind it with grips or the proper tool is better . The pip on the piston that engages with the pad stops the piston rotating, and the bar screw gets rotated with each handbrake operation and drives the piston out .

What can I use if I don't have the tool to push the caliper in?

@thpxs0554

2 ай бұрын

You might be able to just screw it in with a big set of grips. That’s how we used to do them before the tools were easily available. Maybe use a G cramp to push on it

do i need a computer to retract the brake piston?

@thpxs0554

Жыл бұрын

Hi, no, at 2:50 in the video I show that you can screw them in, if you don’t have the tool you can sometimes use a big set of grips or pointy pliars but as you have to push as you’re turning the piston it’s much easier to use the right tool. The electric part is just to pull the cable, it’s not really a fully electric handbrake. It’s a hybrid old/new.

i suggest properly cleaning the pad carrier and shims rather than filing down the pads....

@thpxs0554

Ай бұрын

I did clean them, even if you change the stainless calliper inserts the pads are too tight, I’ve done too many to count now, if you have to tap them in then they’re too tight to slide back off the disc, and after 40 years and hundreds of pad changes don’t you think I know how to clean the carrier and shims.

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