[Maintenance Record] The unusual noise and slip in the Jimny's brakes are severe! Results from inspection and repair.

I felt an unusual noise and slipping from the brakes of my beloved JA22W Jimny, so I had it inspected by a friend who is a mechanic. Brakes are emotionally scary, so I need to fix it immediately before an accident happens. What kind of trouble was it this time?

Investigating the abnormal noise in the footwork and the cause of the brake slipping

The history of this repair began with symptoms of brake slippage. Originally, the car had poor braking performance, but it started to slip after being pressed... Furthermore, while waiting for inspection, a "shari shari" abnormal noise started to come from the front. I thought it might just be worn brake pads, so I opened up the brakes...

Upon inspecting the brakes, there was uneven wear, and oil seepage!?

First, I checked the front disc brakes, and found that the brake rotors were quite worn down, and the pads were wearing unevenly. The inspection revealed that the cause of the abnormal noise was due to poor movement of the caliper slide pins.

The slide pins serve as guides to move the caliper horizontally, and one of the two pins had become sluggish due to lack of grease, causing the brake pads to contact unevenly. In the end, the front disc brakes required replacement of the brake pads, brake rotors, and greasing of the slide pins.

As for the rear, due to something oil-like seeping out only around the wheel, when I opened the drum brake, it was found that oil was leaking from somewhere and had soaked into the brake shoes. The cause of the brake slipping was due to the oil leak, and it was discovered that differential oil had traveled to the brakes based on the smell and situation.

The cause of the differential oil leak was due to the deterioration of the oil seal at the boundary between the shaft and the brakes, and when replacing the seal, it was decided to also replace the brake shoes and the wheel cylinder.

The ordered parts

The replacement parts ordered this time were the front brake rotor and pads purchased as a set from "DICXEL." The price was 8,624 yen. As I don't know anything about manufacturers in this area, I asked the mechanic to confirm if they were well-known while placing the order.

The rear wheel cylinder is from "Miyaco," priced at 15,730 yen. This also seems to be from a well-known manufacturer related to brakes. It's an unseen part, but it looks solid and good.

The brake shoes are from "akebono," priced at 5,324 yen. They are a dedicated brake manufacturer, and when I checked their official website, I found a lot of reading material about brakes, which was very educational. The atmosphere also conveys a sense of craftsmanship that is excellent. The author wants to actively use domestic manufacturers, so I am looking forward to the finished Jimny equipped with these parts.

It seems that even after the repair is complete, it would be better to regularly replace parts and conduct inspections.

Maintenance such as part replacements and greasing has been completed. When I listened to the discussions during the work, they mentioned that the front rotor was stuck and difficult to remove, and there was a leak in the rear differential oil not just on one side but on both sides, so there was considerable maintenance effort involved.

According to the mechanic, this Jimny has a structure that results in a small absolute amount of fluid flowing to the rear brakes, which means that it inherently has low braking power. I thought the brakes weren't effective because it was a used car, but it seems that this vehicle originally doesn't have very high braking power. After trying to drive it, even after replacing the brake parts, the slipping was gone but there wasn't a significant increase in braking power.

This type of maintenance is something that can only be recognized when symptoms arise, so it seems better to regularly replace parts and conduct inspections. I also want to write an article if there are opportunities for repairs or customization.

Interview and text by Kazuma Tanaka