Cartisan received a service request for rear brake pads replacement for a Mini Cooper D Countryman. The customer was notified by the dashboard warning indicator that the rear brake pads were at the end of their life.
On contacting us at Cartisan, we provided the customer with a quote and after he approved, an appointment was scheduled at a Cartisan Preferred workshop. Genuine Brembo rear brakepads and sensors were sourced for this car.
The customer arrived at the workshop with his car and the work began straight away.
The car was first parked in the service bay and lifted up with the help of a lift.
Since the customer had planned to embark on a road trip in the coming days he decided to get the front brake pads cleaned just as a precautionary measure. Therefore all the 4 wheels were removed.
The rear brake calipers were disconnected from the rear brake rotors and the worn brake pads were removed.
The new brake pads from Brembo were fitted inside the calipers.
The brake sensors were also replaced
The brake sensor consists of a connector and a wear sensor head. The sensor head fits into a slot in the brake pad and the connector is connected to a socket in the wiring which runs all the way to the car’s ECU. The main purpose of the sensor is to detect brake pad wear and warn the customer whenever the brake pads are nearing the end of their life.
Once the new brake pads and sensor was fitted, the brake cylinders are compressed with the help of a c clamp in order to make it easy for the technician to mount back onto the brake rotor. While compressing the cylinder a bit of fluid escapes from the brake lines.
The front brake calipers are disconnected from the brake rotors and the brake pads are removed and cleaned. They are than placed back into the caliper which is connected to the brake rotor again.
Once the calipers are mounted on to the brake rotor, the process of brake bleeding is carried out. In this procedure, brake fluid is topped up in the brake fluid reservoir. The brake pedal is then ‘pumped’ multiple times until the air bubbles in the brake fluid leave the brake lines. If air is present in the fluid lines, it will cause the brakes to be ineffective which could be a serious safety risk while driving.
All 4 wheels are placed back onto the wheel hubs and are screwed in place.The car was then lowered down.
Reset was done to remove the brake warning light on the dashboard.
The car was taken out for a test drive. The brakes were working fine which confirmed that the brake overhaul and cleaning were done right.
