mike62

Just did my rear brake pads and rotors, not the E brake. Had a tough time getting the rotors off. Had to tap hard with a hammer, while turning the rotor. Got them off finally, new ones went on fine.

The E brake assembly looked fine to me, nothing fell out or sprung loose. However, got a strong acrid odor for the first 5-6 miles of driving after replacing, then seemed to go away. No grinding sounds or dragging sensation, Coasts fine in neutral on level road.

Problem seems to have gone away, so don't worry about it ???

Hate to fix something just to create another problem!!

ohlord

the new pads in properly?
Did you torque the lugs to 80ft lb?
Both important items to do when diy brake pads and rotors

sandro

You're probably just smelling the new pads breaking in.

I wouldn't worry about it

mike62

Thanks. Roger that on both. M

anghrist

Did you have the e-brake on when trying to pull off the old rotors? I'm trying to figure out why they were difficult to remove.

dsmith

A slight groove and rust can develop on the rotor that the ebrake pads catch on. Usually need to back off the shoes with the adjuster before rotor removal, then readjust after installing the new ones.

Sometimes that's not so easy if the adjusters are rusted badly.

anghrist

Shouldn't the tention be relieved and then reset on the cable slack adjuster as well both prior to rotor removal and after reinstallation respectively?

dsmith

Tension is released on removal to get the rotor off over the shoes. You don't need to retension until the new rotor is on.

Then follow the procedure to set the parking brake, which would be something like tighten the adjuster until you feel contact with the rotor (wheel is tight to spin), then back the adjuster off about 10 clicks until the shoes are just off of the rotor. You probably won't need to adjust at the pedal, if it was ok before. It's one of those things you get a feel for after doing a few.