[a4anurag]

Another D.I.Y. from my side to help others who want to do but not sure of the process.

This is a pure preventive maintenance that I have done and moreover, this is applicable to any car and bike that has a Disc Brake hence a more generic thread that would be helpful to all.

The parts in a Single piston caliper assembly (As seen in my Swift) are broadly put as:

• Caliper Mount;
• Caliper Body;
• Inner Pad and shim;
• Outer Pad shim;
• Pad Clip;
• Piston;
• Sliding pin;
• Sliding pin boot and bolt.

Exploded image of a generic Single Piston Caliper Assembly:

Source: Google

What all items we need for this D.I.Y.:

1. Sliding pin set
2. Surgical gloves
3. Socket set
4. Wheel removing tool kit
5. Jack
6. Wire brush
7. Bundle of tissue papers
8. Waste cloth for cleaning or wiping

Sliding pin set from MGP


Surgical/Disposable Gloves


Wheel opening tool kit


Sandpaper (I have 150 grit)


Socket Set


Steel wire brush


Contents of the Sliding Pin, Set that I bought from my MGP Store

• Sliding pin x 2
• Sliding pin boot x 2
• Sliding pin bolt x 2
• Sliding pin grease x 1

Part No.: 55840 M 75J10
MRP: ₹ 215 each x 2 = ₹430.

One box contents is for one caliper so we need two of these boxes.

[a4anurag]

Q: What have I done?

A: In this job, I have replaced the sliding pin, sliding pin boot after greasing it and also cleaned the caliper, brake pads plus replaced the sliding pin bolts (12 mm).



Q: Why I have done this?

A: Increases the pad life and gets the braking efficiency plus it helps me stop the car when in need.

• Sliding pin or (Guide pin) is located inside the caliper support body and is a machined piece that moves the brake caliper in and out when the piston exerts pressure over the pads during braking.
  
  
  
• A good and free moving sliding pin will apply equal pressure on the two brake pads by moving the caliper unit evenly when pressurized through the piston. The caliper squeezes the brake pads against the rotor creating friction hence decelerating the car.
  
  
  
• If the sliding pins are stuck or not moving freely, the pads would wear unevenly and also not be effective in braking performance.
  
  
  
• It is essential to do the greasing on a regular basis as I have made sure that the sliding pins are greased at both my MASS and the FNG near home. But this time I decided to do it myself.

Q: How have I done it?

A: Process to do this is easy and straightforward. I’ll put the steps in points so it is easy to read and follow it yourself.


Disassembly:

Step – 1: Park the car on a firm and level ground and engage the handbrake for safety.

Step – 2: From the toolkit provided, use the L-shaped wheel spanner and loosen the lug nuts a bit.

Step – 3: Place the jack under the mounting point and raise it till the wheel rotates freely. Once raised, loosen the lug nuts and remove the wheel. Place the spare wheel under the car for additional safety.

Step – 4: We now have the caliper assembly ready to be opened, the caliper is held onto by two bolts. For that we need a 12 mm socket that will get the caliper out to get access to the brake pads and the sliding pin.

Step – 5: The two 12 mm bolts are placed on the inner side of the caliper body (I mean it is towards the engine side) which is difficult to access so for easy removal, turn the wheel to the side you are working (E.g.: If you are working on the right side wheel, turn the steering to the right so the whole assembly turns outward so the caliper bolts are visible and more accessible.

Step – 6: Use the 12 mm socket and remove the bolts, this frees the caliper, just pull it outwards and then using a zip tie hand it to the strut*.

Step – 7: Use a flat-head screwdriver and dislodge the pads from assembly and then pull out the two pad clips located on top and bottom of the caliper support.

Step – 8: After the pads are out, pull the sliding pin out of the assembly along with the boot. Now we are done with the dismantling procedure.

*PRECAUTIONARY NOTE:
When the caliper is unmounted / free from the assembly, don't just let it hand around all the while till the cleaning, greasing and re-assembly is done. Letting the caliper hang would exert pressure on the brake fluid hose and cause it to get damage internally that may give way when brakes are applied. So always hold the caliper using a cable or a zip tie so to not let the hose be under pressure. I chose the suspension strut hole to hold the caliper.


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Cleaning Procedure:

Step – 1: With the pads, pad clips, sliding pins and the boot out of the assembly, take a wire brush and clean the caliper body and caliper support unit to free it of the dirt and brake dust that has accumulated over the period of time.

Step – 2: Take a small piece of the sandpaper 150 grit and clean the pads, pad clips and the shims to remove the dust and to give it a smooth texture so the binding would be better once restored.

Step – 3: Before the new greased sliding pin goes into its position, the old grease that is inside the caliper needs to be removed. For this first wipe clean any one of the sliding pin and then push it into the body and pull out, when the sliding pin comes out, it gets the grease stuck to itself. Clean wipe it and repeat till the pin is clean when removed. Repeat this for the second one too.


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Re-Assembly Process:

I’ll focus mainly on the sliding pin reassembly as the rest process to be followed is same of the Disassembly procedure but in reverse.

Step – 1: Cut open the caliper grease (sliding pin grease) that came supplied in the kit (MGP) that I bought.

Step – 2: Take the new sliding pin and clean first with a tissue paper to remove any dust before greasing. Once clean, apply grease all over evenly coating it throughout.

Step – 3: Simultaneously fit the sliding pin boot on the caliper body after which the sliding pin would be inserted.

Step – 4: Insert the new, greased sliding pin and press it couple of times so the whole interiors are coated with grease. Remove the sliding pin and add a bit more grease and press it in again to fix it fully.

Step – 5: Once this is done, repeat the Step – 4 for the second sliding pin too. Post this place the pad clips and brake pads onto the caliper support unit.

Step – 6: Cut the cable tie and fit the caliper into the position and tighten using the two 12 mm nuts provided in the kit.

Step – 7: Fit the wheel, tighten the lug nuts and go for a test drive to ensure all is well.

We are done with this job! Happy driving with a peace of your brakes functioning well as it should helping you stop in time when required.

[a4anurag]

Attaching pictures so that the steps are understood better

Loosen the lug nuts


Jack up and place the space wheel underneath for safety


Post removing the wheel, turn the steering wheel to the working side for ease of access


Use a 12 mm socket to remove the caliper bolts


Remove the bolts holding the caliper


Remove the caliper and tie it to the strut


Pads and pad clips removed - In the right side image lower caliper support area is cleaned using wire brush


Pads Cleaned


Right side pads cleaned


Pad clips cleaned (Before & After)


Sliding Pin Set - Old (O) vs New (N)


Initial greasing of the sliding pin


New sliding pin greased and re-fit


Both the pins greased and both the sliding pin boots replaced


Right side caliper cleaning, greasing, refitting done


Caliper holding bolts - Old v/s New and also the caliper surface is cleaned for dirt and brake dust


Left side brake caliper


Caliper removed


New boot greased and fixed


Left side brake pads cleaned


New Sliding pin greased, fixed with new boot


TVS-Girling brake pads and Caliper assembly (Also the caliper grease sachet is manufactured by TVS)


Condition of the gloves post this D.I.Y.


Some points regarding the D.I.Y.:

• The whole D.I.Y. took me 2 hours (No help) as I had to do the job as well click pictures that needed me to remove gloves every time (Not a complaint)
  
  
  
• Out of the 4 sliding pins, all of them were sliding properly but the boot covering them and preventing the entry of dust/water etc was deteriorating. 1 of the boot was hard and tearing off from the caliper support ring. I had to use a flat head screwdriver to free it up.
  
  
  
• Please perform this D.I.Y in a well ventilated area as the brake dust that will come up in the air is harmful and if possible have a small fan that would direct the dust away from you.
  
  
  
• I used the gloves for the same reason as above since the brake dust and the grease isn't good for human contact that could effect our health.
  
  
  
• Thanks to Maruti Suzuki to have such kits ready that makes life so easy for
  customer where there is no need to hunt or the need to clean and refit. I am not sure how many other manufacturers have this facility?!
  
  
  
• Depending on how regularly the sliding pins are greased by your respective ASC's, the difficulty to open the caliper holding bolts (12 mm ones) would be lesser. Since I do this regular, too much effort was not required.
  
  
  
• Time factor (I mean age of my car) may be large (2 years 9 months) but it is the distance that I have done in this duration that makes me do this D.I.Y. since the sliding pins experience a lot of dust, moisture, extreme heat and friction that makes them vulnerable by nature so replacing them is a good gesture. I won't say that the sliding pins that were on the car were worn off but as my first post contained, it is a preventive maintenance gesture. Neither does the owner's manual nor the service manual contain any specified interval for the replacement so I decide to do it now.
  
  
  
• Sorry for some of the shaky images in this thread as I have realised that after uploading it into my laptop. All images were taken on my OnePlus One so forgive me for the overall quality.
  
  
  
• After completing the D.I.Y., drive out slowly and check the basic braking quality to assure all is normal after that do the testing you like. Ensure all the caliper bolts (12 mm ones) and the lug nuts are tight enough. After completing it, I drove to the nearest alignment center and got the lug nuts tighten properly using their equipment.

Hopefully this thread will be of help to many, so please add in your comments and criticism here so that I can understand if I gone wrong anywhere.

Thanks for reading guys.

[SDP]

Moving out of Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[VellVector]

Nice DIY. I am always impressed by the effort and detail in your DIY's.

On a side note, considering the number of DIY's you do, wouldn't it be a good investment to pick up some jack stands? Definitely safer while working on the car.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by VellVector

On a side note, considering the number of DIY's you do, wouldn't it be a good investment to pick up some jack stands? Definitely safer while working on the car.

Thank you buddy.

I have already purchased a 3 Ton Jack stands already (Read the third time). Awaiting it's delivery.

[Motard_Blr]

Good job! Could you post close up photos of the old pins after cleaning. I am interested in seeing the amount of wear they have experienced. I imagine that would probably be higher for cars used extensively in urban areas where braking would be frequent and sudden.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Motard_Blr

Good job! Could you post close up photos of the old pins after cleaning. I am interested in seeing the amount of wear they have experienced.

Oops. Sorry as I have discarded them the same time after job completion.

But I used a vernier and checked the diameter if it has come down or no! Results were as follows:

Left Top = 7.76 mm
Left Bottom = 7.71 mm

Right Top = 7.69 mm
Right Bottom = 7.70 mm

New ones were ranging from 7.82 mm to 7.90 mm.

[crdi]

Nice description of the diy job. Not sure whether latex gloves are ideal for the job. Cotton/knit gloves would be a better option. Slightly pricier than a latex glove, but you have the advantage of rinsing and reusing them even though labelled disposable.

[Moto_Guzzi]

Dear a4anurag I have a 3 year old Swift 1.2 petrol lxi which is run just 24000 kms

Recently my swift started making a clunking sound from driver side front wheel whenever it went through a small pot hole or gravelled road (thanks to the now worsened road conditions in Mumbai). Next day I took the car to my trusted local mechanic who found out fault to be in the brake sliding pins. Upon inspecting I found a play in caliper when moving it vertically,went ahead and changed the caliper pins. However after 200 kms the sound reappeared on my way to office I immediately took the car to a local mechanic near my office upon which he suggested to put a bushing in the caliper support where the sliding pin sits and for that he would remove the caliper support and drill a hole with a larger diameter and insert a bushing where the sliding pin sits, I refused his suggestion and drove back home next day I showed the car to my trusted mechanic he too suggested the above method and mentioned that the caliper support diameter where the pin sits is increased due to constant rubbing of metal parts, I refused his advise and asked him to re grease and check if the pins are inserted properly, he then wrapped a Teflon tape on the pins re greased it and inserted back, thankfully now there is no clunking sound and there is no vertical play of the caliper assembly But, is the use of Teflon tape safe and recommended ?

Also I have lots of road noise which increases with speed even on smooth highways, can you please suggest if the Control arms, stabiliser rod or Tie rod needs replacement in just 24k kms ?

Thanks for this DIY. I wish you did this DIY earlier so I could give it a try instead of running to the mechanic, I am an avid follower of your thread and DIY's

Regards

[scorpian]

@Moto Guzzi,
Yes use of Teflon tape is done by many including some Authorized service centers as well.
Ideally the step would be to replace the pin, if that dosent suffice then using Teflon which is again a temporary solution post which the resolution and long action method would be to replace the caliper if you are unsure of the bush method.
I too would replace the caliper for peace of mind rather then bush it as it would play on my mind on high speed drives.

[dass]

Nice DIY Anurag, you seem to be doing a lot of difficult jobs with ease now a days. Keep it up.

An unrelated question, can anyone tell me what the part is called in the attached picture? This is the one which is slightly above the yellow arrow mark at the bottom of the image. The rubber housing at the bottom is kind of deformed in my car, and the clunk sound that Moto_Guzzi is experiencing is the same one that I get as well. My caliper set and stabilizer bars were both replaced, but I still get the sound and I feel this rubber bush can be the culprit. The MASS said the whole suspension arm that this connects to needs to be replaced and cannot change the rubber bush alone, can any experts comment?

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Moto_Guzzi

But, is the use of Teflon tape safe and recommended?

+

Originally Posted by scorpian

@Moto Guzzi,
Yes use of Teflon tape is done by many including some Authorized service centers as well.

Post caliper pin replacement, the pin sound has increased in my car. This means the caliper bore in which the pin sits is bigger in diameter so I can feel the caliper move on the slightest of the undulation.

I have used this teflon tape method but it is a temporary solution.

What i'll suggest you to do is, take the 4 pins out, get them brass welded (add a uniform layer of brass over the pins) and then take it to any engineering workshop that has a lathe and get it shaped correctly. Grease the pin, refit it. The sounds should get arrested.

I am not happy with this teflon tape solutions done by these mechanics.

Originally Posted by dass

The MASS said the whole suspension arm that this connects to needs to be replaced and cannot change the rubber bush alone, can any experts comment?

What you are talking about is the ball joint which is a part of the the lower arm.

You can't change the bush separately in the lower arm unit as it is a single piece. For any wear you need to change the lower arm set.

[dass]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

+


You can't change the bush separately in the lower arm unit as it is a single piece. For any wear you need to change the lower arm set.

Would you know the approximate cost of this? My bigger worry is if the clunk sound would go away after this, if not, then its a waste of time and effort.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by dass

Would you know the approximate cost of this? My bigger worry is if the clunk sound would go away after this, if not, then its a waste of time and effort.

Have you changed the bushes of the front struts and stabilizer bar?

Lower arm's I guess cost 1900 per side so it is 4000 including taxes.

If you don't mind can you explain the problem you are facing?