Saab 9-3 - How long/difficult to change all pads/discs?

There's nothing Saab specific about them. I'd guess at a 2-3 hours for a one-off DIY job. Don't forget the thread-lock for the torque-member bolts and the disk retaining screws. As I discovered, it's well worth doing a full adjustment of the handbrake shoes and cable whilst you have them apart - add another half-hour or so.

Cheers,

Colin.

If they havn't been off before I'd have a blowlamp and an impact driver handy. Retaining screws can be a b'. DaveK.

Nothing unusual about the 93 (floorpan is essentially a vectra).

It may also be worth while fitting new hand brake shoes at the same time, given that they're likely to be the original ones, and there's every chance that the linings will be starting to lift of. Even if they look ok, I'd still change them. The last set I bought cost under a tenner.

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Does this model have the handbrake on the front caliper?

The standard 'generic' procedures are depicted in these step-by-step instructions: Front Disc Pads:

Brake Shoes: Note the lists of equipment needed (Apart from the obvious, the rest suggested have no relevance if MIRA is to do it!). Times for the swaps, from start to finish: 1 - 2 h for the rear and 1 h for the front, may be doubled if this is the first time. Easy.

No. It's on drums inside the rear disks.

Cheers,

Colin.

Standard procedure doesn't necessarily apply to SAAB. First of all SAAB has all disc brakes. Secondly, the SAAB rear disc brake caliper has a screw which you back out to loosen the pads. You cannot use a c-clamp to compress the piston, It will ruin the caliper if you do.

Aha, thanks. As the OP correctly observed, "... at MIRA which means I [the OP] might be able to call in a favour, but it doesn't guarantee familiarity with anything specific/quirky to Saabs...." :)

Not on a 9-3. You just squash the pistons back in. The Saab workshop manual doesn't recommend a G-clamp though - it says to use water pump pliers!

Cheers,

Colin.

Sounds pretty much like normal procedure on any performance / executive car to me.

Not on a 93 it doesn't. It just has a standard non sliding two pot caliper. The handbrake is done by using two brake shoes in the drum machined in the centre of the rear discs.

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Should have opened my big mouth I reckon no owning a 9-3 and thinking all SAAB rear disc brakes have the same design.

But I wonder why the simplicity of a screw inside the caliper advanced by the hand brake lever to actuate parking brake concept is ababdoned in favor of the more complicated design of having both a disc brake and a drum brake for the rear like many other cars. I thought the SAAB design elegant.

I think the adjust mechanism could play up, and of course clumsy people could dmage it.... (ford used a similar system). The front handbrake made a lot of sense - I used it as a very basic limited slip diff in snow :-) Another variation is seperate disk pads just for the handbrake on some alfas?

I have no problem with drums - it might be a pain to have to change the shoes but little or no wear should occur.

"yaofeng" wrote in news:1140965126.719024.112240 @i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

The screw piston type is the most common but it's far from simple - if you find an exploded diagram of one, you'll see what I mean. My Volvo also has the shoes-inside-disc setup and it is quite simple - the shoes are levered by the handbrake cable and the caliper is bog standard. Because the caliper is simpler, it is less prone to problems and it can be overhauled if it sticks or leaks. The shoes are adjusted via a screw that you turn through a hole in the disc - no auto adjusters to worry about. Because the shoes are not in use when the wheel is turning, hardly any wear occurs, so adjustment is only required once in a while. The other advantage is that the handbrake is very efficient, or at least it is on my car :-)

Citroen Xantias had a reputation for running away if you parked them on a hill with the front discs still hot. They contracted and the handbrake no longer held the car. Presumably there wasn't enough "spring" in the short cable.

MX-5s - at least, Mk1 and Mk2 - have a screw-actuated piston for the rear brakes. My old Mk2 Micra also did - it was a bit of a weird one, with discs all round and ABS. Later cars had ABS, but rear drums. I guess they discovered how to make ABS work despite the self-servo (snatching) action of the cheaper drums.