I painted my front calipers yesterday as it was gorgeous here in North Texas and had absolutely zero problems. Today was also nice so I figured to paint the rear. All went well until came the time to replace the pads and caliper. Easier said than done... The piston was fully retracted and I still couldn't fit the dang thing on. I thought maybe the e-brake had something to do with it. Released it and no change. If I take off those 2 thin metal plates on the outside of the pads it slides on fairly well. I don't want to do it that way though without knowing exactly what those plates are for. Any ideas?? Anyone else have this hard of time replacing the calipers? Thanx.

 

On the Probe/MX6, Mazda had a bolt that was on the inside face of the caliper at the bottom. When you remove this bolt it revealed another plug with an allen head. You had to lossen this plug (actually it was very loose already, you just had to turn it out some) before it would allow the caliper piston to be pushed back in. Maybe they have this on the 8 as well?

 

The thin metal plates are the anti-squeal shims. unless you like the Squeak-Squeak-Squeak coming from your brakes as you drive, I'd suggest you keep them. Mind you, I'm not taling about metal on metal "Oh my god my ears, my ears" squealing that makes you cry for the poor car being tortured so, but it certainly can be anoying.

 

Thanx guys. I'll have to take a look.