Brakes
Contents
Are there any brake upgrade kits?
How do I do a rear drum brake to disc brake
conversion?
Are
there any master cylinder upgrades available?
My manual recommends DOT 3 brake fluid, is it safe to
use DOT 4 or 5?
Is there a special "break-in" procedure when I
upgrade my brakes?
Who made the brake components for my car?
Are there any brake upgrade kits?
There is a
very limited selection of possible brake upgrades for a Protegé
currently.
Upgrade kits available are usually too cost prohibitive for
practical
street use. Goodridge makes stainless steel brake lines for all
models.
Another option for 3rd generations and Mazda3's that have rear
disc brakes are stainless steel brake lines from
AutoExe. MazdaSpeed used
to make stainless steel brake lines for the 1st
and 2nd generations also.
The part numbers are:
1st generation (w/rear disc only): 9N2D-43-991
2nd generation (w/rear disc only):
9DD5-43-991
How do I do a
rear drum brake to disc brake conversion?
Very few if
not any have done this conversion. You will need to get the
rotors,
caliper, e-brake cable, spindle, and hub assemblies. You may
also
need a
master cylinder or brake proportioning valve from a 4 disc brake
car.
1st
generation owners can swap to rear disc brakes, however the
initial
stopping
power from 4 disc cars perform less than the rear drum ones!
On the
other hand, the advantage to the disc brakes are better cooling
power and better brake modulation. Although the rear drum cars have
better stopping power, brake fade maybe a problem after hard
driving.
For 1st and 2nd generation owners to swap
their rear brakes to discs,
the whole rear spindles as well as the actual
brakes will have to be
swapped. The brake hoses, parking brake cables,
and the proportioning
valve will have to be swapped also. The master
cylinder does not have to
be changed unless your car has an automatic
transmission. It is also
advisible to upgrade the front brakes to
maintain brake balance. The
front rotor, front calipers, and front
spindles needs to be swapped. Cars
that have 4 wheel disc brakes have the larger front
brakes. 1st generations
that come with 4 wheel disc brakes are the LX, GT,
and 4WD models.
Only the 2nd generation ES's come with 4 wheel
disc brakes.
3rd generation owners will break down as follows:
4 lug cars:
All US version 4 lug cars have front
discs and rear drums. Swapping to
rear discs is not impossible, but quite
difficult due to parts
availability. The rear rotors and hubs will
have to be imported from an
overseas 323 or Familia with 4 lugs. The
front discs can be swapped with
the larger 10.2" (258mm) ones from a
1999-2000 ES or 2002 DX/LX.
The front brake brake rotors and calipers
from the larger front brake car
is strongly recommended. Tthe following
parts needed to perform the swap
properly (this assumes you have performed
the front brake upgrade):
BJ3K-26-261 dust shield (must be
imported), need 2
9975-61-016 3 per side (dust shield
mounting bolts)
BKZT-26-98Z right side caliper
(includes mounting bracket, caliper bolts)
BKZT-26-99Z left side caliper (includes
mounting bracket, caliper bolts)
9975-61-035 caliper mounting bracket
bolts 2 per side
BK1T-43-980 brake line (same for both
sides)
B001-43-694A banjo bolt
9956-21-000 banjo bolt washers, 2 per
side
GE7C-44-410D right side ebrake cable
GE7C-44-420D left side ebrake cable
GA2B-44-375A ebrake cable clips
B26Y-26-251 rear brake rotor (must be
imported)
GJ21-33-042B wheel hub nut
(can be reused from drum brake hub)
BKYT-26-43ZB pad set
B455-26-071 hub cap (can be
reused from drum brake hub)
The following are for non-ABS equiped
cars:
BK1T-26-111 rear right
spindle hub/knuckle (must be imported)
BK1T-26-115 rear left spindle
hub/knuckle (must be imported)
B455-26-15XB wheel hub (can
be reused from drum brake hub)
The following are for ABS equiped cars
(wheel sensors to be reused):
BJ3K-26-111 rear right spindle
hub/knuckle (must be imported)
BJ3K-26-115 rear left spindle
hub/knuckle (must be imported)
B603-26-15XC wheel hub (can
be reused from drum brake hub)
If you have a 1.6l car, it is
recommended that you upgrade the master cylinder,
brake booster, and proportioning valve
from the 4 disc car also.
BJ4T-43-40Z master cylinder
(for non-ABS eqiped cars)
BJ3K-43-40Z master cylinder
(for ABS equiped cars)
BL8M-43-800 brake booster
B26K-43-900 proportioning
valve
I do not recommend performing this swap with
all new parts as it will be
extremely expensive. Pull most of those parts
off of a wrecked 4 wheel
disc brake Protegé and get the rest that
aren't available.
5 lug cars:
By far the most painless to deal with. Rear
discs are already part of your
car. StopTech and RR Racing sells big brake
kits for the front.
Are there any master cylinder upgrades
available?
The 92-95 929 master cylinder is said to fit
Protegé's without major issues.
My
manual
recommends
DOT
3 brake fluid, is it safe to use DOT 4 or 5?
The manual
recommends what meets safety requirements for brakes to
function
effectively. DOT 4 just has a higher boiling point than DOT
3,
and is 100%
compatible with DOT 3 systems. DO NOT use DOT 5, it is
silicone based
and
will cause damage to your brake system due to seals
incompatability! DOT 5 only has a slightly better advantage in boiling point
than DOT 4, but bleeding and flushing the brake system is very
difficult.
DOT 5.1 fluid which is also glycol based and not silicon based will
also
work fine. The difference between DOT 5.1 and
DOT 4 is that DOT 5.1
has a lower pour point than DOT 4, which
means ABS systems can
operate more effectively in extremely low
temperatures. It may also serve
easier clutch operation because of this also.
Nonetheless, the boiling point
of DOT 5.1 fluid is typically similar to DOT
4.
Mazda Europe recommends either DOT 3 or DOT 4
brake fluid and a
fluid change interval every 40,000km/25,000 miles
or 24 months
(whichever comes first). They go further to say
that if the brakes are used
extensively or the car is driven in extremely
humid climates, it should be
changed annually. Remember, brake fluid changing
means flushing the entire
brake system with 1 pint (500mL) of brake fluid
using the same method as
brake bleeding.
Is there a special "break-in" procedure
when I upgrade my brakes?
In a way,
yes. Rather than repeating something that has been explained,
our Nissan
friends have all the answers. Nissan you say? Don't worry about
the name
"Nissan", brakes are brakes you know. This means it applies to
all cars.
Go here for a geek's reference to brakes:
http://www.sentra.net/tech/brake_modifications.shtml