Nissan, crazy brake design..

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JTK

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Aug 14, 2003
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Our 2016 Nissan Quest was due for new pads all the way around. I tackled the rears today. It's been awhile since I did brakes on a Nissan and had to shake my head at some of design of this particular make/model.

The caliper bolts and pins are one piece, so you have to be cautious not to shear/tear the pin boots when the whole bolt/pin assembly rotates for removal.

Better yet, you can't remove the lower caliper bolt because it hits a track bar on the rear independent suspension. You have to break the caliper bracket bolts free and at a minimum, pivot the caliper bracket and caliper out of the way for clearance to remove the lower bolt/pin. Also odd that the caliper bolts were 14mm, where the best fit I could find for the caliper bracket bolts were 3/4"? Very tight access to the 3/4" hex head bracket bolts too. I had to use a skinny open-end wrench.

Since I had to go that far, I removed the caliper bracket entirely and broke the rear rotor free to check the parking brake and apply never seize to the hub face so the job will be easier next time. The rotors did require some beating to come loose, even though this 2016 has never seen snow/salt.

Wound up running out of time and never got to the fronts! Maybe tomorrow. I'm sure this is all routine stuff you guys! I'm spoiled because for a good 15yr stretch, I didn't own my vehicles long enough to have to do brakes. Miss those days. LOL.
 
I remember your previous post about the warning light I think it was. Did you top off the brake fluid per the post by Critic?
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
I remember your previous post about the warning light I think it was. Did you top off the brake fluid per the post by Critic?


Indeed I did and that was the cause of the "brake" and VDC light. All the fluid was pushed into the well extended caliper pistons, causing the brake fluid reservoir to run low.
 
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The low fluid warning light is a good indicator of worn pad. A leak would normally show up as a bad pedal.

Welcome to the world of modern vehicles and the joys of doing simple repairs. You could sum it up as mostly everything is in the way of everything else.

Claud.
 
Chevy cavaliers have that one piece caliper and bracket setup.

3/4" is right around 19mm.
 
Originally Posted By: Claud
... mostly everything is in the way of everything else...


Did you borrow that line from Deep Purple? "just make everything louder than everything else"
 
I enjoy tackling the front brakes on mine..super easy to do. Obviously not all cars are designed the same. Was like me thinking that changing headlight bulbs in my car would be as easy on a Buick Regal..boy was I ever wrong.
 
Originally Posted By: jaj
Originally Posted By: Claud
... mostly everything is in the way of everything else...


Did you borrow that line from Deep Purple? "just make everything louder than everything else"


I thought that was Meatloaf?.

Guilty as charged, it's plagiarism. Everything copied from everything else.

Claud.
 
Originally Posted By: Claud
I thought that was Meatloaf?.

Guilty as charged, it's plagiarism. Everything copied from everything else.

Claud.


Deep Purple, Made in Japan album, 1972, live album. At the end of Smoke on the Water, one of the band members apparently can't hear so he says "...a bit more monitor if you've got it...yeah, can I have everything louder than everything else"
 
Originally Posted By: JTK


Wound up running out of time and never got to the fronts! Maybe tomorrow. I'm sure this is all routine stuff you guys! I'm spoiled because for a good 15yr stretch, I didn't own my vehicles long enough to have to do brakes. Miss those days. LOL.


If you wanna really bang your head, try replacing the Front rotors and pads on a Nissan 2003 4X4 PathFinder.
 
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If you are only doing a pad slap, I only remove the upper pin and rotate the caliper assembly.

If rotors are being replaced (which they should be, IMO), then remove the caliper bracket bolts using a zero offset boxed wrench such as these:
https://www.toolsource.com/sets-c-194_22...t-p-130940.html

I never loosen the lower caliper pin bolt. Once the caliper and caliper bracket are off the car, you can separate the pin while it is still bolted to the caliper.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
If you are only doing a pad slap, I only remove the upper pin and rotate the caliper assembly...



I hear you. You could probably get away with that, but the factory lube was about gone. Everything had to come apart to properly clean/lube.

It really wasn't that bad. I was just sharing that this make/model isn't as user friendly as some in this area.
 
i have same issue with my g35x rear caliper.

I forget how exactly i handled it, it just slows you down an extra 30 seconds saying WTH and figuring a way around it. The bolt will never come out with the arm in the way but you just take the caliper with the bolt, i think...
 
I finally got around to doing the front brakes on the 2016 Nissan Quest today. On the fronts, the bake hoses are so short, you can't just remove the top caliper bolt/pin, loosen the bottom and pivot the caliper out of the way for pad removal. You can't rotate the caliper enough to wiggle the pads out of the caliper bracket. LOL Again, not a big deal because I wanted to remove the rotors to apply never seize to the hub face so the rotors come off nicer next time. Everything had to come off anyway.
 
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