Important Preventative Maintenance -- Must Do.

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NORTON

Well-known member
Joined
May 1, 2015
Messages
1,456
Location
KC,MO
Sorry but this is important.

My '14 with 42k mi. and a tough life in the midwest where salt is used during ice events, or probable ice events, of if they stocked too much salt this season and it's a cloudy day.... :evil:

I removed the right rear wheel to check on the brake caliper slider pins. I was bored and the weather was perfect.
The brake pads looked brand new, the way most EV's would probably be at this mileage.

But, one of the sliders was rusted solid to the caliper carrier.

I pulled back the boot and sprayed some penetrant on the pin and waited. No luck. I could twist it slightly using a lot of force.
I then pulled the boot off and heated the carrier at the stuck pin and with some help was able to twist and hammer the pin out eventually.
I cleaned the pin with a high speed scotch brite pad and cleaned out the bore the best I could.
Then I used the blue 'caliper grease' that comes in single serving packets at the auto parts store and gooped up both cleaned out bores and pins, a lot.
Then remounted the caliper.

THE MORAL:
These cars are mostly Maintenance Free , but this is an important preventative maintenance item that should be performed every few years, even in dry climates.

All in all, it can be a quick job if you don't have to deal with a rusted solid slider. And not too dirty! Wear rubbers! :cool:
The brake calipers can be slid up a little to clear the removal of the slider pins.
There is a funny noise dampening device on the top pin bolt on the rear wheels. If you have a thin enough wrench those could be left on the bolt, or there are 13mm flats on the dampener to remove them.
It looks like they should be locktited back on.

So now I know what I'll be doing next Saturday.... :|

Please report your results from the field ! :)
 
Thanks for the heads-up.

I also recommend that people exercise the friction brakes once per month. You can do this by accelerating to 40MPH, putting the car in neutral, and then applying moderate-to-hard brake pressure. Repeat 3 times. Obviously this needs to be done in a safe place while obeying all laws. Quiet streets or empty parking lots work well.

Putting the car in neutral disables all regen and forces the car to use the friction brakes. Repeating the cycle a few times will heat everything up and exercise it.
 
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