After binging on YouTube instructional videos, I just completed swapping front pads and rotors on my 2011 Acura MDX. Reason for the job was that the outboard pad on the DF wheel was worn to the nub. DF inboard pad was perfectly fine. PF wheel pads/rotors were good too and probably didn't need to be changed, but I did it anyway as I've read you're supposed to replace them in pairs.
I discovered I that had a sticking top caliper slide pin which was likely the cause of the worn outboard pad. I pulled and thoroughly cleaned the pin, then thoroughly cleaned the bore and finally (lightly) re-lubed and reinserted. BTW, I used the proper stuff to lube the pins, 3M silicone paste. At this point I noticed the slide pin was still very resistive to sliding. After fooling with it some more, it appeared the cause was the small rubber bushing (o-ring) on the tip of the slide pin. It may have swelled ever so slightly, causing it to drag inside the bore, even with the proper lubrication. Strange thing is the bottom slide pin does not have this bushing and slides perfectly! For reference, the bushing I'm referring to is part # 45233-STX-A01.
1. My first question is, is this bushing absolutely necessary to the safe operation of the braking system and why does only the top pin have it? For the time being I have removed it from both top sliding pins and they seem to operate perfectly with just the 3M silicone paste - same as the bottom pins. Do I need to purchase/install replacement bushings from the dealer?
Secondly, I wasn't paying attention when picking up and inserting the new pad clips on the caliper and manged to install both bottom clips on one caliper and both top clips on the other. I used the clips that came with the Akebono ACT1280 set which look like this:
![[Linked Image from shop.advanceautoparts.com]](https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/wcsstore/CVWEB/staticproductimage//219/large/14340204_akf_act1280_pri_larg.jpg "[Linked Image from shop.advanceautoparts.com]")
As you can see, the top clips have a small tab on top with a hole. Otherwise, both top and bottom clips are very similar and I didn't notice and fit issues when installing or issues when driving (yet).
2. Second question, do I need to swap these clips so they are properly placed in their intended locations or am I OK to leave them as is?
Obviously, brakes are #1 for safety, so I want to make sure everything is hunky dory, but at the same time, avoid about an 1+ hrs worth of work taking the wheels and pads off again.
I discovered I that had a sticking top caliper slide pin which was likely the cause of the worn outboard pad. I pulled and thoroughly cleaned the pin, then thoroughly cleaned the bore and finally (lightly) re-lubed and reinserted. BTW, I used the proper stuff to lube the pins, 3M silicone paste. At this point I noticed the slide pin was still very resistive to sliding. After fooling with it some more, it appeared the cause was the small rubber bushing (o-ring) on the tip of the slide pin. It may have swelled ever so slightly, causing it to drag inside the bore, even with the proper lubrication. Strange thing is the bottom slide pin does not have this bushing and slides perfectly! For reference, the bushing I'm referring to is part # 45233-STX-A01.
1. My first question is, is this bushing absolutely necessary to the safe operation of the braking system and why does only the top pin have it? For the time being I have removed it from both top sliding pins and they seem to operate perfectly with just the 3M silicone paste - same as the bottom pins. Do I need to purchase/install replacement bushings from the dealer?
Secondly, I wasn't paying attention when picking up and inserting the new pad clips on the caliper and manged to install both bottom clips on one caliper and both top clips on the other. I used the clips that came with the Akebono ACT1280 set which look like this:
As you can see, the top clips have a small tab on top with a hole. Otherwise, both top and bottom clips are very similar and I didn't notice and fit issues when installing or issues when driving (yet).
2. Second question, do I need to swap these clips so they are properly placed in their intended locations or am I OK to leave them as is?
Obviously, brakes are #1 for safety, so I want to make sure everything is hunky dory, but at the same time, avoid about an 1+ hrs worth of work taking the wheels and pads off again.
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