I will be changing the brake pads on my TCH soon. Are the OE pads ceramic? I was thinking of using ceramic pads with the standard rotors. I have not found enough info to substantiate whether the pads are ceramic or not.

I have purchased the appropriate brake caliper tools. I understand the pistons spin back in?

Will I need to crack the bleed screw open on the caliper when compressing the piston. I usually place a small piece if clear hose on the bleed screw and fill it with brake fluid so no air will get sucked in by accident. I can visually see what is happening also. I don't like the idea of forcing old fluid back through the anti-lock system. I have heard this can be detrimental to the system.

Thoughts/help anyone?

 

Ronald,

I saw your choices in the other thread and thought I would let you know that I use Wagner ceramic pads on the cars I work on. Don't crack the bleeder to ease the pistons back into the caliper. Just squeeze them back in using a tool made for it, a big pair of channel locks, or a large "C" clamp. I happen to use a Matco squeeze lever piston retractor but any of the appropriate tools will work.

The above will work for any front brake system but the rear will depend on the type of emergency brake system used on these cars and to be honest about it, I never have looked at my TCH. If these cars use the disk brake system for the emergency brake like most late models, you will need to use the "rotate" type of caliper tools to get it to retract. If it uses a cable, you more than likely can use the normal "squeeze it back in" method but I have seen some makes that still used the rotating piston (mainly Fords). The cable type of emergency brake will normally use a drum brake setup that is inside the disk brake rotor.

I wouldn't worry too much about the old fluid. Even though I always flush the old fluid when doing a brake job on my cars, I might not on this one. The fluid never really gets hot as the re-gen system does most of the braking with the hydraulic system just used at speeds less than 10 mph or under a panic stop which does not tax the fluid or the system very hard.

 

Thanks for the response GeorgiaHybrid. I usually use C clamps, but I did purchase a set of the rotating piston tools that is supposed to fit several models of cars. So you think the front pistons go straight in and the rears spin in.

I was thinking I saw something where it used a cable on the rear emergency brake. Maybe someone can confirm that for us?

I was considering the Wagner ceramics, but have seen several brands. Just trying to get my ducks in a row before I start working on the brakes. Ceramics are OE on the Camry?

Any info anyone has is appreciated.

 

Ronald,

If you can wait until tomorrow night, I will pull the back brakes on mine and find out for you. I'm too worn out tonight to try....

 

You sure don't have to go to all that trouble. I appreciate the offer though. I will figure it out if no one else can answer this.

 

Uploading pics now. Give me a few to type in everything and you should be good to go.

 

I'm glad that I looked at the pads, I won't need to change them until the 250,000 mile mark if these at almost 70,000 miles are any indication.

Make sure you use jack stands when working under a car unless you have your life insurance paid up....

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Here the tire is off and we are ready to go to work. By the way, the lug nuts take a 21mm socket.

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The bolts that are circled hold the caliper on the support frame. They take a 14mm to remove. Once they are off, the caliper can be removed as well as the inside pad. You can then remove the two carrier bolts (the caliper bolts thread into them) and remove the carrier and the outside pad.

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You can see how much of the OEM pad is still there. It looks almost brand new....

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Here are my favorite caliper piston retraction tools. The single piston is what is needed on the TCH although you can use a "C" clamp or a large Channel Lock for this.

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As noted, this piston does not require the "screw in" style of retractors.

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Getting the piston back into the bore.....



Finishing up the job. If you use an air wrench, just snug them up and go back with a torque wrench and torque the lug nuts to 76 ft-lbs. Clean up the tools, put everything back into place and you are done.

One other step I did forget to show however, make sure you pull the slider pins and clean and grease them. I use Permatex "green" caliper grease for my cars but any grease designed for calipers will work.

Edit: If you need help with the slider pins or the outside pad, let me know and I can pull them and take pictures sometime this weekend. It's my 27th Anniversary Friday so I can't do it then (unless I want a divorce...) and the other nights this week are full. I can also pull the rotor and show you the emergency brake system but I doubt that it will ever need to be replaced on these cars.

 

Great pics and descriptions. These look similiar to the calipers on my daughters '05 Dodge Dakota that I just did. I really like the squeeze grip piston tools. I purchased a kit like what you have in the blow molded box. Usually a C clamp was the tool of choice. My rear pads looked more used than yours when I rotated my tires, I will prob look at them this weekend. Thanks for the superb help.

Have a great anniversary with the little lady!

 

hey nice photographic description on how they change break pads and with marking at every right place so that even a guy with no automotive knowledge can understand.

 

GeorgiaHybrid, do you use the Wagner Thermoquiet ceramic pads? I was researching last night and someone said they used them and they warped their rotors. There is a Wagner at Advance that is marked as an OEM replacement that is less expensive. There is also an Akebono pad, I believe it was, but reviews on them said stopping power was deminished. Just don't want to cause unnecessary problems.

Thanks again for the great post and all the help. You went above and beyond.