Hi,

First I am really satisfied I did it on my own. Quite an easy procedure.
For the record - car has got 94K miles on it. Here are a few
highlights/questions:

1- in order to release the line pressure (enforced by ABS), I read
somewhere to depress brake pedal 10-20 times before the job. So I did
it. But does it make sense?

2- the OEM brake pad kit purchased from the dealer did not contain the
grease (as opposed to front pad kit I got some time before). So i did
not apply anything, is that okay?

3-pushing back pistons 1: I wish I had the special spreading tool (are
such available). C-clam did the job but it took some time to learn how
to do that.

4-pushing back pistons 2: I did it very slowly however read somewhere
that the fluid can come out of the reservoir or somehow it is easy to
screw up this part. Is it really a deal here (in case of subies)?

5-the nuts - what is the torque value for caliper bolts? I mounted them
quite tight but since I have torque wrench, I would like to make an
use of it.

6-it was a last call to change the rear pads (first time in the cars
life). They were worn out almost to the metal. Fortunately, the rotors
seems be in perfect condition.

Regards, Andy

alf <ask@me> writes:

> Hi,
>
> First I am really satisfied I did it on my own. Quite an easy
> procedure. For the record - car has got 94K miles on it. Here are a
> few highlights/questions:
>
> 1- in order to release the line pressure (enforced by ABS), I read
> somewhere to depress brake pedal 10-20 times before the job. So I did
> it. But does it make sense?
>
> 2- the OEM brake pad kit purchased from the dealer did not contain the
> grease (as opposed to front pad kit I got some time before). So i did
> not apply anything, is that okay?
>
> 3-pushing back pistons 1: I wish I had the special spreading tool (are
> such available). C-clam did the job but it took some time to learn how
> to do that.

There are such things available, but I used either a c clamp and a
block of wood or actually an empty caulk gun worked too.

> 4-pushing back pistons 2: I did it very slowly however read somewhere
> that the fluid can come out of the reservoir or somehow it is easy to
> screw up this part. Is it really a deal here (in case of subies)?

If your reservoir is full no matter how fast or slow you go, you need
to worry about overflow. If you can have someone keep an eye on it
as you compress that's ideal.

> 5-the nuts - what is the torque value for caliper bolts? I mounted
> them quite tight but since I have torque wrench, I would like to make
> an use of it.
>
> 6-it was a last call to change the rear pads (first time in the cars
> life). They were worn out almost to the metal. Fortunately, the rotors
> seems be in perfect condition.

Cool!

I don't know the answers to the other questions. I don't believe I
used grease on the last change I did, and later learned that was a
mistake. I'm under the slight inclination to saying it's needed both
front and back, ideally. But I'm far from feeling authoritative on
that.

--
Todd H.
2001 Legacy Outback Wagon, 2.5L H-4
Chicago, Illinois USA