Jim 123

Stephen, I am guessing that you are going to tackle this with the body and engine insitu. It is likely that there will be some corrosion present where the powder has flaked although this will not be always identifialble, and some areas may be difficult to access. With your planned job, the top coat is likely to be less imortant than the substrate prep. Forgive me if you are planninmg to do so, but to mention: I'd suggest to abrade and fully remove all loose P coat and surface blemishes. Abrade the existing sound P coat to provide a key for the next layers. Neutalise any corrosion or pitting on exposed metal with Phosphoric Acid or a phosphate containg product. Apply a Zinc rich etch primer. Scuff lightly and clean the etch primer before the next layer. Although it can be a bit difficult to work with, I'd then go for POR 15, or something simiar that can deal with heat cycles and fluid spills.

PM sent

The design intent is that heat level is affected by how much you pull out the lever. The reality is as Stu says.

What gap are your plugs currently set to? Also at the ends of each plug where you get the spark (the electrode), are all showing the same colour? Remember you can upload photos to this site which maybe helps if translation is a problem. Do you get the "pulls" across the full range of engine revs e.g. Say in 3rd gear from 1,000 all the way to 6,000 rpm?

If you have not closed the book with the cowboys who did the spray job it might be an idea to ask them what brand of both paint and clearcoat they used. You are likely to need to get some paintwork touch in to undo their "good" work and a paint match on that yellow could be a challenge. If they also give you the tinter mixing formulation of the yellow as well it might help, but I'd doubt they were that sophisticated to keep accurate records.

Looks correct to me. On my build the carrier frame mountings to the chassis were specified at 60Nm but this has probably been revised. You might want to consider paint marking the bolts heads etc for quick visual checks that things are not going anti clockwise with use

For topping up you just fill to as high as you are happy with then refit the shift.

Your car will be the AP calipers. Have you checked that the anti rattle shim is sitting properly.

The filler / level plug is on the left hand side and you most likely have an access grommet behind the passenger footwell carpet. The plug has a square head, and best not to confuse it with a hex head bolt that I recall sits close to it. Mazda also recommend removing the gearshift and topping up oil in the turret which is separate from the main box fill.

Have you got the same number of cable ties holding the handbrake outer on each side, and are they roughly in the same positions.

Ditto.

A long shot, but it might be worth checking it isn't fluid spray from the T connector?

The Build Manual has the torque etc.

Like others have said the issue tends to point to the master cylinder and inhibition of the replenishment of the piston for the front brake circuit from the reservoir. Is it worth checking the pedal adjuster inside the pedal box in case something is coming loose as this may affect where the resting position of the piston seal sits relative to the m/cylinder feed? Also could it be detritus (black specs) blocking the feed from the m/cylinder?

Some off the wall thoughts.....If your car is 2 years from build, have you done your first brake fluid flush and change. Sometimes a new brake system gets an accumulation of piston crud during bedding in which may make things a bit contaminated around the master cylinder pistons. You might notice deposits in the bottom of the reservoir. Are you leaving the handbrake off and untouched after you have bled the rears and move on to the front. During the 20 secs wait with the fronts, can you easily rotate all hubs.

Have you tried measuring the bearing opening and drive shaft diameter along the hub section with vernier calipers / micrometer. Might give you a clue. Also is it too late to try the near side bearing on the drivers side shaft?

What is the mileage since plugs were fitted, and what gaps are you currently getting on each plug?

Malcolm, whenever you get round to checking the spark plugs, I'd be interested to find out what make and type of spark plugs are fitted to your 310? I'd also mention that, depending when it was published, a Haynes Manual may not have the correct spark plug gap setting. The original spec was 1.3mm, for optimum emissions, but this was later superseded in a service instruction to 1.0mm due to problems with coil pack durability.

You are probably best using the Haynes manual as a guide for engine disassembly, torque settings, and routine servicing operations, but I would stick with the service schedule outlined in your CC Owners Handbook. Off the top of my head differences will be induction, exhaust, engine mapping, cams, spark plugs, sump, drive belt tensioner.

The 1.6 Sigma Ti VCT engine has been widely used in Fiesta, Focus, C Max and Mondeo. A manual that is applicable to production cars from around 2014/2015 with the 120 / 125 PS engine variants should get you close to the mark.

Andrew, a really great explanation.

Welcome David. As you are a new member you may not know that you can upload photos to this site and this might help you to get more specific advice.

Another thought. Could the vertical clearance on the caliper outer pad carrier be out of spec? i.e. The lower mounting faces on the caliper are not seating the outer pad high enough to create necessary interference with the anti rattle clip.

No idea on caliper float spec. But a couple of off the wall thoughts..... What about trying a feeler gauge to measure the gap between the each of pads and disc on both sides of the vehicle to see if there are any clues? I think you have changed only 1 caliper. Also if you have wire springs on your pads at the top, is it worth bending these a little on your noisey pads a little to get more contact force with the anti rattle clips.

Daft question, but when I look a sliding calipers in a number of installations there is inconsistency car to car with where the the outer lug on the anti rattle spring is fitted. On your car are both lugs on top of the caliper body, or is the outer lug sitting into the caliper recess?