2007 forester brake issues

[dandydon]

Hi, All. My forester was having brake squeal like crazy so I changed out the front pads and now the left front must not be returning right 'cause after a short run I checked the rotor and it was scalding hot. My infrared thermometer says about 208 degrees! Pad kit with new anti-rattle shims are Duralast Ceramic. When I tried installing inner pad, it was so hard to get in that I mangled the new shim so put the old one back and pad was still difficult to install but only took a few minutes to get it to set right. I checked by having wife pump pedal and saw caliper moving in/out (not a lot but they are new pads) so I chalked it up to fact of the new pad thickness. Squeal went away but old pads still had plenty of material left. What am I missing? Is it possible the caliper is bad; although I checked it off the rotor with stick over the pistons to prevent them blowing out and they seemed to be o.k. Because of how hard the left front was to get in with new shims on the right side I just put the pads in with some brake grease using the old shims. That side doesn't overheat. Could pads on other side need some filing; maybe getting stuck against rotor? Any help appreciated, thanks.

[somick]

Originally Posted by dandydon

When I tried installing inner pad, it was so hard to get in that I mangled the new shim so put the old one back and pad was still difficult to install

I believe that is your problem. I would remove the hardware and thoroughly clean it. Remove all rust with the wire brush. Remove the rust from the caliper bracket as well. Some YouTube videos show people lubricating them but I do not like it. The pad suppose to fit there freely. When I used cheap pads I sometimes have had difficulties fitting the pad and I had to file the pad's sides in order to fit them in the hardware. Check this out.

Next step. Compress the piston a little and make sure it freely slides sideways. When you do your brakes you suppose to clean and regrease the pins but you did not mention this.

Good luck,
Sam

[dandydon]

Originally Posted by somick

I believe that is your problem. I would remove the hardware and thoroughly clean it. Remove all rust with the wire brush. Remove the rust from the caliper bracket as well. Some YouTube videos show people lubricating them but I do not like it. The pad suppose to fit there freely. When I used cheap pads I sometimes have had difficulties fitting the pad and I had to file the pad's sides in order to fit them in the hardware. Check this out.

Next step. Compress the piston a little and make sure it freely slides sideways. When you do your brakes you suppose to clean and regrease the pins but you did not mention this.

Good luck,
Sam

Sorry, I did forget but yes, I did lube pins, slides, caliper. Did same to other side and worked fine. Thanks for you help.

[dandydon]

Well thanks somick; here's what I did to solve my problem:

Removed everything to start from scratch. Except rotors which I did not change. Checked all caliper pistons to be sure that was not an issue.

Degreased all parts except back of pads, removed all rust from old pad anti-rattle clips by soaking in rust remover then wire brushing and used them instead of new replacements I bought. Seems a lot of the problem with the brakes was they were not returning after brake release because new clips were too tight and tabs were a tad too wide to fit properly as you stated you had a problem before as well. Luckily old ones were in good shape.

Shaved a little off tabs on ends of new pads with metal file a little at a time (need patience here!), trying to get them to fit easily into clips on caliper mount. After getting the right fit (not too tight, not too loose) beveled edges of the tabs with the same file to be sure of no interference, greased all tabs, clips, and caliper slides, re-greased caliper slide pins, re-assembled and tightened to spec. Took about 1 1/2 days of normal driving to bed the pads in and everything working very well now. BTW, these weren't super cheap pads but I'm sure others would disagree about my choice; each of us has a preference and/or choice to make----mine was cost vs. risk so I opted for compromise, Autozone Duralast Gold Ceramic pads which were at the higher end of their parts list and they are excellent. Thanks for all the advice!

[somick]

I am glad to hear your problem is solved!

Almost everybody, professional mechanics including, recommend replacing the hardware. On my 92 Loyale I am still using my OEM that is twenty five years old without any problems (cross my fingers).

For the pads my choice is Akebono. I hope your Duralast will work fine. However you are not suppose to shave pad's tabs for the top of the line ones.

Good luck on your new brakes,
Sam