Is it hard to change your own brakes? Any good tutorials? (where can I get the Helm manual?)

[LordJezo]

20,000 miles on my 6 month old Impala. Front right break is making sqeaking noises.

Called car place, breaks not covered under warranty, going to cost about $200 to have them fix/replace them.

How hard is it to do it yourself?

As for the Helm manual.. their website's checkout function is busted right now so I can't order one.

 

[Kalvin00]

It's not hard at all. Just get a repair manual that covers how to do brakes.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

If you register at autozone.com you will be able to access their repair manual.

Its very user friendly with lots of clear pics. At 20k its most likely dust making the noise,

have your brakes inspected for free or do it yourself.

 

[LordJezo]

I have been trying to order a Helm repair manual but their website is busted so I can't get the manual

 

[xospec1alk]

brakes

i had a tough time figuring out what you meant reading the topic...

 

pickup the helm repair manual, it will be well worth it

also, at 20k you shouldn't need brakes...unless you REALLY ride the brakes when you drive (or your car has really high performance brakepads)

If you in fact to need brakes, at 20k it's pretty much safe to say you only need brakepads and not rotors.

Brakepads are really easy to change.

 

[Vette73]

Just because they are maiking nise does not mean they are bad.

Take the wheel off and see how much pad is left. Chances are they are still good.

 

[LordJezo]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Just because they are maiking nise does not mean they are bad.

Take the wheel off and see how much pad is left. Chances are they are still good.

Would dust make them squeak?

It dosent happen all of the time.. just, well, sometimes. They work fine and all but the noise is annoying.

 

[m2kewl]

brakes and pads are easy.

go to this auto repair site and look up your model. you can use other models as reference.

 

[J0hnny]

Yo, $200 is an insane amount of money to change the brake pads! It shouldn't cost more than $100! The job is a breeze, DIY or find a mechanic that won't cheat you!

 

[Quixfire]

Originally posted by: LordJezo

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Just because they are maiking nise does not mean they are bad.

Take the wheel off and see how much pad is left. Chances are they are still good.

Would dust make them squeak?

It dosent happen all of the time.. just, well, sometimes. They work fine and all but the noise is annoying.

Yes, dust can be a cause of a squeek or squeak.

 

[LordJezo]

Have to drain brake fluid to do the pads?

 

[m2kewl]

Originally posted by: LordJezo
Have to drain brake fluid to do the pads?

edit: yes, when you install new pads, make sure the resevior doesn't overflow.

 

[Jeff7181]

Squeeling is sometimes cause by pads and/or rotors being glazed due to riding the brakes. Do you ride the brakes?

I don't recommend you do this... but I will tell you about it anyway...

If they're glazed, but the rotors are still in good shape and aren't discolored or have hot spots on them, you can probably "refinish" the rotors and replace the pads and fix the problem. In high school we used to do a kinda half-assed repair, but it worked 90% of the time. We'd make 4-5 scratches in the rotor, from the center to the edge with a screw driver or an awl or something that can scratch the rotor fairly easily. Then smeared some vavle lapping compound on the rotor and took it out and drove it around for a while, using the brakes... the valve lapping compound is abrasive enough to remove the glaze, yet not so abrasive that it gouges the rotor and reduces braking efficiency. Of course this is not a common way to fix squeeling brakes... but it's a cheap fix. Oh, and make sure when you bring the car back after the squeeling is gone you clean the rotors with brake clean before you put new pads on. And I highly recommend NOT using those pads from Auto Zone with the lifetime warranty cause it's such a hard, abrasive pad material that it chews up your rotors, which are much more expensive and time consuming to replace.

 

[tnitsuj]

Originally posted by: LordJezo
Have to drain brake fluid to do the pads?

no, you should not have to. You should however keep the cap of the resevoir when you are doing it to prevent it from popping off and making a mess when you compress the piston.

You should 1st do a visual inspection to see how much pad you have left. Thier is likely something wrong with your brakes if they are squealing at 20k, unless you ride them pretty hard.

 

[LordJezo]

Originally posted by: m2kewl

Originally posted by: LordJezo
Have to drain brake fluid to do the pads?

edit: yes, when you install new pads, make sure the resevior doesn't overflow.

So I guess I need to buy break fluid then as well..

 

[LordJezo]

Originally posted by: tnitsuj

Originally posted by: LordJezo
Have to drain brake fluid to do the pads?

no, you should not have to. You should however keep the cap of the resevoir when you are doing it to prevent it from popping off and making a mess when you compress the piston.

You should 1st do a visual inspection to see how much pad you have left. Thier is likely something wrong with your brakes if they are squealing at 20k, unless you ride them pretty hard.

So you can look at the pads with out needing to take them off?

Can I just brush the dust off somehow or something like that?

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: m2kewl

Originally posted by: LordJezo
Have to drain brake fluid to do the pads?

edit: yes, when you install new pads, make sure the resevior doesn't overflow.

No... not yes. When you remove the caliper you compress the caliper piston(s) first with a block of wood and a C-clamp. That forces brake fluid back up into the resevoir. If you (or anyone else) has topped it off before, you'll have brake fluid coming out all over the place when you compress the caliper, so make sure it's no more than half full before you start. Brake fluid is nasty stuff... removes paint like nobody's business... so you DON'T want it coming out of the resevoir. Also... leave the cap lightly on the resevoir just in case some squirts out when you compress the caliper.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: LordJezo

Originally posted by: m2kewl

Originally posted by: LordJezo
Have to drain brake fluid to do the pads?

edit: yes, when you install new pads, make sure the resevior doesn't overflow.

So I guess I need to buy break fluid then as well..

Yes - and please learn how to spell brake :frown:

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: EagleKeeper

Originally posted by: LordJezo

Originally posted by: m2kewl

Originally posted by: LordJezo
Have to drain brake fluid to do the pads?

edit: yes, when you install new pads, make sure the resevior doesn't overflow.

So I guess I need to buy break fluid then as well..

Yes - and please learn how to spell brake :frown:

Yeah, cause if you buy break fluid you'll probably get diet coke or somethin

 

[m2kewl]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: m2kewl

Originally posted by: LordJezo
Have to drain brake fluid to do the pads?

edit: yes, when you install new pads, make sure the resevior doesn't overflow.

No... not yes. When you remove the caliper you compress the caliper piston(s) first with a block of wood and a C-clamp. That forces brake fluid back up into the resevoir. If you (or anyone else) has topped it off before, you'll have brake fluid coming out all over the place when you compress the caliper, so make sure it's no more than half full before you start. Brake fluid is nasty stuff... removes paint like nobody's business... so you DON'T want it coming out of the resevoir. Also... leave the cap lightly on the resevoir just in case some squirts out when you compress the caliper.

sorry, that was what i meant regarding fluids (if you happened to top it off) - i didn't mean to say open the bleed valves and drain the fluid