2016 Quest, crazy brake design..

[PoMansVan]

Our 2016 Nissan Quest was due for new pads all the way around. I tackled the rears today. It's been awhile since I did brakes on a Nissan and had to shake my head at some of design of this particular make/model.

The caliper bolts and pins are one piece, so you have to be cautious not to shear/tear the pin boots when the whole bolt/pin assembly rotates for removal.

Better yet, you can't remove the lower caliper bolt because it hits a track bar on the rear independent suspension. You have to break the caliper bracket bolts free and at a minimum, pivot the caliper bracket and caliper out of the way for clearance to remove the lower bolt/pin. Also odd that the caliper bolts were 14mm, where the best fit I could find for the caliper bracket bolts were 3/4"? Very tight access to the 3/4" hex head bracket bolts too. I had to use a skinny open-end wrench.

Since I had to go that far, I removed the caliper bracket entirely and broke the rear rotor free to check the parking brake and apply never seize to the hub face so the job will be easier next time. The rotors did require some beating to come loose, even though this 2016 has never seen snow/salt.

Wound up running out of time and never got to the fronts! Maybe tomorrow. I'm sure this is all routine stuff you guys! I'm spoiled because for a good 15yr stretch, I didn't own my vehicles long enough to have to do brakes. Miss those days. LOL.

[far raf]

True, the number of absurd technical decisions made on Quests is mind boggling.
I replaced the alternator over the weekend. It pivots on a bolt, which is inserted from the engine side out, and held with a nut, where there is no space for a ratchet. I had to drop the AC compressor onto the subframe (w/o removing hoses) just for the alternator to pivot down enough for my fingers and palm to have enough space to reach in and grab the bolt head to remove it. It took me and my son between 10AM and 7PM minus lunch and a trip to the hardware store for a few stainless clamps to finish the job. Compare that to spending 1 1/2 hour to replace the alternator on my Honda Pilot SUV!
Over those 8 hours I cursed Nissan engineers a dozen times for making absurd choices. This universe would be a better place w/o some of Nissan's engineers.

[PoMansVan]

Sounds terrible! Good to hear you got it done.

[PoMansVan]

Sounds terrible! Good to hear you got it done.

[PoMansVan]

I got around to replacing the front pads the other day. I found yet another Quest oddity with the front brakes. You can't simply pivot the caliper out of the way to change pads by removing the top bolt/pin because the brake hose is too short to allow for enough rotation! Whole caliper has to come off. Again, not a big deal to me because I like to remove/clean/lube and never-seize what I can. These are just simple brake issues I've not seen.

[far raf]

Thanks for mentioning that, I was going to upgrade to a newer Quest one day, but will probably just buy one more Pilot instead after reading your notes.

[PoMansVan]

They all have their little oddities and issues. I know on our 2008 Honda Odyssey, the first time I did a brake job on it, most of the caliper pin boot/bellows cracked upon removal and the only replacements I could get to fit right were at a Honda parts counter. Not a huge deal, but the vehicle was only a few years old.