How to keep lube on caliper pins in between services?

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I put new rear brakes on my 2007 Mazda 3 GT this summer and replaced the calipers 2 years ago and replaced the parking brake cables this summer as well. I noticed the inboard pad is worn pretty bad compared the outer pad, I am thinking maybe the caliper pins didn't have enough lube? I lube twice a season in the spring and in the fall usually when switching tires and notice the grease that was there this summer was kind of still there on some pins but gone on the other pins. Can I put a heck of a lot of grease to make sure there is some there next time I take them apart? Or you can actually put too much which would be bad? I am not sure what I should do or what I am doing wrong.

I also wash my car often with a hot water pressure washer since we use it to wash the fleet, could that be it? I don't sit on the wheel for 20 minutes with the nozzle, but I usually just go over it to rinse it then I wash it by hand.

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What grease are you using? Usually my caliper pins are fine, it's the metal pad ears that I find are dry, if not stuck. I use Honda M77 moly on those surfaces, it seems to go about a year for me. I just started using Sil-glyde for caliper pins.
 
Originally Posted by supton
What grease are you using? Usually my caliper pins are fine, it's the metal pad ears that I find are dry, if not stuck. I use Honda M77 moly on those surfaces, it seems to go about a year for me. I just started using Sil-glyde for caliper pins.

Sorry forgot to mention, I am using AGS Sil-glyde
 
I see you updated with pics. I bet the caliper pins are fine, and that it's the pad ears not sliding. The caliper pins are (mostly) sealed up, but the pad ears are quite exposed. If you're washing often, and not putting anything onto those metal surfaces, that might be your problem.

When I do my brakes, I do a dry fit, make sure everything slides good . Then smear a thin layer of M77 on. Some will disagree with me, but if after knocking all the rust off, the (dry) pads won't slide easily, I will get out a metal file and file the ears down until they are just slightly loose--not too loose, don't want clunking, just enough that they can slide.
 
Lube twice a season? Wow, I've never had to relube the slider pins before the next brake job.

1) Use a viscous silicone grease like that from 3M or Raybestos DBL-2T

2) Thoroughly clean all the old grease goop out of the cavity. If the old grease was petroleum or castor oil based, gasoline and a coiled up paper towel can help, then shake it out and let dry.

3) If there is any question about enough lube, yes you are probably not using enough. It should be packed in there to the point where it is full (minus the volume that the slider pin takes up, so not truly "full"), just not over-full so you don't get it squishing out past the rubber boot.

4) As far as the state of old grease, it's not really a matter of the grease you see but whether the pins still slide freely by hand. Sometimes it's not the pins but rather corrosion on the slide rails or under shims that sit in them. Clean all that corrosion off, then both under and over the shim should be lubed too, and that, particularly on top of the shims, is what needs cleaned and regreased every once in a while because it is exposed and collects brake dust and other grime. Do not put a lot of grease there as being external, has more of a chance of getting flung on the pad or rotor.
 
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A common problem is rust builds up on the pad carrier, under the clips, where the pad ears slot in. This rust build up starts to bind the pad, and after awhile the pad gets seized in the carrier, and won't slide at all.

Take out the pads, remove the clips, and look at the metal to see if there is any raised rust happening. If there is, you will need to file down the pad seat with a file or Dremel etc.

The pads need to fit slightly loose to be able to slide in the carrier. You should never need to hammer them into place because they are so tight. If they can't move, you can see inner pad wear, and / or have very weak rear brakes.

And, I have had a few sets of aftermarket pads that seemed REALLY tight, as in they were not cut as precisely as the OE pads, or had really thick paint etc. A couple passes on the grinder were needed to get them to fit properly.
 
you mentioned your calipers have been replaced (aftermarket rebuilt calipers?) if so, your pins may have been sticky due to (a ) rusts and/or (b ) improper machining on the pin bore and/or rubber bushing (guide pin part).

Granted, your calipers are factory original and you lubricate the pins with SylGlides, they shouldn't stick like that (your shown brake pad pics).

Q.
 
Well on the 2007 Mazda 3 there is no metal clips on the pad carrier that all the other cars usually have, I tried a few things over the years like using copper anti seize and it seems like it just collects dirt, when I take the brakes apart they seems to move around in the pad carrier fine, not like they are stuck in there or something. The only thing I thought of was maybe too much drag from the parking brake cable, and I noticed with the cables out of the caliper the wheel seems to do more revolutions when I spin it by hand then with the cables attached but I tried backing the adjustment in the car all the way out and it doesn't change anything, the wheel still rotate the same when I spin them and there is not other adjustment on the cable apart from the nut inside the car at the parking brake lever, so I assume that little bit of drag was normal. I touch the wheel after driving and it's not hot or nothing.
 
Its the ears that are hanging up. Was the caliper cleaned free of rust and lubed where the ear fits in and slides?

You need a lube that take high heat which I do not think most never-seize products handle. No need to go crazy Sil-Glide will do it and every NAPA carries it.
 
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I have tried two or three permatex brake greases, ultra/ceramic and when I inspected the grease was brittle and cakey.

Im currently using 3M copper brake lube and it appears to be holding up better. I only use on pad ears and contact points of brake pad and caliper

Silglyde on pins.
 
Originally Posted by Donald
Its the ears that are hanging up. Was the caliper cleaned free of rust and lubed where the ear fits in and slides?

You need a lube that take high heat which I do not think most never-seize products handle. No need to go crazy Sil-Glide will do it and every NAPA carries it.


So that grease on the ears, it doesn't matter if it collects a bunch of dirt since it's exposed and not hidden like the slide pins?
 
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Originally Posted by Donald
Its the ears that are hanging up. Was the caliper cleaned free of rust and lubed where the ear fits in and slides?

You need a lube that take high heat which I do not think most never-seize products handle. No need to go crazy Sil-Glide will do it and every NAPA carries it.

Copper AS: -34 to 982 C. I've seen it on the pad ears of brand new cars.
 
I usually lubricate every point on the brakes that have 2 surfaces that move against each other. Slide pins and metal clip channels the pads sit in. I don't live in the rust belt, so I normally don't have issues. However, on my wife's Mazda 6, the pins ended up seizing in the bores even though they were lubricated. Wore the inside pads out on both front calipers. Maybe something more prone to Mazda's?
 
I disagree the problem is rust on the slides and the solution is to slobber up the ears with lube. I think that makes it worse not better. Every time I work on brakes where grease was used on the slides and ears the pads are locked solid. Because the grease has filled up with brake dust, sand, soot and hardened. That's no good. I use nothing now. And when I check them once a year everything is good just a little surface rust which does not prevent any movement. Give the pads a quick filing and back they go.

Do you have a single or double piston caliper?
 
Originally Posted by GoldDot40
I usually lubricate every point on the brakes that have 2 surfaces that move against each other. Slide pins and metal clip channels the pads sit in. I don't live in the rust belt, so I normally don't have issues. However, on my wife's Mazda 6, the pins ended up seizing in the bores even though they were lubricated. Wore the inside pads out on both front calipers. Maybe something more prone to Mazda's?

If the pins seized up, grease got out and water got in. It happened to me on the Pilot rear brakes. It was slightly out of socket rubber boots. Now I replace them with the pads, and pay careful attention to their position on installing.
 
There's one more problem that could cause that. Not all but some pad backings have small dimples on one of the pads in the set. Those dimples can cause the pad not to sit correctly on the caliper. Either the Piston side or the other side may sit on that dimple not directly on the backing which would cause it to wear incorrectly.
 
How tight were the pins to remove?
I noticed on my 06 years ago during my annual pon lubrication that the pins on the rear calipers were a bit hard to remove, not stuck, bet there was resistance. It turned out, since the rear calipers are aluminum, oxidation would form under the pin rubber bushings and form a pinch point.
I had to remove the bushings from the calipers, clean out the oxidation, apply caliper grease to prevent oxidation and reinstall. No problems since and still on factory calipers all around.

For those not familiar, first gen Mazda 3s, and I think second gen, use a bushing for caliper pins, not a boot. The pin us partially exposed where it comes out of the bushing and screws in to the bracket. As the pads wear, more of the pins is exposed. Hence, lubricating the pin every once in a while is a good maintenance practice for this type of arrangement.

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