car brake pad change – easy?

hi all,

ive got a 52 plate vectra and im thinking of swapping the pads myself. never done it before and just wondered if its an easy job or not. and do i need any special tools?

ta

MrC

Yep, easy, same as on my saab 9-5, takes about an hour to do if you’ve never done them before, but would recommend reading some forums online if you haven’t to prepare you. Only tools you would need are a pair of pliers, a decently big flat head screwdriver and a hammer. Other than that the only tricky part is getting the pistons to retract, usually a G-clamp does the trick.

not done that specifc car but probably not – can you change them on your bike?
Same thing but scaled up. Get the Haynes book from library if avilable and just read usually very easy – take wheel off remove split pin – remove retaining pin(s) remove pads – push caliper back in – place pads in (copper grease PISTON side) re build …sound familiar

Some cars have strange sytems though so be warned eg Citroen Xantia pistons need to be screwed back in thay cannot be pushed hence Haynes manual.

yeah i can do me bike! ; ) think i might give it a pop once the car defrosts.

any ideas how much it’d cost at a garage to do this job? i.e. front and rear pads? for some reason ive got the figure £160 in my head.

I’m pretty sure on the Vectra you will need a 7mm allen key to undo the 2 slider bolts. Once they have been removed you should be able to remove caliper. Then push piston back keeping an eye on the fluid level. Remove old and fit new pads. Fit caliper back over pads and screw slider bolts back in. As for the rears you will need a wind back tool to reset the piston. I have bodged in the past and used a pair of long nosed pliers but most times you need the tool. Front and rear pads should take no more than an hour.

Front discs from £40. Although Genuine discs are very good. Pads about £15 – £20.

You’ll need a 7mm Alan key.

loosen wheel nuts.
Jack up car and set on axle stands. Check rear wheels.
Take wheel off.
Look/feel on the inner side of the caliper and you’ll see two rubber tubes with plastic end caps. One top, one bottom. Take the caps off and that’s where you’ll find the carrier bolts – undo these using your new 7mm alan key. Take them right out.
caliper now comes apart. Might a bit fiddly due to the lip worn on the disc.
Prise out old pads and bin them.
Prop the caliper against something solid like the strut – use your jack handle to push the piston back into the caliper by leaning on it. Be careful! You don’t want it to slip.
take new pads and chamfer the leading and trailing edges with a file (this will stop them squeeling).
copper grease the back side of the pads as mentioned above.
Pop the piston side pad into the piston.
clean up the caliper edges which slide against each other (you’ll know exactly what I mean when you see it). You can also copper grease these too – do it no harm.
Stick the other pad in the caliper and re-assemble.
Stick the carrier bolts back in and tighten up.
Stick wheel back on.
Lower car.
Do other side.
Once all done pump the brake pedal to settle it all into place.
Take it easy for a couple hundred miles to bed everything in nicely.

Job done. 😀

oops

forgot – there’s a cross head locating screw for the discs.

Vauxhall rears certainly used to be a regular piston set up using a drum brake as the hand brake. The disc is cast as part of the drum. If that’s still the case then no need for the winding tool.

cheers Zed, much appreciated!

are you ben from tidza – if so take it up to tideswell tyres on the ind est. cheap as chips and good

yep thats me mate, i couldnt have crushrider for some reason! i forgot about that place, i’ll have a wander round and get a quote.

cheers for the reminder mate

yep thats me mate, i couldnt have crushrider for some reason! i forgot about that place, i’ll have a wander round and get a quote.

cheers for the reminder mate

It is simple enough but you will get covered in brake dust. I found the hardest but was fitting the pads into the calipers. Simple but frustratingly tight fit in all the ones I’ve ever done.

Don’t forget copper grease for behind the pad as well.

You will probably find the first side takes an hour, the second side 25 minutes because you will have the hang of it.

Don’t forget they will need bedding in.

In theory it’s an easy job. I tried (and kind of did) do it on Sunday on my old Merc. The pads were rusted (or something) onto the pistons. In the end I had to chisel them out. Sod of a job.

That said, if they used copper slip last time they changed them, you’ll be fine.

Don’t forget tho, chock the front/back wheels (if changing front put the hand brake on) and when you have the wheels off shove them under the car to act as an extra safeguard should the car fall off the axle stands (you are using axle stands aren’t you – not the shitty little jack you got with the car…).