Preplexing rear pad wear issue- 2009 mazda 3

[Johan1]

Hi everyone, I recently got a first gen 2009 mazda 3, and I just did some routine maintenance on it. One of the items was rear pads and rotors as the pads were down to min thickness and unevenly worn. Left side install was fine, no issues at all, but the right side... well, as you can see from the attached picture, the pad is making contact with only the outer half of the rotor. Both inner and outer pad are doing the same thing on the rotor. I thought at first it's maybe seized pins, as they were sliding very hard, so I got new bushings and pins, but that didn't fix the issue... the caliper itself was also not moving the greatest, so I opted for a new raybestos element caliper and bracket from rockauto. Well, when I got the caliper, the bracket was the wrong size (no idea how they managed to box the wrong bracket with the correct caliper, see pics), so I had to reuse the old bracket. I cleaned up the points where the pads sits nicely with a wire brush, changed the caliper, and flexible brake hose, and did a proper flush, and still the same story... i'm quite lost, everything on the right rear is new (except the bracket), so what else could it be? I wish I had a new bracket, but even with that I wonder if it would've made a difference

Don't know if it makes a difference, but the rotors are bosch quietcast, and pads are wagner thermoquiet

 

[oggb]

Rockauto shows that there's a different pad for the Base and the Sport model. Are you sure you got the right pads? Still have the old and new to compare?

 

[mightymousetech]

You sure the bracket on the car is the right one?

 

[mk378]

And did you get a set of 4 pads that match? Are the rotors the same size as each other, and as the old ones?

If someone sold me a caliper and bracket in the same box that did not fit each other, I'd send the whole lot back and consider shopping somewhere else.

 

[MParr]

This is one of those times when the VIN comes into play.

 

[Johan1]

Yea so the pads are wrong. I bought them off amazon and cross referenced the part number on rockauto, and I missed the sport designation. However, upon looking for base model pads, bosch, raybestos, etc, were all selling the same pads as the wrong wagners that I got as being the base model... so even if I ordered let's say a bosch that claimed it was for a base model, I would've got the wrong pads anyways.

The rotors are correct, those I did check with the originals that came off the car. Everything on the rear is original, so the pads, rotors, calipers and the brackets all came from the factory as this was a one owner car who was my friend and I have all the service records. They never did brakes because they never needed to, the originals lasted 100000 miles (impressive to say the least)

Anyways, what MParr said, this is when VIN comes into play... what a ****show, I didn't even think to compare the wagners I got against the originals... I feel like an idiot and I am definitely doing my due diligence more from now on

 

[Johan1]

Well, not even the Wagner's that are specifically listed for my car are the same ones... They look more "correct" I guess in terms of size... Thoughts? Not sure what to say or do at this point...

 

[mk378]

That looks like you still got large ones, and the original are small. Or are they original?

The important thing is the size of the metal backer and the distance between the ear hooks, not the friction material specifically.

 

[Johan1]

That looks like you still got large ones, and the original are small. Or are they original?

The important thing is the size of the metal backer and the distance between the ear hooks, not the friction material specifically.

Yea pads are definitely original. Anyways I will put them on and see, the metal backer and ear hook distance is the same as the originals

 

[Johan1]

Success... Even though these pads weren't identical to the originals, they clearly work... BITOG came through again and helped me solve my issue almost immediately, just like the previous times I made some minor mistakes... I'd have to say by far the best car community on the net, way better then any car specific forum I've ever been on. Thanks again guys

As a side note, why would the sport pads seat properly on the left hand side, and not the right? Surely since they were the wrong size pads, both sides should've had the same problem...