99 SE-L brake service

1. You can't go wrong with Courtesy Nissan - I buy from them most of the time. Price and service are both excellent.
2. It's safe to assume your shims and brake retaining clips are worn and rusty - it's a good idea to buy the kit - they do sell one. IIRC it includes shims, caliper pin grease, and retaining cliips. One kit covers both axles (rear or front).
3. If you are doing the rears, remember the piston is rotated in - clockwise screws it in.
4. Inspect the seal around the pistons - if they are cracked or cracking, it's time for a new caliper or a rebuild. I would leave the caliper alone if there are no signs of failure.
5. If you are doing the rears, make sure you line up the piston grooves so that the little metal nub on the back of the pads fits into the groove.
6. Clean the spots on the torque member where the pad retaining clips are placed - a wire-brush is handy.
7. Clean and re-lube the caliper pins.
8. If you do the rears, inspect the parking brake cable for kinks/smooth operation. They have a tendency to seize/start to bind. There are some underbody brackets that often get bent when the car is put on a lift.
9. Don't overtighten the caliper pins - you'll shear them :)
10. The torque member bolts can be on tight... use some PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench to soak them.

Cheers and Good Luck,

Nirav

96 Max GLE, 129k

I have aftermarket pads (Okebono, or something like that) and brembo rotors from tirerack on the front, and Nissan pads (not the key value ones) and Raybestos rotors on the back. The front pads squeal the first few stops when cold and I had reassemble it a couple of times until I got the anti-squeal compound perfectly setup; the OEMs seem more resistant to squeal. I've heard less-than-stellar reviews of nissan rotors, and thought that for the same price, why not buy the brembos?

I'd recommend the kit. For the rears, I spent a long time cleaning up my shims and then had to leave the car up on stands while I bought new ones. I'm probably overzealous, but I couldn't handle putting rusty old shims on brand new pads.

My bolts were on extremely tightly. My Harbor Freight 18" breaker bar was true to its name (then slipped cheater on 6" Husky racheting wrench and finished the job: must not buy cheap tools). It's a PITA because there's not a lot of room to cheat (depends on how high the car's off the ground).

I saw the largest performance difference after bleeding the brakes.

...7. Clean and re-lube ... Havent seen such a detailed guide on the net before = "1. You can't go wrong ... excellent."

Buy also the special caliper piston grease, add under piston rubber dustshields before pushing pistons in. HB wires also like to be lubed. This greasing will boost the brakes on new high...

Check out how dyno numbers level/rise after [06] lube job: see

Dynamometer Tested Braking Power: ..........2005...... | ..........2006 :

2.93 / 2.87 .. | .. 3.02 / 2.97 .....LH / RH -Front 1.30 / 1.38 .. | .. 1.34 / 1.33 .....LH / RH -Rear 1.55 / 1.80 .. | .. 1.69 / 1.72 .....LH / RH -Handbrake

... excellent."

Wiikinki - I can't tell if you are being facetious or offering a genuine comment on my post...

Nirav

96 Max GLE, 129k

...if you are being facetious or ... Hmm. My II language skills fails now here and quite often elsewhere.

Anyways, the service sequence you gave, is outstanding. The point 7 is crucial. Thank You.

crucial. Thank You.

Ah - thanks for the compliment buddy. Sometimes the curt-ness of your posts can come across incorrectly - that's all. I see you are from Finland... :)

Cheers, Nirav

Yes, frozen, finnished:) I oftentimes get me in trouble. Misspell, vocabulary, cultural ignorance... Still I like to spend time to get my answer right and 'full', like you do. Most repair shops and info sources neglect that lube -part; crucial in keeping brakes operational. The less miles/usage, the sooner brakes rust solid.

The shop u mention: is it one shop or chain? (location?). My net search (180.800 hits) did not help me...

cultural ignorance... Still I like to spend time to get my answer right and 'full', like you do. Most repair shops and info sources neglect that lube -part; crucial in keeping brakes operational. The less miles/usage, the sooner brakes rust solid.

(180.800 hits) did not help me...

Courtesy Nissan is a Nissan dealer based in Texas. Their main website is

but they have a wholesale parts division at They are one of the several Nissan parts dealers that offer discounted prices. Others include Jerry Rome Nissan, Pinnacle Nissan, Garrands Nissan. I have almost always ordered from Courtesy - barring a few occasions where they didn't have something I needed in stock.

I'm feeling fairly frozen today - when I woke up the temperature was -6 degrees Farenheit... so about -21 degrees celsius... right now it's -16 celsius outside (all numbers not including the wind factor). Fortunately, it's supposed to warm up again tomorrow - back into the 0 to -5 celsius range.

Cheers, Nirav