Re: Easy job. (archive)

For anyone who is interested, it turned out to be a very simple job. The new shoes cost about $40 from an independent foreign parts dealer as compared to about $80 from the dealer. Nothing else was necessary as far as parts go. Taking off the rotors was simple by removing the Wheel&Tire/ calipers/ holder /rotor retaining bolt. The old shoes had crystalized and pieces had caught between the rotor and the inside dust/dirt cover and couldn't get out therefore making a god/awful scraping noise similar to a muffler dragging the ground. The old shoes came off very simply and the new ones went on just as easily. The inside of the rotor hub which acts as the drum for the evergency brake shoes was in good shape so I cleaned them and then adjusted the shoes up to where the rotor would barely go on and then backed the adjustment off until the rotor would go on easily and turn without hearing or feeling any drag from the shoes (there must be room for the lever inside to pull up or they will burn again.). The only other thing I did was to spray some of the anti-squeel compound on the existing brake pads (which were very thick) to help if possible with stopping any noise and then put it all back together. Works perfectly. Now when I put the emergency on with a simple and firm pull on the lever inside, the car "will not move" when I put it in Drive or Reverse. A very good sign.

Well, on with the fun to the next project. My rear window defroster doesn't work. When I took it to the dealer recently to fix it, they charged me two hours labor $180 for checking the system to come to the conclusion that we should order a new switch to see if that would fix it!!!!!!! Lord, the brain surgeons that work at that dealer are awesome....I'm afraid to ask them how long it would take them to figure out how to fix a headlight bulb or to change the oil!!!
Later, Kurt

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