I'm so close to selling my wife's 09 Justa that it "justa" ain't that funny.

Seriously though, I am having an unbelievable time with the driver's side front brakes.

I replaced the rotor and pads/sensor last weekend, took it for a test drive, and it was glazing the rotor. (EBC Green Stuff pads and Carquest Beck Arnley Rotors, if it matters).

I took everything back off today, scuffed the glazing away with 1500 grit sandpaper, and scuffed the pads, sprayed everything with brake parts cleaner and put them back on.

What I did notice, is that it took an inordinate amount of force to line the brake caliper up with the two bolts. Just for giggles, I swapped sides for the pads, which made no difference in the difficulty.

I ended up having to put one bolt in, and literally use a clamp to line up the other screw. The whole thing just doesn't feel right.

Looking at it assembled, the outside brake pad is basically not touching the rotor for the bottom 50% of the pad surface, but the top part is.

I really need someone with some real knowledge and skills to help me out with this.

Why would the pad not be making correct contact? And how do I fix this?

I am at my wits end. I've done at least 50 brake jobs in the past and never had one go anything but smoothly.

 

as I recall there is a difference between the inner and outer pads - I've installed EBC green and later red on my 07S. Is it possible you got the two wheel sets completely mixed up? I never had to fight to get things back together. Yep I just went to the garage and confirmed this - I pulled my OE pads very early to replace with EBC and still have the slightly worn OE fronts in the garage. There is most def'tly a difference tween the backing plate on the inner and outer pads for each front pair. PM if you want pictures.

(if you've done your GEN1 brakes you know that the diff' 'tween inner and outer pads is HUGE .... it is more subtle on the GEN2 but still present. I came close to this mistake myself last change.... Is this your problem? I dunno)

Also, is this your first time with EBC pads? They have a "special break in coating" that can take several hundred miles to wear thru . . . among its purposes is to "condition" the rotors. I recall there being an insert in the box about this. There is some intentional material transfer along the way.

 

Bingo! There are tabs on the inner pad that create the larger mounting slot for the wear sensor. It seems most of the manufacturers package the like pads together (the last sets I bought from Wagner and Stoptech both did this) so it's easy to install them as a set when they should be paired with a pad without te large tabs on the backing plate.

Trying to install the two inner pads on the same caliper will create the interference you're experiencing and make the other side a breeze to install. Both sets should go in relatively easy if the pistons are pressed in sufficiently. Check your driver's side fron pad set and see if this is the case. If so, swap the two outer pads from the front sets and you should be good to go.

 

OMG, I bet that is the problem.

I thought that both of the pads with the big "ears" on them would go on the sensor-side, so that it wouldn't matter which you installed, you would still have the clip in spot for the sensor.

Wow, moment of clarity, I feel like an idiot.

 

Don't fret - stuff happens, you recover and move on that much wiser.

Sensor goes on the inside pad only on the left front and right rear. Do not use it on the outside pad.

 

I can still see the marks from the piston on the inner pads I have saved . . . that's what kept me from making a similar mistake when I recently changed pads on my 7 for the second time . . .

 

You aren't alone. I made the mistake on my rears before