buzzook

Hey guys! Had the OEM rad cap fail in Feb, six months ago. Replaced it with an aftermarket one, CPC brand. This appears now to have failed also. No oil in water, no water in oil, when engine oveheats is *definitely* venting via overflow pipe, and surging, in bursts - like pressure builds, releases, builds, releases... So pretty certain it's cap, not air bubble, thermostat or head gasket. Had a closer look at the radiator, and the eges of the orifice against which the cap is supposed to seal are *very* rough - a degree of corrosion on the rim of the orifice. My *guess* is that this corrosion is not helping the seal, and may be allowing the rad to break seal when under pressure, hence blowing off a cupful or two every short trip, until eventually, enough has blown by the seal that there isn't enough left to keep the motor cool, at which point it overheats. So far I have caught it before the temp gauge went off the dial, usually around the three-quarters mark (normal is bang on halfway up the dial). So rather than replace the radiator - costly expense for an old and near end of life vehicle - I'm contemplating adding a dab of silicon gasket goo to the rim of the rad orifice, and cutting out a 'washer' of silcon rubber from a rubber glove (not latex), and fitting that to the cap and then re-sealing. If this works and engine stops overheating, I confirm it's the corrosion on the rad orifice that's the problem. Is this a crazy idea? Anyone got a better one? Anything else I should be checking (hoses appear OK, can't spot any obvious leaks, drips or steam jets, other than the overflow pipe....) Next would be pressure test to confirm head gasket is not sucking the water out and 'burning' it, as there's no sign of it in the engine oil. If it's that, then it's a dead car. Not worth fixing.

Yeah, expect you're right, and I usually do buy the manual for my cars, but this one was only a "temp" I bought - three years ago - and thus far it's only had oil and petrol, and an indicator light lens I...ahem..bumped while manoevering in the back yard. But as I'd done brake pads on heaps of other cars, I figured I could manage without the manual.... Famous last words..!! What's really p*******g me off is that I only wanted to change the pads because I could hear a sort of graunching noise coming from the front wheels which was clearly more readily noticeable going round corners and not straight ahead, and not while apply ing the brakes.... So I *assumed* it was the pads getting down. But they hadn't even got to the bottom of the siping grooves cut into the pad surface, so probably half the thickness of the pads still to go (based on thickness of the new ones). What I did notice in removing the calipers was that the small wishbone springs - at least on the LHS, can't be certain about the RHS - had a small 'bright spot' dead centre, as though they were being kissed by a high spot on the rotor as it revolved.... So I'm wondering if I need to pull them down again and replace those springs, or could the graunchy, scraunch-scraunch noise be something else..... Any ideas???

HIro You are absolutley correct! As I hadn't touched the RHS I did it exactly as you said above - loosen the top 'B' nut and remove the lower one; pivot the caliper assembly up and out of the way; squeeze the piston back in with a C-clamp; flip out the old pads and replace with the new; re-attach the wishbone springs; slip the caliper back down over the rotor and pads, re-attached bottom B bolt, tighten top B bolt and all done. 5 mins. You=legend. Gotta love the internet...lol Tx again! :)

Thanks, Hiro, that's what I'd figured out myself.... I undid the lockbolts and replaced the piston/pins back into the carrier and the whole thing slid together as you said it would. Replace the lock bolts and bob's your uncle. Easy peasy. But I still don't think mine can be done with the existing dustshields in place, but as I'm only working on the LHS (knew better than to remove both of them) I'll have another go at the RHS your way and see if I can make it work. Thanks for the assistance. Pic shows the relevant bolts - A is the 17mm hex head which attaches the entire assembly to the hub. According to Hiro you should only need to remove one of the two, and simply loosen the other. B is the lockbolts, 14mm hex head, two of, and again, according to Hiro you only need to rmeove one and loosen the other, so the caliper can pivot up out of the way to provide access to remove and replace the pads.

HI mate, thanks for the response, but you're missing something, or I am... The problem is that to install the pads in the carrier, so I can access the upper side of the them to install the wishbone springs, the caliper has to be detached from the carrier, becasue the upper surface of the caliper prevents access to the wishbone springs if the two parts are together. Soooo, once the caliper and carrier are apart, and the pads installed in the carrier, the caliper then won't "slip" back over it in any way shape or form.... Hence my question - do the pins and their retaining nuts have to be removed from the caliper assembly in order to slip the caliper down over the carrier where it sits on the rotor? The attachment bolts (which secure the entire assembly to the hub) attach to the *carrier* not to the caliper...the caliper 'floats' on the pins and is not otherwise attached to the carrier or to the hub... Weird, but hey, that's how it is...take a closer look at the pic.

OK, I sort of get it.....but there is still something missing, or that I don't understand. So I've taken the caliper right off (because the dirt shields behind the hub prevent it pivoting out of the way) - and separated the cliper and the pad carrier - the latter just slides off the pins bolted to the caliper (the upper two red circles in the pic).... But putting the pads into the carrier and slipping this back over the rotor, and temp fixing it by one of the mounting bolts...I still can't get the caliper to slide back over the top....the two cast iron protrusions (in the lower horizontal ellipse in the pic) prevent the caliper slipping over the rotor and pad carrier. Seems to me the only way this can be done is to remove the two pins (circled top) and place them into the receiver holes on the pad carrier, then slip the caliper over the top of the pad carrier and rotor, and then re-attach the pins to the caliper. Does that make sense...???

OK, if you want a laugh, read on... Had my AE102 1.8L Conquest auto sedan for a few years, but it had new pads just before I got it, so have never had to do the front disc pads before. My old Suzuki used to be a 15min job, so I figured the Rolla had to be simple, right? Wrong!! Doh!! I pulled the pads from the caliper ok, got the piston back in with a C-clamp, as you do, but I cannot figure out how to get the new pads into the caliper without growing an extra arm or three... There are these [insert suitable adjective] wishbone-shaped springs that connect the two pads together, and sit on the outer edge of the pads right under the curve of the caliper. Seems to me that the only way the pads will go in is with these springs pre-attached.... But do you think I can get the little muthas to stay on....??? I know I *must* be doing something wrong, so what's the trick...?? Anyone assist????

Hi, all! My AE102 auto sedan has almost 240,000km and as far as I know (was my mum's before me) has never had an auto service.....maybe fluid change....dunno for sure. Want advice on what can be done DIY...can't afford to pay mechanic. Is there a filter that can be changed? Gaskets? How difficult is it? Am moderately competant mechanically [eg: changed the clutch on my old KE55 by myself - and it did work afterwards.... ;) ] Is there a thread on here that might assist me? Tx.