lazykiwi

here's a short DIY for changing your front brakes. the picture quality isn't that great because it's from my cell phone. if u guys find something wrong or something i need to add, please let me know and i'll try and fix it.

pop the hood, and open the brake fluid cap. put a rag around it.


the front brake pads (from advance auto): wearever part number mkd829 ($27.79)


brake pads


jack the car up and take the wheel off. here's the disc brake:


you'll need a 12mm wrench for the bolts marked A and C and a 21mm for the nuts marked B and D. loosen A while holding B. and take out C while holding D.
**don't take out A all the way, just loosen it!


pull the caliper up and use a strong cord/wire to keep it from falling down.


use a screwdriver to pry out the old pads


comparing the old and new pads:


take off the holder from the old pads:


get some brake lubricant for 99 cents


apply the lubricant onto the pads as shown:


put the new pads on


brake pad spreader tool


use the brake pad spreader tool with one of the old pads to push the piston back in. the old pad will help keep it even when pushing. when you do this, the brake fluid will spray out.


here the piston is flush with the caliper


push the caliper back down


put some lubricant on the bolts (A and C) and then re-tighten them.


put the wheel back on, and repeat for the other side. then put some more brake fluid in. (remember to put the cap back on.) then go in your car, turn it on, and pump the brakes 20 times.

Ek9

You can use a turkey baster to remove fluid from the master cylinder. If I don't have that, I use paper towels in the MC to sop up some of the fluid.

Nice job.

RACER

I prefer to keep the cap on the master cylinder and simply let fluid go through a bleeder valve via vinyl tubing and into a bottle.

I agree with the above comment about the turkey baster. I like to remove old contaminated fluid via the turkey baster so I don't have to flush the dirty fluid ALL the way through the system.

CoralDoc

1. There is no need to loosen bolt A.
2. The piston on the front caliper can be retracted without a special tool - I use the blunt end of a 1/2" Craftsman breaker bar to pry it back in place. [Though not addressed here, rear caliper pistons must be screwed back into place]

Otherwise, nice write-up.

Hockey

Check the DIY/FAQ section at the top of the forum.

Click Me


....where you'll find write-ups like this.......

Brake Pad DIY

Also, open the bleeder screw instead of pushing fluid back out the master and making a mess. The less mess you make with brake fluid the better.

-Hockey

mzk784

Can somebody locate the bleeder screw with a pic ? or at least tell me where it is ?

Hockey

No pic handy, but.............

wheel off, top of caliper towards the half closer to the car you'll see a small nipple with a black rubber cap. Remove that to find the bleeder screw. Front is 10mm and rear is 8 mm (i think). They are brass so you don't want to horse them super tight when you are done. Keep them closed as much as possible to keep from drawing air back into the system.

-Hockey

TJF

The secondary advice here is MANDATORY. When you retract the caliper piston, the bleeder screw MUST be open. Forcing fluid backwards through ABS can be BAD juju.

I have seen people do it on ABS cars with no ill effects, but I have also seen people do it and have to replace their entire ABS. Apperently, the valves that control an anti-lock brake system can fail when fluid is forced in reverse.

So, to be safe, leave the cap on the master and open the bleeder valve when retracitng the caliper piston.

INTJ

amen brother

Look at what comes out, do you really want to push that backwards through the MS??? Not me.

aLcm

where did you get that brake pad spreader tool from ???