I think the Mirage would be a blast to work on. Everything is like a normal car but miniaturized. Little calipers, little rotors, little brake lines.. but for some reason a battery that's larger than the engine block.
It is a blast to work on, it's one of the only modern vehicles that doesn't have any "unnecessary" complexity such as a hybrid system or a turbo charger. The large battery is a good design choice in my opinion, at Costco the price difference between the group 35 battery in this car and a smaller one is negligible. My car still has the original battery thats 7 ish years old and it works fine. In other markets such as Europe the larger battery is needed as the car uses a larger 85 amp alternator for regenerative braking, a large battery capable of charging at 85 amps is needed in those markets. The larger battery is also obviously beneficial if you want to sit in the car and listen to the radio with the engine off or if you are like me and accidentally leave the dome light on for a couple of days. The car still started like a champ. Some people even go so far as to upgrade the battery to a group 24F battery: mirageforum.com/forum/showthread.php/6909-Tutorial-Modify-box-to-fit-a-24F-battery-(Large) Also, the brake rotors are slightly larger on the 2017 and newer models.
@@welfarewagonrepairs Thanks, will do. I actually found your channel through the Mirage Forum. Very cool forum, people are helpful and secure enough to make fun of their own ride! Rare to find down to earth car enthusiasts. You might find this weird, but I don't actually own a Mirage. Rather, I rode in my dad's Impreza and saw the mileage he was getting (40mpg in perfect conditions). After that, I've been hooked on learning about fuel efficient cars. I hope to own a newer Mirage in 2 years as a personal vehicle so I can leave the work truck at home. Thanks for the info about the battery. As it happens, the alternator in the truck is getting replaced with a higher amp one because I do many ultra-short trips in the city per day for work. Will also look into battery options and for the Mirage as well. Thanks
@@KF1 I don't find it weird, a car is a big purchase and a tough decision, especially if you buy the Mirage new and have a 10 year warranty(guarantee) it will work. The Mirage has a smart ECU(computer) controlled alternator, even if you used 1/4 the stock battery listening to the radio and starting the car. Once the cars on the computer will command full power from the alternator. It would take about 10 minutes to recharge the stock mirage battery 25%. Feel free to leave a message here if you have any ideas for a video you'd like to see: mirageforum.com/forum/showthread.php/9725-Starting-a-UA-cam-channel . On a side note: higher amp non-computer controlled alternators don't always put out more power than a lower amp alternator at lower RPM(i.e city driving/idling) some of them even put out less power at low rpm.
@@welfarewagonrepairs Thanks for the info. Not sure it's anything similar but good to hear the Mirage is well coordinated that way. Big decision, definitely! but tough decision, not at all:) Outmiles the Rio, the Spark, the Micra, the Yaris, it's like nothing can touch that little 1.2L in real world use. Love the sound of that 3 cyl and I miss driving a 5 speed so bad I count the gears in my truck every time it shifts.
This car likes plenty of grease on the caliper slide pins. At every other brake change, I use brake cleaner to thoroughly clean out the holes in the caliper where the slide pins go. I even stick a narrow shaft screwdriver with a thin rag into the holes to get all the old grease out. I will then put a bit of brake grease into the holes. I found through experience that the rubber boot tends to squeegee the grease off of the pins as they are inserted into the caliper, so having some "preloaded" in the holes will ensure the pins are adequately lubed. I went through a couple of quickly worn rotors before discovering what was happening! BTW, I have the exact same year of Mirage. I use it as a driver's ed car. It has 180,000 MILES and is still going strong!
Good video! This is the most complete, slow, and thorough video I found on replacing these brakes. Not sure if you said this or not, but when you put in the outside pad that clips into the caliper, there are 2 metal bumps on the back of the pad that fit into little shallow holes (depressions) in the caliper. I put my first brake back together without noticing this. Then I did the 2nd and noticed it and went back and fixed it on the first one.
I had a heck of a time with the bottom slide pin. What finally worked is that I took a big adjustable wrench and put it behind the head of the caliper bolt and pried it out. Struggled for like half an hour lol
Some of the issue maybe that too much grease was used during install which creates a perfect seal preventing the sliding bolt from sliding(it would create a vacuum when you tried to remove the bolt). What matters most is that it all worked out in the end.
Everyone , this is how you make a 10-12 minute job seem way more complicated than it is! This guy could never be a flat rate technician. Work ethic and speed of movement would net the guy in video 10-15 labor hours a week. That statement would reflect his very best week at work!
Lol for real. I came to this video because he made a comment on another video that was way more efficient and to the point that he made a video that's more efficient. Yeah no, the other video is better. Slow, drags on, unnecessary.
People might actually use this as a tutorial. For anyone who's learning how to do brakes for the first time, take note the most important part is after you finish both sides and put the car back on the ground, get in the car and BEFORE you put the key in the ignition, PUMP the brake pedal 10-20 times pushing it down all the way until it's very firm. Then start the car and test brakes.
This is great advice! My brake pedal was firm without any pumping, this is probably because the new pad takes up basically all the space between the caliper and the rotor. People can also consider "bedding" in their new brakes by following these instructions: www.autozone.com/diy/brakes/bedding-brakes Thank you for watching!
And when the car is on the ground tighten the lug bolts to 90lbs torque BY HAND. You tire "techs" gotta stop using your air ratchet and you impact drivers to over tighten the lug nuts. I've never in my life snapped a lugbolt until I snapped 2 out of four after a tire "tech" mounted tires on my daughters car. You can also warp the rims when you over tighten the lugnuts, numbnuts. 90lbs on the ground by hand every tire every lugnut.
I think the Mirage would be a blast to work on. Everything is like a normal car but miniaturized. Little calipers, little rotors, little brake lines.. but for some reason a battery that's larger than the engine block.
It is a blast to work on, it's one of the only modern vehicles that doesn't have any "unnecessary" complexity such as a hybrid system or a turbo charger. The large battery is a good design choice in my opinion, at Costco the price difference between the group 35 battery in this car and a smaller one is negligible. My car still has the original battery thats 7 ish years old and it works fine. In other markets such as Europe the larger battery is needed as the car uses a larger 85 amp alternator for regenerative braking, a large battery capable of charging at 85 amps is needed in those markets. The larger battery is also obviously beneficial if you want to sit in the car and listen to the radio with the engine off or if you are like me and accidentally leave the dome light on for a couple of days. The car still started like a champ. Some people even go so far as to upgrade the battery to a group 24F battery: mirageforum.com/forum/showthread.php/6909-Tutorial-Modify-box-to-fit-a-24F-battery-(Large) Also, the brake rotors are slightly larger on the 2017 and newer models.
Consider subscribing if your interested in other videos i have planed such as coolant change, rear drum brake change.
@@welfarewagonrepairs Thanks, will do. I actually found your channel through the Mirage Forum. Very cool forum, people are helpful and secure enough to make fun of their own ride! Rare to find down to earth car enthusiasts.
You might find this weird, but I don't actually own a Mirage.
Rather, I rode in my dad's Impreza and saw the mileage he was getting (40mpg in perfect conditions). After that, I've been hooked on learning about fuel efficient cars.
I hope to own a newer Mirage in 2 years as a personal vehicle so I can leave the work truck at home.
Thanks for the info about the battery.
As it happens, the alternator in the truck is getting replaced with a higher amp one because I do many ultra-short trips in the city per day for work. Will also look into battery options and for the Mirage as well. Thanks
@@KF1 I don't find it weird, a car is a big purchase and a tough decision, especially if you buy the Mirage new and have a 10 year warranty(guarantee) it will work. The Mirage has a smart ECU(computer) controlled alternator, even if you used 1/4 the stock battery listening to the radio and starting the car. Once the cars on the computer will command full power from the alternator. It would take about 10 minutes to recharge the stock mirage battery 25%. Feel free to leave a message here if you have any ideas for a video you'd like to see: mirageforum.com/forum/showthread.php/9725-Starting-a-UA-cam-channel . On a side note: higher amp non-computer controlled alternators don't always put out more power than a lower amp alternator at lower RPM(i.e city driving/idling) some of them even put out less power at low rpm.
@@welfarewagonrepairs Thanks for the info. Not sure it's anything similar but good to hear the Mirage is well coordinated that way.
Big decision, definitely! but tough decision, not at all:) Outmiles the Rio, the Spark, the Micra, the Yaris, it's like nothing can touch that little 1.2L in real world use. Love the sound of that 3 cyl and I miss driving a 5 speed so bad I count the gears in my truck every time it shifts.
I appreciate the through explaining and thank you for your time
Glad to hear you enjoyed the video.
Thank you for the kind words!
Don’t gave up you help me in my car. Thank you man🖤👍🏻
This car likes plenty of grease on the caliper slide pins. At every other brake change, I use brake cleaner to thoroughly clean out the holes in the caliper where the slide pins go. I even stick a narrow shaft screwdriver with a thin rag into the holes to get all the old grease out. I will then put a bit of brake grease into the holes. I found through experience that the rubber boot tends to squeegee the grease off of the pins as they are inserted into the caliper, so having some "preloaded" in the holes will ensure the pins are adequately lubed. I went through a couple of quickly worn rotors before discovering what was happening! BTW, I have the exact same year of Mirage. I use it as a driver's ed car. It has 180,000 MILES and is still going strong!
Good video! This is the most complete, slow, and thorough video I found on replacing these brakes. Not sure if you said this or not, but when you put in the outside pad that clips into the caliper, there are 2 metal bumps on the back of the pad that fit into little shallow holes (depressions) in the caliper. I put my first brake back together without noticing this. Then I did the 2nd and noticed it and went back and fixed it on the first one.
Thanks for watching!
Great video! Well done and good about the torque wrench
thank you for your kind words!
I had a heck of a time with the bottom slide pin. What finally worked is that I took a big adjustable wrench and put it behind the head of the caliper bolt and pried it out. Struggled for like half an hour lol
Some of the issue maybe that too much grease was used during install which creates a perfect seal preventing the sliding bolt from sliding(it would create a vacuum when you tried to remove the bolt). What matters most is that it all worked out in the end.
I only came to make sure the last person who did my rotors didnt forget the torx bolt a lot of modern cars do nowawadays
Everyone , this is how you make a 10-12 minute job seem way more complicated than it is! This guy could never be a flat rate technician. Work ethic and speed of movement would net the guy in video 10-15 labor hours a week. That statement would reflect his very best week at work!
😂😂😂 it’s true. But you should also take a moment to appreciate the quality of the work done.
Lol for real. I came to this video because he made a comment on another video that was way more efficient and to the point that he made a video that's more efficient. Yeah no, the other video is better. Slow, drags on, unnecessary.
People might actually use this as a tutorial. For anyone who's learning how to do brakes for the first time, take note the most important part is after you finish both sides and put the car back on the ground, get in the car and BEFORE you put the key in the ignition, PUMP the brake pedal 10-20 times pushing it down all the way until it's very firm. Then start the car and test brakes.
This is great advice! My brake pedal was firm without any pumping, this is probably because the new pad takes up basically all the space between the caliper and the rotor. People can also consider "bedding" in their new brakes by following these instructions: www.autozone.com/diy/brakes/bedding-brakes
Thank you for watching!
And when the car is on the ground tighten the lug bolts to 90lbs torque BY HAND. You tire "techs" gotta stop using your air ratchet and you impact drivers to over tighten the lug nuts. I've never in my life snapped a lugbolt until I snapped 2 out of four after a tire "tech" mounted tires on my daughters car. You can also warp the rims when you over tighten the lugnuts, numbnuts. 90lbs on the ground by hand every tire every lugnut.
I recommend tightening the nuts while the car is in the air as the weight of the car may prevent the nuts from tightening
Thanks you! Peace, Love and Wiener Dogs.