Replacing Brake Pads VY

[wortus]

Hi. I've recently bought a VY, my 2nd Commodore and first with ABS. When replacing the brake pads the caliper pistons have to be pushed back into the caliper body. I seem to recall reading somewhere that if the car has ABS you have to clamp off the brake caliper hose and undo the bleed nipple before you push the pistons back in. Does anyone know if this is the case or not and if it is, is it because not doing so can damage the ABS unit or it simply blocks a reverse flow of fluid by it's internal construction?
Also what sort of milage are people getting from the genuine pads?

[vt s]

First ive ever heard of this.
Never done it in any of the cars ive had to do..

[VTPREDATOR]

remove some fluid from the reservoir, that makes room for the fluid to get pushed back when pushing in the pistons. dont drain to much. leave lid off during procedure. and dont forget to fill new fluid back in.

[chief18]

The whole 'crack bleed nipple' is to release pressure making it easier to push back the piston, as well as preventing you from pushing crappy fluid back into the system and any sediment in the caliper bores that has built up as the piston has moved further outwards.

[whitey66]

There was a Techline years ago about this.
If you do push the piston in without cracking the bleed screw,you must push the piston in SLOWLY.
If you don't ,you can bugger the ABS modulator.
It's safer and better to crack the bleed screw.

[wortus]

Thanks. I'll definately crack the bleed screw when I need to change the pads. I had the brakes bled just after I got it a year ago. I've heard however that the genuine pads last quite a long time? I've only had the car a year and have not done much to it other than a few oil changes and the last major service as the Holden dealers and mechanics wanted around $250 to $300 in labour for a book service that going by the log book should take only 1.4 hours!

[Calaber]

I paid $87 for a full set of front and rear pads at Holden recently. (lucky enough to get trade price)

I have found that they do last a fair time, are low dust emitters and work well under normal circumstances. Performance oriented drivers will probably say they are crap and lack the ability to handle high speed braking, but I don't go there and they are adequate for most purposes without costing a fortune.

When replacing pads, I don't crack the bleed valve unless the master cylinder is close to the max level. To compress the piston, I put the old inner pad back into position, place a G clamp over the caliper and pad, then screw it in to push the pistons back. This ensures both pistons go back evenly and doesn't affect the ABS.

[wortus]

Was that for genuine holden pads or AC Delco? My Holden Dealer quoted me about $104 for front genuine pads and about $49 for AC Delco. He said they were pretty much the same performance wise.
A friend of mine said he got about 95,000 km from his GM front pads in a VT V6, going by that mine are about 1/2 worn. I've replaced front and rear rotors with slotted ones as the car had some front brake shudder and the back ones were too thin. What pads are people using with slotted rotors?

[one_and_only2004]

I'm using RDA pads on my slotted rotors up front. They emit a fair amount of dust though.

[Calaber]

Was that for genuine holden pads or AC Delco? My Holden Dealer quoted me about $104 for front genuine pads and about $49 for AC Delco. He said they were pretty much the same performance wise.
A friend of mine said he got about 95,000 km from his GM front pads in a VT V6, going by that mine are about 1/2 worn. I've replaced front and rear rotors with slotted ones as the car had some front brake shudder and the back ones were too thin. What pads are people using with slotted rotors?

They were the Delco's. Frankly, I'm stuffed if I can work out why Holden sells two types when they are both factory backed, and why the Delco's are so much cheaper. They wear just as well in my opinion and are quite ok for normal use.

[Drewie]

Reading the Holden manual it also says to replace the caliper bolts once they have been undone as they have a special locking compound on the bolts and are a once only use, I quieried this with Brakes Plus and they said they put loctite on the bolts after undoing them.
Not sure how many places do this though.

[stick3]

i repaced the warped front rotors with dba slotted earlier this year i just use a piston reset tool and leave a old pad in the caliper to help push back the piston and using same caliper bolts but i had to buy a tensioner wrench for the vz... the caliper bolts were very tight out and in ... no problem with abs .....i also replacedl 4 rotors on the my vs ute late last year non abs also using dba slotted but no tension wrench.. just tight as i can get he bolts ...... u can go and buy loctite for your peace of mind
both cars have just been serviced at kmart auto and no problem been found with the brakes or the abs

[adamandtanya]

hi i use ac delco pads on my vt found them to be the best pads ive ever used no dust at all