Preeble

I tried changing my pads (they are OEM) earlier this week and couldn't get the pads out of the rotor. After reading some posts here, it appears that there is an anti-squeal pad on the back of these pads (some people called them mushrooms)?

How do I get the pads and mushrooms out? Is there a trick to this? Also - I assume that I do not put these back in with my new (track) pads?

TIA

jimq

use a thin paint scraper and slide it down the back of the pads. Takes some time but you can force them off

Pesty

If you take the caliper off its easy to pull them out of the bottom of the caliper becasue you have not got the disk in the way.
The pad will then come out with all that stuck to the back of it.

I did not fit any moushrooms back onto the pads I put in. I think most people dont seem to bother either.

Heirsh

ditto the paint scraper. I used a gasket scraper, similar beast. worked like a charm.

LeRoux Strydom

If you don't mind squealing brakes then don't bother putting the mushrooms back in. I just replaced stock pads and disks (rotors) on my C2. They were worn out, but squealed like a stuck pig. Sure enough, a few of the mushrooms were missing.

bwoodry

Where do you get the mushrooms ? my brakes squeal like crazy.

Bob

jimq

I got mine from a local parts store on the fronts. Dealer has them as does most of the other usual mailorder places. They cost about $5 each or $20+ per wheel. I just use the backing that came on my Metal Master pads on the rear and have no squeal at all.

Heirsh

I had terrible brake squeel. i tried everything, including mushrooms, paste, caliper grease (on the proper places), antisqueel spray (for backs), the rubber pads. Nothing worked. Finally I put 4-pot updated brakes on the rear, ferodo pads on the front, mm on the rear, no mushrooms, no anything else. I have had 2 squeels from them pulling into parking spaces. I think they were just still bedding (i followed box recommendation of bedding) and I havent had anything happen since I've driven aggressively a few times.

I think my old rears needed rebuilding. I'm not sure there was any shim or device that could have cured the squeel. Certainly I am not suggesting you need to replace your calipers, but if you cant cure it you may want to check and see if your pistons move easily. I had uneven brake pad wear on my old rears that suggests the pistons werent moving together. I think this is where my noise was. Seeing as I wont be messing with them anymore I'll never know for sure.

Pesty

Mine dont squeal without mushrooms.
no other car I have ever has has had mushrooms and they didnt squeal either. All I did was put on a bit of copper grease on the back.

jeff522

FWIW I have been told that you can cut groovs into the pads.This allows gas to escape and stops the noise.You cut the pad top to bottom.The cut should be angeled with the direction of the rotor's rotation.Two to three cuts are all that's needed.I have not done this as I don,t really mind the noise all that much.However the guy who told me this really knows cars.

jimq

I would worry about a possible point of fracture such as you do with concrete.

C4Russ

I used Mintex pads on the front of my C4, removed the mushshroom caps and have no squeal. The Mintex pads have an anti-squeal coating on the plate which I'd have to say works just fine. I don't track my car, it's just a daily driver so I don't have any need for any performance gains beyond the whimpy little brakes already present.