If you drive your DB9 (or Vantage) regularly eventually you will need to service the brakes.  I started the process for my car by writing up an article about all the details of the braking system (read it here).   In another article I’ve covered the details of how to inspect your brakes to check if the pads, rotors, calipers and wear sensors are in good condition (read it here).  Based on that inspection if you’ve found that you only need to change your brake pads, I’ve created a separate article just covering that (read it here).  If you need to change more than you pads, then this article is next up for you.   I wanted to cover the parts and supplies you should round up before you do a Full Brake Service.

WARNING: This is going to be a standard disclaimer for all the articles in my Brake series. While I believe that anyone with a modicum of mechanic skills can tackle these tasks, it is important they are done right. No shortcuts, no guessing. Your life (and others) depends on the proper operation of your Brakes. If you aren’t confident you can do the job properly I encourage you to take your car to a specialist or an Aston Martin dealership.

This article will NOT be covering the hand brake.  I will cover that in a separate article [Coming Soon].

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Shop Supplies Needed

As I embarked on this article I realized that I take for granted a number of supplies I have around my garage that are essential for performing a brake service properly.  You may have many of these yourself already, but I figured I’d cover them here so you can be sure to have them on hand before you start working on your car.  Links to purchase the items from Amazon.com are included at the bottom.

• Disposable mechanics gloves
  • While you can source these in many places, I’ve not had much luck with cheap ones purcshaed from local stores.
  • I’ve been pretty happy with the Permatex 08185 Nitrile black gloves.
  • I’ve been ordering a box of 100 (50 pairs) in size Large for about $20 USD from Amazon.com with free shipping (see the link below).
• Brake grease to lubricate a few parts
  • I purchased a disposable 2-pack of Permatex Disc Brake Caliper Lubricant p/n 20356 from my local Pepboys auto parts supply store for about $2.79 USD. Each pack is enough grease to do up to two calipers. You can buy these online for about $7 USD on Amazon.com with free Prime shipping if you’d prefer to pay extra and skip the trip to the store.
• Anti Squeal compound to use with new pads
  • Aston Martin Service Bulletin SB-06-0344V2 on “Recommended Brake Maintenance Procedure” goes into detail about applying (literally slathering) anti-squeal compound to the back of new brake pads, even if they are equipped with metal shims.

    

    They obviously are responding to complaints about squealing brakes. They even suggest coating the inside of the holes for the pins and the ends that are designed to slide. In the Service Bulletin they recommend Tunap brand MP113 Premium Ceramic Brake Paste, but we can’t get that in the US. Readers in the UK can get it from Amazon for about £21.24. [If someone in the UK would be kind enough to purchase a can and ship it to me to try, I’d be grateful]

  • I purchased a disposable 2-pack of Permatex Disc Brake Quiet model 80729 anti-squeal compound from my local Pepboys auto parts supply store for $2.39 USD. Each pack is enough coat the brake pads for up to two calipers. You can buy these online for about $6 USD on Amazon.com with free Prime shipping if you’d prefer to spend a few extra dollars and avoid the trip to the local store.
• Brake Clean aersol can for cleaning off components
  • I purchased a large can (19 oz) of CRC Brakleen (p/n 05089). You can buy one for about $5 USD on Amazon.com or from your local auto parts store.
  • This stuff works amazingly well. You may not be able to buy this everywhere since there are Chlorinated and Non-Chlorinated versions depending on your regional air quality laws. This is the full-test Chlorinated version.
  • There is nothing super magic about this brand, any good quality brake cleaner spray would do the trick.
• Shop towels
  • You can either use hearty disposable paper ones or cloth ones.
  • If you use cloth keep in mind they are going to get seriously dirty with brake dust and grease, and you may not want to toss them into the washer at home afterwards (since your Sweetie will kill you).
  • I am fond of the hearty blue Scott Brand shop towel rolls. These towels hold together wiping up grease and grime. You get 55 sheets to a roll. You can pick up a dozen rolls from Amazon.com for about $30 USD.

If you need any of these shop supplies, I’ve organized them onto the official Aston1936 Amazon page so you can find any of the products I mention easily. Most have free Prime shipping. Check it out here!

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Parts Needed

Based on your brake inspection you will have determined what parts you need to replace.  Below is the ‘full monty’, everything that you could need to replace, and likely what the dealer would sell you if you had it serviced by Aston Martin.

My car is a 2005 with standard steel brakes (not the rare and super expensive Carbon CCM brakes).  These parts are pretty standard for both DB9 and Vantage through 2012, so the part numbers and links to purchase them are based on that.   BUT, I strongly encourage you to double check you are buying the correct parts for your specific car.

Brake Pads

The original Aston Martin supplied (OEM) brake pads are made by Pagid.  They are expensive and they generate a TON of brake dust (ridiculous amounts that make your beautiful wheels dirty after even one drive).   Fortunately the brake system was actually designed by Brembo and there are other aftermarket brake pad options.  I will write about those options in another article [Coming Soon], but I wanted to include the OEM pads here.  Looking at the prices, it appears the OEM pads are made from compressed Gold Dust (sheesh).

The Front pads come as a set, Aston Martin p/n 7G43-2D007-AA.  (From the photo it appears that they include the anti-squeal shims)  You can buy them for about $382.85 USD online here.   Or you can contact the Parts Team at HWM England and get them a little cheaper for about $348 USD (£268.05+vat).  Email them the info about your car (and tell them you heard about them from Aston1936.com) and they’ll be sure you are getting the right parts at the right price. [Note: HWM can’t ship to the USA any longer due to a ridiculous Aston Martin imposed ban protecting the US dealerships, but they can ship to the UK and Europe]

The Rear pads are a little smaller and also come as a set, Aston Martin p/n 7G43-2C562-AA.  (From the photos it appears that they include the anti-squeal shims)  You can buy them for about $341 USD online here.   Or you can contact the Parts Team at HWM England and get them for about $348 USD (£268.05+vat).

My advice – Don’t buy these OEM pads!  Check out my other article on Brake Pad options that include aftermarket pads from Porterfield (my favorite) and EBC (read the article here).  There are options that cost less than half as much and work better.

Caliper Bolts

The official Aston Martin Workshop Manual Section 6.03 on the brake system clearly states that if you remove your caliper for any reason (like changing the rotors) you MUST REPLACE the caliper bolts.  Why?  Its not just because they are trying to sell some bolts (well – maybe), but the truth is that these bolts are a special ‘Torque to Yield” design, and are in fact one time use bolts.

Torque to Yield is an engineering term that describes tightening the bolts up to their elastic limit, and then just a little bit further into the region where they actually permanently ‘stretch’ to a known tightness, guaranteeing they are done up right.  But, this deformation is permanent, and if you loosen the bolt and follow the same procedure to tighten them again, they will over stretch and start to get thinner, and weaker.  Not good.  If you remove the caliper bolts for ANY reason once they are torqued, you need to replace them.  Don’t mess around with your safety, replace them.

You need two per caliper, so four for the front, and four for the rear (eight total).  The bolts are the same for the front and rear calipers – Aston Martin p/n 4G43-2C564-AB.   You can buy them for about $1.67 USD online here.   Or you can contact the Parts Team at HWM England and get them for about $1.70 USD (£1.31+vat) each.

They aren’t prohibitively expensive, so I would recommend that you not try and figure out some other solution, just buy the OEM bolts from Aston.

Brake Rotors

If you’ve determined that your brake rotors aren’t serviceable (can’t be machined or are worn too thin) then you’ll need to replace them.

Note:  Never just change one brake rotor.  Always do them in pairs (Fronts and/or rears).

The Front rotors are Aston Martin p/n 4G43-28-10265.   These things are huge (355mm in diameter) and weigh 26.5 pounds each!   You need two of them, they are NOT sold as a set.  You can buy them for about $183.27 USD each online here.   Or you can contact the Parts Team at HWM England and get them for about $187 USD (£144.06+vat).

The Rears are Aston Martin p/n 4G43-28-10266.   These are slightly smaller at 330mm and 20.5 pounds each.  You need two of them.  You can buy them for about $190.76 USD online here.   Or you can contact the Parts Team at HWM England and get them for about $195 USD (£149.95+vat).

You may also need eight (8) brake rotor retaining screws.  On each rotor there are two small tapered head torx screws that just hold the rotor in place when the wheel is removed.   If yours aren’t rusted or damaged, you can just reuse them.  If yours are starting to strip or are corroded you can order Aston Martin p/n 4G43-2N389-AA.   If you are ordering even one, I say just splurge and get all eight.  You can buy them for just $0.18 USD each online here.   Or you can contact the Parts Team at HWM England and get them for about $0.18 USD (£0.14+vat) each.

Wear Sensors

A brake pad wear sensor is fitted to the inner brake pad at all four wheels.  It is designed to wear out and send a warning to the computer (and you) if the remaining brake pad thickness is less than the 2.5mm minimum.  If you’ve let your pads wear this thin, unfortunately the wear sensor has also worn out, and must be replaced.

Aston Martin recommends replacing the wear sensor at every brake service, but I personally don’t think that’s necessary if it isn’t worn out.  I reused mine just fine a couple of times before it was finally necessary to replace it.

Note:  The Front and Rear sensors are NOT the same.

The front wear sensors are Aston Martin p/n 4G43-2L507-AB.   You need two of them, they are NOT sold as a set.  You can buy them for about $20.15 USD each online from Amazon.com here.   Or you can contact the Parts Team at HWM England and get them for about $31 USD (£24.16+vat).

The rears are Aston Martin p/n 4G43-2D009-AB.  You need two of them.  You can buy them for about $29.42 USD online here.   Or you can contact the Parts Team at HWM England and get them for about $28 USD (£21.80+vat).

Zip Tie Mounts

If you are going to change your front brake wear sensors, you’ll end up needing to cut off three existing plastic zip tie mounts (per side, so six total).  They are cheap little zip ties with a fir tree style mount.  They connect along the upper suspension control arm and on the frame rail.  The old ones can’t be reused.

You ONLY need these for the front, and ONLY if you are replacing the wear sensor.  They are Aston Martin p/n 4G43-65-10059.   You might consider just getting a 100 pack (Aston Martin p/n 4G43-65-10059-PK) available online for $11.48 USD here.   Or if you are in touch with the Parts Team at HWM England for the rest of the parts, ask them to include these.

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Alright – time to go spend a few dollars and round up all the bits you’ll need.  In the next articles I will cover how to get them properly installed.

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Video

I will include a short segment about the shop supplies and parts needed in the Full Brake Service Video [Coming Soon].

Editors comment – Sorry there are so many coming soons in this article, but once I published the first articles announcing I was starting a brake series, so many people contacted me about what parts to get I figured I’d get this posted as is while I work on the rest of the articles and videos.  Hang in there.