Rear brakes on 2009 Cobalt SS/TC:

Special tools needed:
3/8” drive, 7mm hex bit socket
Piston tool (Harbor Freight has one for $3.99)



Materials:
Brake parts cleaner
Permatex Ceramic Brake Grease
DOT 3 brake fluid


Parts:
Rear pads for Solstice GXP / Sky Redline / Saab 9-3
I used Hawk HB478F.605 (HPS) pads in this installation



Procedure:
1. Set wheel chocks for the front wheels

2. Jack up the rear of the vehicle

3. Remove wheels (you may want to loosen the lugnuts when the car is still on the ground)



4. Pop off the small plastic caps for the caliper bolts, it's just the small cap at the end of the bushing, DO NOT REMOVE THE ENTIRE BUSHING!!



5. Insert the 7mm hex bit socket and remove the 2 bolts:



6. Using a flathead screwdriver, gently pry one of the “wings” of the front spring clip out, and remove the other part of the wing. Don’t force it out.

7. Lift up the caliper and remove both pads. They should easily come out of the anchor plate.

8. Do the following if your pads are worn or have been used: Loosen the bleeder screw and attach a hose to a suitable container to receive the brake fluid, rotate the piston back using the special tool (clockwise rotation). Tighten the bleeder screw. This is to push back the piston so you can install the new pads that are thicker. If you're doing a pad swap on a new car or with old pads that haven't been used, this step isn't necessary.



9. Install new pads, apply Permatex grease on the anti-squeal pads and corner pad surfaces. Also use it on the caliper contact points and the piston surface.

10. Apply ample grease in the slide pin bushings. There are grease-grooves inside the bushings to retain grease. Apply copious amounts of grease on the smooth part of the bolt. I noticed the factory did NOT use any grease whatsoever, and this can cause binding. Binding calipers will cause the in-board pad to wear out faster than the out-board pad!!

11. Insert the bolts and torque them to 25 ft-lb.

12. Apply some grease on the grooves of the plastic caps and pop them back into plate. Brake grease won’t absorb water so it helps to seal off the slide pin from moisture.

13. Re-install the front spring clip by seating one side first, and then pulling back the “ear” while inserting the tip into the hole simultaneously.

14. Repeat for the other wheel.

15. Re-install the wheel, torque the lugnuts to 100 ft-lb (I usually go a bit lower, like 96 ft-lb because I’m used to it with Ford aluminum wheels).

16. Bleed the brakes if you opened the bleeder screw. Haynes provides the following order for bleeding the brakes: right rear, right front, left rear, left front.

17. Burnish the pads/rotors in accordance with the pad manufacturer’s instructions.
Here are the new Hawk pads next to the stock pads:



Notice how the stock pads do not have the center groove. This can hinder the clearing of debris or material from the rotor surface.

My theory on why the inboard pad wears out faster than the outboard pad is related to binding. The factory did not use any lubrication on my caliper slide pins/bolts. This can cause the caliper to bind up. I’ve seen factory slide pin bushings before and they all have grooves inside to retain grease. I can see the grooves in the SS/TC rear caliper bushings. Ford uses a white dielectric grease (silicone grease) that is rated for brake caliper pins. I am surprised GM did not use any, yet chose to seal up the bushing with a special plastic cap. I looked carefully and observed that the slide pin bushing is “sealed”, so you really want to grease it up with the right lubricant. Do not use regular wheel bearing/axle grease because it can mix with water or absorb moisture. Permatex makes a silicone brake lube that handles up to 400-500F while the Permatex purple “ceramic” lube can handle much higher temperatures. I also noticed my e-brake, when fully released, still pulls the slightly away from the stops. I also noticed slight drag on the brakes.

The other factor could be pad material. I’ve had stock factory Ford pads chew up my factory Ford rotors within 500-3000 miles and the OEM will consider it normal unless the grooves are of a certain width and depth. Some catalogs show the stock SS/TC pads as “ceramic” and it isn’t unusual for an OEM to equip factory cars with pads that use an organic or ceramic filler material.

The reason I don’t feel the lack of a backing plate contributes to the rotor wear is that many brake applications do not have a backing plate. Ford’s Super Duty trucks and cargo vans have exposed rotors for faster cooling. If any debris does get in there, the pads will generally clear it off and it flows through the groove in the pad.

Finally, if the e-brake is adjusted too tightly, it can cause the rear inboard pad to drag indefinitely. As the pads wear down, the e-brake self-adjusts whenever you use the service brakes. So it is important you check your e-brake adjustment. Here's a how-to for checking and adjusting your e-brake/parking brake.

 

Good write up!
Why did you crack the bleeder screws?
Can you not pad slap the car without bleeding the brakes?

 

You can just swap pads without pushing the piston back if your old pads aren't used/worn. Otherwise, pushing the piston back w/o loosening the bleeder screw pushes old brake fluid back into the ABS hydraulic control unit (bad juju).

 

will the rear rotors from Solstice GXP / Sky Redline / Saab 9-3 fit on the cobalt ss/tc?

 

oh man, finally a write up for this!! Thank God!!!

 

click

 

A long time ago, I contacted Wellman (makers of the Hawk pads) and asked them to change the catalog to reflect the correct pads for our cars.

They finally updated their catalog to reflect the correct front AND rear brake pads for the 08-09 SS/TC!

You can access it here: http://www.hawkperformance.com/parts/index.php

Front: HB548x.590
Rear: HB478x.605

x = the type of pad you want

N = HP Plus
F = HPS
Z = Ceramic

I didn't find a Ceramic version of the front Brembo pads.

 

Nice write-up, metroplex. I've not been happy with the wet weather performance of the stock pads so I'll be swapping all four over to the Hawk HPS now that they're available (have had great luck with these pads over the years for street driving). Thanks for the how-to and for the correct p/n's.

On a side note, after reading about all of the problems with the rear brakes one of the first things I did when I got my car was pull the rear caliper bolts and check them for lube. To my surprise they were all bone dry, so I lubed them up and reinstalled. Pushing 7k miles right now on the car and stock rear rotors still feel smooth as a baby's butt. I think lack of lube from the factory is at least part of the problem...

 

I agree. I am not sure why GM did not apply lube at the factory. I made sure to use the "right" type of lube and prevent the rubber boot from deteriorating. It seems most seals are compatible with silicone-type lubes, but the Permatex purple stuff seems to remain gooey even when exposed to heat.

 

great write up!

I'll be doing this very soon as my car has almost 20k

Any good links for decent rotors?

 

sub'd

 

That piston tool from Harbor Freight does not fit our piston design. None of the designs on that tool fit, they are all too wide. Well the only 2 designs that would work are.

 

Hmmm I remembered that the tool did fit the piston. If yours doesn't fit, can you grind down the nubs?

 

Nice "How To"

 

excellent right up. sub'd

 

NM that, I dont know what I was thinkin. It works perfect lol

I do have a problem however. The piston will not go back in. I did everything this write up said to do. It just spins in a circle, doesnt move in or out at all. What else could I do, or am I doin somethin wrong maybe?

 

Awsome write up! Sticky for sure.

 

Aces, I had the exact same problem, but found a way to fix it. My right rear caliper did the same thing, but the left rear retracted exactly as it was supposed to and I was able to use a tool similar to the one above with no problem, and hand twisting-compression without a clamp of some sort was all the left rear took.

For the right rear, I had to use a piston retract tool that applied compression while turning, I couldn't use the above tool. I found a $40 tool on Ebay (search for caliper piston tool and you'll find a Neiko 11pc kit), and used the base "clamp" with the plate. I didn't have to use an adapter (none of the adapters fit these pistons). Unfortunately the kit compresses faster than it turns (for these pistons anyhow), so once it becomes tight, I had to loosen the nut holding the back plate a little, then turn the t-handle until it was tight, then repeat a few times. A good way to tell if you're making progress here is to make sure you have the bleeder valve cracked open and bleeding out via a tube to a container - if you're making progress, you will see brake fluid drain out - just make sure you have enough fluid in the master cylinder reservoir of course!

I've seen others suggest the simultaneous use of a tool like the one Metroplex described (or a pair of needle-nosed pliers) paired with a C-clamp, but I honestly don't see how you could put a C-clamp over the piston and still have clearance to engage the teeth with whatever other tool you're using.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the additional info Drako!

 

so im a lil confused...is that piston tool correct or not? ive heard its not and that you have to adapt it to make it work.

 

Thats the right tool

 

I saw a "cube" piston tool like the one Metro showed at the auto parts store, however there were no teeth that had the right spacing. I'm not sure whether Metro got lucky or what with the one he bought. I actually had to take one of the aforementioned adapters that didn't fit in the Neiko kit and grind the teeth down to fit my piston (although for the stubborn right rear I had to use the base tool without an adapter, which just barely and clumsily fit). My guess is you could buy the "cube" tool and grind it down to make it fit.

 

holy crap, I am going threw the same BS right now with my right rear piston not retracting. I am using the same cube tool with no luck. I use the botton 2 round dots on the side that has the 4 round dot pattern to fit my piston. I turn and turn but it dose not move. so your saying you got to apply force while turning the piston wtf and its $40 tool that happen to work on luck that solved your problems. oh man, meanwhile my car is on jack stand in the drive way.

 

i just use a c clamp when i do my brakes never had a problem with it. i have had in the past where the piston waas out to far and had trouble pushing it back in due to extreame wear on the pads. wich with the tc we all have.

 

I have a lisle universal cube piston tool that I got from O'reilly Auto Parts a couple years ago. It did not work, the holes were too close for it. I borrowed a full piston kit from a friend, it had one that fit but barley. I also used a c-clamp to compress the piston to get it off, I don't see how you do not use a c-clamp. I even used my c-clamp to hang the caliper as I worked, I can't really explain it but it worked perfectly.

You rarely need to add fluid or bleed the brakes when replacing brakes, especially on a car this new. I would tell everyone to skip that part. It is a lot of un-necessary work. Just remember to open the cap on the reservoir.

I did mine tonight, but I ended up cross-threading one of the caliper pins. It refused to go in.. I was being careful, but impatient me found a way to jack the threads. I am going to have to tap it out tomorrow. I really hope it goes well. I recommend putting the lower pin in first to avoid cross-threading. It seems like when people do cross-thread a caliper, it is usually the lower pin.