I'm being a cheapa$$ on my 2nd vert restore, so I decide to buy the cheap AutoZone stuff.

This vert had:
- torn rear brake piston boot
- missing front pad separator springs

How's this for some savings:

Advance Auto Parts:
$9.68 - Front Brake Hardware Kit (springs only):
$11.43 - Rear Boot/Seal Repair Kit:

Mazdatrix:
$33.80 - Front Brake Pad Hardware Kit
$32.68 - Rear Brake Caliper Rebuild Kit

- Unlike Mazda, Advance Auto Parts sells separate hardware, rebuild, & seal kits.
- Instead of buying the whole Mazda repair kit, you can JUST GET the smaller Advance Auto kit of what you need FOR CHEAP

- The Rear Seal Kit has the boot, e-brake actuator/piston chamber o-ring seal, and brake piston seal.
- The front hardware kit just has W springs (shims are in a separate hardware kit).

Rear Boot Replacement
- Loosen lug nuts with car on the ground (use PBlaster penetrating oil on lugnuts before removing)
- jackup the car and support it with stands on all 4 corners
- dis-engage e-brake
- remove cap from brake master cylinder reservoir tank (to let the pressure off)
- wrap reservoir tank with paper towels to prevent spillage
- remove rear calipers from rotors (see Factor Service Manual for details)
- hang calipers from the car on a wire
- to make removing the old brake piston boot easy, use the specialty tool "rubics cube" disk brake tool to "screw in" the rear piston clockwise flush with the housing (see picture below). You can buy this from AutoZone, advanced auto, etc.. Careful not to bust your knuckles using this tool.
- carefully remove the dust boot leaving the piston ring inside (see picture below).
- Use your mechanics pic set or small flathead screwdriver to remove the piston ring (see picture below).
(buy the pick set kit at a high-end autoparts stores like northern tools, harbor freight, etc..)
- use spray-on brake parts cleaner to remove the crud around the brake piston
- let dry
- spray WD-40 on the boot & brake piston area
- the boot only goes on 1 way, there should be an outer rubber lip (that slide in the groove around the piston) for the piston ring to rest on.
- slide the boot onto the piston first
- work the boot into the outer groove
- slide the piston ring on the boot / into the groove. The ring should face upwards towards the center of the caliper.
- turn the brake piston with the rubics cube until the groove lines up with the "dibit" on the back of the brake pad. If you don't do this, the caliper won't reinstall correctly.
- put the brake caliper back onto the rotors. Be sure the W springs, pad clips, pad shims, and pads are put back correctly.
- re-tighten master cylinder reservoir tank cap (add brake fluid if necessary)
- pump the brakes a few time to push the piston back out & re-pressurize the system
- pull the e-brake a few times
- re-install rims/tires
- lower car
- torque lug nuts to 85 ft-lbs (use some pblaster on the lugnuts to prevent future binding)

Front W springs, Rear Seal Kit




#1 - Piston Ring


- Rubics Cube Speciality Tool connected to a 3/8 Driver
- Mechanics Pick Set


ALL DONE:




Front W Spring Install
The front W springs go in pretty easy, you don't have to even remove the calipers.

- Remove front wheels
- Remove the "pad clip" that keeps the "pad pins" in place (see pic below)
- Remove the "pad pins"
- Install W clips withe the larger one on bottom and smaller on on top
- Re-install the pad clip & pins


Missing Spring + Spring Re-installed:

 

think i'm just going to go get new rear calipers there kindof rusty and not worth the hassel

 

Nice write-up man. I really could have used this a couple years ago when I had to rebuild my calipers.

 

All Calipers are a bit rusty. It's up to you to clean & paint them.










Key Search Terms:
Caliper Repair, Brake Repair, Torn Boot, Piston Boot, Pad Spring, Pad Separator, Butterfly Spring, W Spring, Front Calipers, Rear Calipers, Front Brake, Rear Brake, Front Brakes, Rear Brakes

 

That's a nice detailed write-up with good pics. It's nice to know that with a little extra work, some good money can be saved. I know all us FC owners are cheapa$$.
-John

 

I am interested in knowing what the springs do? My Car no longer has them on the front calipers.

 

they provide pressure to move the pads away from the rotors when the brakes are off....

 

As Jenkin said, the "W springs" help keep the pads from "lightly dragging" when not using the brakes. The front brakes have two "W springs" per caliper. The rear brakes have "clips" that hold the pads on and one "V spring" per caliper.


Diagram good.

Note the "#9 guide plates on the front calipers don't exist. I've never seen them.

 

Archived.

 

Could we get the pictures saved as attachments in case the current photo hosting server goes down?

-=Russ=-

 

If you are cheap then www.rockauto.com is the best place to buy quality parts at a low price. I had to buy new rotors for my wife's Ford and saved a small fortune. Autozone wanted 18 bucks for each front rotor and I got them for 9 bucks plus shipping. The shipping was reasonable and I still came out ahead.

If my rx7 needs any parts, rockauto is the first place I'll look.