Just learned how to replace brakes

[Toastedlightly]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Compress brake cylinder?

Yeah that should be at the end. His order is kinda funny.

How are you going to get the brake pad off if you don't squeeze the brake cylinder? I always use a big C clamp with a hunk of wood to do this. His order is about right.

? You have a weird vehicle then. When you car is just sitting there the brakes are in a neutral position. If the cylinder was putting any force on them, they would be contacting the rotor and you wouldn't be able to move the car. On my car I don't believe I have to take anything off other than the wheel to get the pads out. Just undo two clips and they slide out.

I take the pads off, then compress the caliper cylinder.

Exactly. You have to compress the cylinder so you can get the new, thicker pads in there.

Usually they have some contact with the rotors due to pressure in the system. Mind you, it isn't enough to keep the wheel from spinning, but there is enough that you'll need a mallet to get them off. Compressing them just gets rid of that little presssure. Also, could be worn boots in the calipers causing the little pressure. I've done brakes about 15 times and noticed it every time.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: Toastedlightly

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Compress brake cylinder?

Yeah that should be at the end. His order is kinda funny.

How are you going to get the brake pad off if you don't squeeze the brake cylinder? I always use a big C clamp with a hunk of wood to do this. His order is about right.

? You have a weird vehicle then. When you car is just sitting there the brakes are in a neutral position. If the cylinder was putting any force on them, they would be contacting the rotor and you wouldn't be able to move the car. On my car I don't believe I have to take anything off other than the wheel to get the pads out. Just undo two clips and they slide out.

I take the pads off, then compress the caliper cylinder.

Exactly. You have to compress the cylinder so you can get the new, thicker pads in there.

Usually they have some contact with the rotors due to pressure in the system. Mind you, it isn't enough to keep the wheel from spinning, but there is enough that you'll need a mallet to get them off. Compressing them just gets rid of that little presssure. Also, could be worn boots in the calipers causing the little pressure. I've done brakes about 15 times and noticed it every time.

I used to do brakes for a living, and I've never had to relieve the pressure before taking the caliper off. If you need to do brakes there should be enough pad worn off to where you can take it off fairly easily. If not, knock the caliper off with a rubber mallet.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: CadetLee

Originally posted by: themusgrat
I don't know about turning rotors, it is fine for 1 time at most. After that, they heat up quicker than they need too, and become unstable, too thin. But $50 for rotors? I didn't see anything that cheap, but maybe it is just the car.

Rear rotors for my MR2 are $80+ from Toyota..$16 for the 'high-end' NAPA varient. :Q

brembo blanks cost $50 a piece for my 03 accord at tirerack.com

but they're more or less just cast iron discs, nothing high tech.

For a while, autozone had cheap rotors with a lifetime warranty and some track whores at honda-tech were buying them, racing them and thus eventually destroying them, then get warranty replacements.

 

[Toastedlightly]

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: Toastedlightly

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Compress brake cylinder?

Yeah that should be at the end. His order is kinda funny.

How are you going to get the brake pad off if you don't squeeze the brake cylinder? I always use a big C clamp with a hunk of wood to do this. His order is about right.

? You have a weird vehicle then. When you car is just sitting there the brakes are in a neutral position. If the cylinder was putting any force on them, they would be contacting the rotor and you wouldn't be able to move the car. On my car I don't believe I have to take anything off other than the wheel to get the pads out. Just undo two clips and they slide out.

I take the pads off, then compress the caliper cylinder.

Exactly. You have to compress the cylinder so you can get the new, thicker pads in there.

Usually they have some contact with the rotors due to pressure in the system. Mind you, it isn't enough to keep the wheel from spinning, but there is enough that you'll need a mallet to get them off. Compressing them just gets rid of that little presssure. Also, could be worn boots in the calipers causing the little pressure. I've done brakes about 15 times and noticed it every time.

I used to do brakes for a living, and I've never had to relieve the pressure before taking the caliper off. If you need to do brakes there should be enough pad worn off to where you can take it off fairly easily. If not, knock the caliper off with a rubber mallet.

I usually don't have the rubbah available, so I just compress before. Does the same thing (just need a bigger clamp )

 

[Horus]

Jeez. I just took a screwdriver, put it into the little slots in the rotor rim, braced against the caliper and pulled slowly. The entire thing came off smooth as butter.

 

[ultimatebob]

How hard is a timing belt to do? My Audi dealer wants $1,400 to replace mine, and I'd like to tell them where to stick their estimate.

 

[Toastedlightly]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
How hard is a timing belt to do? My Audi dealer wants $1,400 to replace mine, and I'd like to tell them where to stick their estimate.

I'd say a weekend of time. I don't know specifics, so I can't say more than that

 

[EarthwormJim]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
How hard is a timing belt to do? My Audi dealer wants $1,400 to replace mine, and I'd like to tell them where to stick their estimate.

Get a shop manual for your car. It shouldn't be too hard, unless for some ridiculous reason the engine has to be dropped before you can access it.

 

[daveymark]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
I had mine done at the shop since I needed my rotors resurfaced.

local auto parts store can do that for you.

 

[daveymark]

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
How hard is a timing belt to do? My Audi dealer wants $1,400 to replace mine, and I'd like to tell them where to stick their estimate.

Get a shop manual for your car. It shouldn't be too hard, unless for some ridiculous reason the engine has to be dropped before you can access it.

my guess is the motor has to be dropped. I guess I wouldnt be surprised though. My timing belt took literally 5 minutes to replace. I bet if I wasn't taking my time I could have done it in 2 minutes ro less. it all depends on how much room you have to work.

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: daveymark

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
How hard is a timing belt to do? My Audi dealer wants $1,400 to replace mine, and I'd like to tell them where to stick their estimate.

Get a shop manual for your car. It shouldn't be too hard, unless for some ridiculous reason the engine has to be dropped before you can access it.

my guess is the motor has to be dropped. I guess I wouldnt be surprised though. My timing belt took literally 5 minutes to replace. I bet if I wasn't taking my time I could have done it in 2 minutes ro less. it all depends on how much room you have to work.

Sure you're not talking about the serpentine belt? A timing belt is a MUCH different animal, and often requires lots of labor / disassembly to access it.

Serp belt is just the one on the front / side of the motor (depending how it's mounted) that turns all the accessories (alt, water pump, power steering pump, etc.) Timing belt drives the cams / valve train.

 

[LikeLinus]

That seems expensive. A local shop around here charged me less than $200 to replace my pads and they have a lifetime warranty. I had them replace them with ceramic pads a few weeks ago for free!

They get most of their parts from NAPA. Plus they offer my company a 15% discount. I've been very happy with their service so far.

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: Black88GTA

Originally posted by: daveymark

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
How hard is a timing belt to do? My Audi dealer wants $1,400 to replace mine, and I'd like to tell them where to stick their estimate.

Get a shop manual for your car. It shouldn't be too hard, unless for some ridiculous reason the engine has to be dropped before you can access it.

my guess is the motor has to be dropped. I guess I wouldnt be surprised though. My timing belt took literally 5 minutes to replace. I bet if I wasn't taking my time I could have done it in 2 minutes ro less. it all depends on how much room you have to work.

Sure you're not talking about the serpentine belt? A timing belt is a MUCH different animal, and often requires lots of labor / disassembly to access it.

Serp belt is just the one on the front / side of the motor (depending how it's mounted) that turns all the accessories (alt, water pump, power steering pump, etc.) Timing belt drives the cams / valve train.

Yes, the timing belt is hidden under all sorts of covers. It's not a 5 minute job at all. You might be able to do it yourself if you don't have to pull the engine. However, be very careful to line up all the timing marks. You get a cam off a couple notches and if you have an interference engine you can blow the whole thing. Unless you need it for warranty reasons you might want to look at a repair shop, but not the dealer. Just find a place that specializes in European imports.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Horus
So, I wanted to learn how to do my brakes, because I'm rough on them. My uncle, who's been a mechanic for 50 years, who's visiting from California, offered to show me how.

I can't believe it's so easy.

Pop off tire
Compress brake cylinder
remove caliper
remove rotor clip
exchange rotor
swap out pads, put on new pads with grease and clips
put rotor clip and caliper back on
put wheel back on
pump brakes.

I've never done it before, and it tok me literally an hour to do, and 170 bucks in parts. Instead of 350+ to do it from a shop.

I'd add 3 things to that list:
1. Take the cap off the fluid resevoir
2. If it's very full, suck out some fluid so it doesn't overflow when you push the caliper pistons back in.
3. At the end of the job, check the fluid level.

My rotors are a PITA to remove (93 Land Cruiser) - have to pull the whole wheel spindle. So they don't get turned every time and I haven't noticed any issues with that approach.

 

[Aharami]

yea i find it amazing that people pay hundreds of dollars to replace brake pads

 

[Atrail]

JustBrakes is only $99 for all wheels and at JustBrakes "we really do care"

 

[lokiju]

My brother just paid over $400 to a brake job with new rotors.

Told him to do it himself but he's got more money then time I guess.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Horus
So, I wanted to learn how to do my brakes, because I'm rough on them. My uncle, who's been a mechanic for 50 years, who's visiting from California, offered to show me how.

I can't believe it's so easy.

Pop off tire
Compress brake cylinder
remove caliper
remove rotor clip
exchange rotor
swap out pads, put on new pads with grease and clips
put rotor clip and caliper back on
put wheel back on
pump brakes.

I've never done it before, and it tok me literally an hour to do, and 170 bucks in parts. Instead of 350+ to do it from a shop.

$170?

'93 Sentra:
pads: $15
rotors: $25

$80 total

13" wheels FTW

 

[skyking]

OP, well done:thumbsup:
replacing rotors was a wise choice. With the newer disc systems, they get warped all too often. You can turn them, but I've seen them warp way too fast after that.