First of all, thanks Daniel B. for the great instruction on my broken lug problem. It worked out perfectly.

While I was replacing the stud, I notice that I'll soon be needing some new brake pads. I was wondering what's involved in replacing the brake fluid. I know that this is essential in a good brake job. Are there special tools required to do this?

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

That's good news. By doing this repair yourself you saved some money and learned more about how your car is put together. In addition (I hope) you had some fun. How long did the job take?


If you are only replacing brake pads there is no need to replace the brake fluid.

Bleeding the brake system is covered in Chilton (page 9-5) and Haynes (page 9-16). It's not difficult and does not require any special equipment. You'll need a jack, a lug wrench, a box wrench, a rubber or plastic tube, some sort of catch can, a quart of new brake fluid, and an assistant.

 

The stud replacement didn't take long at all. I think it wasn't more than about half an hour. Because of your instructions, I didn't have to sit there and figure out what was what. It went smoothly. I did spend some time trying to whack out that broken stud though. It was a little stubborn, but I did get it out.

I did have my brakes done once before. The guy said that my front rotors were a little under spec after he resurfaced them. Is this normal? He did replace the brake fluid the last time. I guess I'm ok with the fluid and just need to do the pads. Also, I've seen other posts about the hardware kit that goes along with the pads. Are those used to prevent the sqeaking?

So Daniel, when are you going to come out with your service manual; Chilton, Haynes, Martin's...heh..

 

If they were checked for proper thickness before they were done and it was okay, there should not be a problem with them so long as a sheet load was not removed. Hopefully the rotors are not warped either or have any bad grooves in them as this will cause the pads to wear out quicker.

 

No, that seems wrong. If the rotors were under spec they should have been replaced. However... if your brakes don't have symptoms of warped rotors, keep them. If and when you have a pulsating pedal you will have to buy new rotors.

Yes. I've always been able to reuse the old hardware. If your old hardware looks beat-up then you should buy new kits.

Drum brakes use powerful coil springs to retract the shoes. Those springs lose tension after repeated temperature cycling, and have to be replaced. Disk brakes don't have such springs.