93 Honda Civic DX - Installing brake pads?

Question

What tools are normally needed?
Are there any tricks?
Do you have a diagram you could email me?
Do you know of a useful website for things like this?

Can any1 give me the how to?

Thanks!

Actually I don't want to take it to a shop and let them do it because I think its better to have the knowledge of how to do it yourself. If you can do it yourself it will prove to be cheaper, eliminate worry, and allow you to be that much more knowledgeable about your car. To me its worth the hassle. Thanks tho

Answer 1

It should be a very easy thing to do.

just loosen the front wheel lugs, jack the car up and support it, then remove the front wheel. The brake pads are held in a caliper at the top of the brake disc rotor.

the caliper is held on by two caliper bolts that are on the inboard side. They should be 12 mm bolts if I'm not mistaken.

you will find it easiest to remove the lower bolt, then loosen the upper bolt and pivot the caliper up towards the front of the car. You can remove both bolts and remove the caliper entirely if you like.

as far as 'tricks', some times the caliper bolts are rusted to the extension tube that allows the caliper to slide as the brake pads wear. If you keep turning the bolt but it doesn't come out, then you need to hold the end of the tube (behind the bolt head) with a 15mm wrench or with an adjustable wrench if its not 15mm to break the bolt head free from the tube.

when you have the caliper swung up or removed, you need to push the caliper piston back into the caliper so that the new brake pads fit. the piston moves out as the pads wear to take up the space of the worn pads. before you push the piston back in, use a turkey baster to take some of the fluid out of the master cylinder or it will overflow.

Leave the inner brake pad in place and use a big pair of channel locks clamped over the caliper piston housing and the brake pad to push the piston back into place. Just use a constant pressure to do this.

when you have the piston pushed back, remove the old inner pad. If your new pads have shims, put a layer of brake moly grease on the back of the pad before installing the shim. make sure the shims are locked into the tabs on the pad. Use the factory pads if you can.

install the pads in the original orientation. You will probably have to push the brake tubes that hold the caliper bolts back to collapse them when you're putting the calipers back on. then bolt the calipers back into place. then put the wheels back on and torque the lug nuts.

you shouldn't have to bleed the brakes. Just pump them up a few times to get the fluid down to the calipers and engage the pistons. Be sure to do that before you drive off!

hope that answers your question

Answer 2

I am only speaking in general. To change brake pads you need a floor jack to lift the car up. you need a lug nut wrench to remove the lug nuts so you can take the tire off. Then you will need to get a socket to fit on the bolt that holds the brake caliper on. Remove that and use some vise grips to compress the brake cylinoid. then you can remove the brake pads and put the new ones on. But remember if your brake rotor is damaged you will need to get those machined as well. Good luck and hope this gives you a general idea of how to do it.

Answer 3

Unless you have an auto shop (like the auto hobby shop ion military bases) at your disposal or a souped up garage, anything more than changing engine oil is a pain. Add to that the fact that doing brakes typically takes about an hour to an hour and a half...unless you are doing it for the fun of it, take it someplace and pay them.