Servo brake flush procedure when pads are new

Hi. I've been reading the terrific document on bleeding 05-09 servo brake systems -- what fun -- and I'm wondering about the steps of removing the calipers and replacing the pads with wooden dummy new brake pad blocks.

My front pads are less than a thousand miles from new and as part of this I'll be installing new rear pads. It occurs to me if the pads are full thickness new ones it might be optimal to simply skip all the steps to do with taking the calipers off and substituting dummy new pad blocks, and just leave the calipers in place. Does this make sense or am I missing something?

Hi. I've been reading the terrific document on bleeding 05-09 servo brake systems -- what fun -- and I'm wondering about the steps of removing the calipers and replacing the pads with wooden dummy new brake pad blocks.

 

My front pads are less than a thousand miles from new and as part of this I'll be installing new rear pads. It occurs to me if the pads are full thickness new ones it might be optimal to simply skip all the steps to do with taking the calipers off and substituting dummy new pad blocks, and just leave the calipers in place. Does this make sense or am I missing something?

Afternoon WarpShatner7

Yes, makes sense. Personally I just lightly pry the back pads back into the calipers then use small tapered shims between the pads & the brake rotors to hold them retracted. (cedar carpenter shims work just fine)

Pushing the pads back to a specific depth in the calipers has more to do with proper re-filling of the under-tank ABS controller reservoirs than with purging the system.

You want to avoid re-filling the under-tank fluid reservoirs to the full mark with worn pads installed (even a little) as that will allow brake fluid to get forced out of the controller vent hose when you do you next front tire change.

What D.R. said worked for us!

Thanks. I'm thinking it'd be even simpler to tear off an appropriate thickness of notepad (I have bunches of 3x3 note cubes from vendors that would be perfect for this -- no, not the post-it adhesive kind) and slide it in between pad and rotor. It'd let me dial in the exact thickness I wanted, and a factory sheaf of paper compresses very little.

Thanks. I'm thinking it'd be even simpler to tear off an appropriate thickness of notepad (I have bunches of 3x3 note cubes from vendors that would be perfect for this -- no, not the post-it adhesive kind) and slide it in between pad and rotor. It'd let me dial in the exact thickness I wanted, and a factory sheaf of paper compresses very little.

Afternoon WarpShatner7

It definitely doesn't sound simpler than sliding a couple of tapered shims in but if you have the notepads & don't have any shims then it might be more convenient.