Foo - Anyone do their own auto repairs?

I've been trying to do more of my own repairs. I'm wondering how hard is it to replace brake pads?
Over the last few years I've put in a new alternator, installed a new radiator, tune ups, oil changes. But I've never worked on the brakes.
I just don't trust mechanics, I always think I'm getting ripped off.

Discs? If you've done that other stuff u should be okay.

Having said that, be forewarned -
I've never worked on ABS brakes; I do not think they are more difficult, but just putting it out there.
changing the pads is not so hard - getting the calipers back on the disc with the new pads can be a bit tough (gotta spread them open again). The toughest part here may be bleeding the lines - easier with two people, obviously. Watch the brake fluid, it'll kill your paint job.

Drums are really easy but take some elbow grease.

I really don't miss doing all that stuff (no car now)

if you've done that other stuff, brake pads shouldn't be too hard for you. some calipers have little tricks for retracting the piston back in - which you have to do since the new pads are going to be much thicker than the ones you are taking out - but if you have the haynes manual or chilton's manual or some other cheap repair manual for your car, it'll explain it easily enough. i'd say go for it!

Brake pads are a 20 minute job on my car (per wheel)...

I've been trying to do more of my own repairs. I'm wondering how hard is it to replace brake pads?
Over the last few years I've put in a new alternator, installed a new radiator, tune ups, oil changes. But I've never worked on the brakes.
I just don't trust mechanics, I always think I'm getting ripped off.

The last time I decided to "save myself money" and do the brakes on the wife's car....well, here's the story.

I've done plenty of brake jobs, knew what I was doing, had the parts and had the tools. The first issue was that the last time the shop had swapped the snow tires, they tightened the bujeezuz out of the lugs. I just didn't have the leverage to remove one lug. Off to the parts store to buy a longer wrench.

Once the stripped lug was off, the job was relatively easy: remove wheel, remove pads, retract caliper, replace pads, replace wheel, bleed brakes. Not much harder than fixing a flat. When I tried to put that semi-stripped lug on....that's when it became fully stripped. With my longer leverage lug wrench, I easily sheared it off before it was even snug. :rolleyes:

Knowing I'd have to face the music and see my mechanic laugh at me when I asked him to replace the stud, I put the rest of the lugs on, then grabbed the hubcap....

The hubcap wasn't cooperating. It was the spring type that snaps inside a steel wheel, and try as I might, it just wouldn't even start. I got down in the dirt, sat on my butt and tried to push (OK, kick) it on with my feet. Apparently one of the kicks was misplaced and I sheared the valve off. :eek:

Thoroughly humiliated, I put on the spare, drove it to the mechanic and yes...he laughed at me. He also fixed the damage, and adding that to my cost for parts...it equaled the cost of a brake job. I've taken my cars in ever since.

The last time I decided to "save myself money" and do the brakes on the wife's car....well, here's the story.

I've done plenty of brake jobs, knew what I was doing, had the parts and had the tools. The first issue was that the last time the shop had swapped the snow tires, they tightened the bujeezuz out of the lugs. I just didn't have the leverage to remove one lug. Off to the parts store to buy a longer wrench.

Once the stripped lug was off, the job was relatively easy: remove wheel, remove pads, retract caliper, replace pads, replace wheel, bleed brakes. Not much harder than fixing a flat. When I tried to put that semi-stripped lug on....that's when it became fully stripped. With my longer leverage lug wrench, I easily sheared it off before it was even snug. :rolleyes:

Knowing I'd have to face the music and see my mechanic laugh at me when I asked him to replace the stud, I put the rest of the lugs on, then grabbed the hubcap....

The hubcap wasn't cooperating. It was the spring type that snaps inside a steel wheel, and try as I might, it just wouldn't even start. I got down in the dirt, sat on my butt and tried to push (OK, kick) it on with my feet. Apparently one of the kicks was misplaced and I sheared the valve off. :eek:

Thoroughly humiliated, I put on the spare, drove it to the mechanic and yes...he laughed at me. He also fixed the damage, and adding that to my cost for parts...it equaled the cost of a brake job. I've taken my cars in ever since.
ahahahhahahhaha i know someone who got 6 stiches trying to put a hubcap back on barehanded. thats what rubber mallets are for.


takes me about 15 minutes with both the wheels off

I just helped a friend install an engine today. Yesterday I helped put in an alarm system. Does that count?

Yesterday I helped put in an alarm system.You should be ashamed.

Last time I did my front brakes, I had a heck of a time getting the rotors off. The brakes lasted 95,000 miles - which is great, but....they where frozen in place...ugh! Prior rotors (from my previous rides) I've removed all had a threaded hole for a tiny bolt. The bolt was used to push the rotor off the hub. However, these OEM rotors had no additional threaded hole, so I had to use a crowbar to remove them from the front hubs. It took me two days of elbow grease, and finally coming upon a thread on the internet that talked about the crow bar technique....afterwhich it was about 2 minutes worth of grunting with the crow bar...and poof! Off they went.

Good luck!

Fairly simple repairs like brakes aren't bad if you've got the tools, and the time.

I just helped a friend install an engine today.

Hey...me too.

Only it was helping my nephew swap a nice 351 into his Ford 4X4 in place of the old tired 6. That's a 3 day job.

How much blood did you shed? :)

On my car, the brake-pads take 10-seconds to replace once the wheel's off. Actually easier than an alternator replacement. Here's my project from last summer:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/AutoTech/08EngineOutS.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/AutoTech/14EngineParts.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/AutoTech/17engineReady.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/AutoTech/EngineInstalledTurbo.jpg

Brake pad replacement is conceptually easy, but is real cave man mechanics - dirty and nasty. And there are some gotchas if you don't know what you're doing.

For example, most rear disc brakes now require you to turn the piston as you retract them which may or may not be something you can do with ordinary tools - I had to buy the $20 Harbor Freight tool that last time I did mine. And you do want to pay attention to springs, clips, and apply anti-squeal paste judiciously if you want quiet brakes. Finally, there is always the chance you'll run into rusty, frozen, or difficult to remove parts - it's a nasty spot down there in your wheel wells.

If you have a good manual or tutorial, have the tools, are reasonably handy, and don't mind dirty work, it's a good repair to save money on. But it is definitely more difficult work than changing oil or flushing a radiator. For a first-timer, it really helps to have someone experience to show you the ropes and always have a backup plan if you do something stupid.

- Mark

efrobert, what model car are you looking at?

Danno... I heard doing the clutch on the 944's are a MAJOR PAIN!! Is that true? Or was my buddy just a putz? hehe!

Disc brakes should be fairly straight forward. I bet if you do a search you'll be able to find step by step instructions on how to replace them. When i owned a Honda I used to do all the maintenance and upgrade stuff myself. They were so easy to work on, especially since I had the Helms repair manual. That was my bible!

Good luck!

Brakes are easy. Dealing with discs is almost totally brain dead. There are a few tricks to certain drum brakes, but it's nothing you can't handle.

It's one or two bolts more complicated than changing a tire.

Do one wheel at a time, so if you screw up you can look at the other side compare.

Jack it up, take off the wheel.

Two bolts will hold the caliper on. Remove one and see if the caliper rolls back out of the way to slide the rotor off. If not, undo the other bolt and set the caliper (with brake line still attached) out of the way.

Slide the rotor off, slide the new one on.

Pop the pads out of the caliper.

Take the cap off the brake fluid reservoir and compress the caliper: ck google for compressing the caliper piston on your model. Most require a c-clamp to push it back in, my Mazda had an allen bolt on the back of the caliper that pulled it back in.

Put the new pads in, put the caliper back on over the new rotor, put the wheel back on.

Put the cap back on the brake fluid reservoir.

IMPORTANT:
Pump the brakes back up to firm before you move that car. Then test drive when the pedal feels firm. No bleeding required.

Good luck!

Happily I can say I haven't done my own car repairs in 15 years because I'm a car-free man, but every now and then I get talked into doing someone's for them.

Brakes are easy, if your car is from an area that doesn't salt their roads. If you brought you car from back east, all bets are off.

Danno... I heard doing the clutch on the 944's are a MAJOR PAIN!! Is that true? Or was my buddy just a putz? hehe! Well... you gotta know what you're doing and have the right tools. A tranny jack really helps to drop it from the rear end. Then work your way forwards, remove the torque-tube and you've got access to the clutch. It's just really dirty work under the car, so I like to steam-clean everything before starting. Haven't done a 944 clutch yet, but on my 951, it requires taking off all the turbo plumbing and took me about 18 hours last time. So on a 944, I'd guess it'd be 10-12 hours. If you install a Centerforce clutch, you'll never have to replace it again. I put mine on 3-engines and 125k-miles ago and it's only 1/2 worn. :)

The hubcap wasn't cooperating. It was the spring type that snaps inside a steel wheel, and try as I might, it just wouldn't even start. I got down in the dirt, sat on my butt and tried to push (OK, kick) it on with my feet. Apparently one of the kicks was misplaced and I sheared the valve off. :eek::roflmao2:

Maybe it's the beer+ Lortab, but made me laugh so hard I hurt my back again(thanks buddy).

i repair other people's cars. if mine is broken, i just live with it. the cobbler's shoes, and all that.

On my car, the brake-pads take 10-seconds to replace once the wheel's off. Actually easier than an alternator replacement. Here's my project from last summer:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/AutoTech/08EngineOutS.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/AutoTech/14EngineParts.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/AutoTech/17engineReady.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/AutoTech/EngineInstalledTurbo.jpg

i wouldve thrown that engine in the garbage and went with a S13 motor

Turbooooo. Disk brakes without ABS take like 5 minutes to change pads and rotors.

Put the new pads in, put the caliper back on over the new rotor, put the wheel back on.

Be sure to apply brake pad grease to both sides of the shims. Otherwise, you could find yourself with noisy brakes.

meh, I just do basic things- oil changes, spark plugs, and such.

as my last oil change was a nightmare, I might be retiring from the self-mechanic business.

I do most of the regular maintenance on my car along with the majority of the modifications (alot of suspension work).

However i've gone to the mechanic for coolant changes simply because i don't want to deal with the mess myself anymore. I did it the first two times and that was enough. I didn't have problems, but it was really messy... I'll also be going there when i need a new clutch too.

You don't necessarily have to bleed the brakes. If you have a C-clamp, it works great for pushing the caliper piston back in (assuming it's not the type you have a screw in, consult your manual to figure out which it is).

If it's not too difficult, remove the rotors (I'm assuming it's disc brakes) have have them "turned" or resurfaced at a shop. Otherwise you could very well have bad noise issues, or uneven wear on your brakes, which could result in more noise or bad vibrations.



I do all my own work, but for some reason can't complete my damn motor swap. :( I've put a Ford 302 in a '90 Mazda RX-7 convertible, trying to get it running. I'm a full-fledged Wankel nut, so all this V8 stuff is very confusing to me. Before it died my other project was an '86 RX-7 n/a coupe. Poly bushings, adjustable dampers, progressive rate springs, limited slip diff, custom air box, removed all emissions equipment & ac & stereo stuff, some custom throttle body stuff, a couple suspension braces, short shifter, lightweight flywheel (my favorite mod, geeze that was amazing), upgraded clutch and pressure plate......then it had the nerve to go and die on me. You think it'd be able to handle autocross and 9k revs with 165,000 miles and daily driving, but nnnOOOOooo. It's donating all the suspension bits and the diff to the convertible.

After doing it myself, the only two things I will ALWAYS have a shop do is tranny fluid and diff fluid changes. That stuff is NASTY. Having it run down your arm while laying under a car is NASTY. Smelling like gear oil for 3 days is NASTY.

Hah, yeah gear oil is pretty foul smelling. Fortunately it's not too hard to do on a subaru. That reminds me, i gotta get some gear oil... My change interval is coming up soon.

I wanted to make a metal or PVC canister with a screw on lid, a hose barb in the lid with a tube that ran to the bottom, and an air hose fitting in the lid. Fill the can with fluid, attach hose from barb to tranny/diff/whatever, and attach the air compressor.

Instant fill, from the side, top, or bottom; no spilled fluid (the rx-7 trannies have a side-fill plug, the shifter housing does not share fluid with the tranny). Never got around to it though.

Shortly after graduation from high school, I had to replace a cylinder head in the first car I had, did that all by myself. Other than that, I used to do all my routine maintenance myself - oil/fluid changes, brake jobs, tune-ups, you name it. Now that I drive a company vehicle pretty much exclusively, those are done at a garage.

One footnote on disc brake jobs: When pushing the caliper piston back into the cylinder, check the master cylinder first - you may need to siphon off some of the fluid in the reservoir. If the reservoir is full, the fluid you push back into the master cylinder through the lines when you push the piston back into the caliper will overfill it and cause fluid to spill out.

i repair other people's cars. if mine is broken, i just live with it. the cobbler's shoes, and all that.

Same at my house. My dude is a mechanic... We ordered new struts in the summer & it took till a couple weeks ago before they finally got done! (I'm not complaining though - free labour & all...)

You think it'd be able to handle autocross and 9k revs with 165,000 miles and daily driving, but nnnOOOOooo.

why i am constantly amazed at my Civic. it'll hit 300k before the week's out, gets revved to 7k+ on a weekly basis, gets the (conventional) oil changed whenever i get the chance (usually every 6-8k miles), and still starts and runs every time.

not bad for a stock-block econobox.

the oil pan and cylinder head have never been off it, either.

sure, it uses a little oil. and needs new spark plugs every couple months (minor coolant leak into cylinder #3, minor oil leak in #2).

but it's paid for and gets 30+ mpg in town.

and i do enjoy the 8.5 lb flywheel on it...

Did I miss the part where the OP said what kind of car it is he's changing pads on?

I've done my Ford Ranger 4x4, a Jeep Cherokee, our old Volvo wagon, my Ducatis, and my old Porsche 928.

The Porsche was the easiest and the Ranger was the hardest. Go figure.

On my car, the brake-pads take 10-seconds to replace once the wheel's off. Actually easier than an alternator replacement. Here's my project from last summer:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/AutoTech/08EngineOutS.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/AutoTech/14EngineParts.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/AutoTech/17engineReady.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/AutoTech/EngineInstalledTurbo.jpg

Thats downright sweet!!

Did I miss the part where the OP said what kind of car it is he's changing pads on?

That's the key point here. There are lots of you advising that it is easy because you did it on your car and it was easy. Fine, but not all cars are the same. Some are very easy, some are moderately hard. I've had brake jobs that take 5-minutes for the first wheel and some that take 5-hours for the first wheel. The principles are the same, but the devil is in the details. You need a good tutorial or shop manual SPECIFIC TO THE CAR YOU'RE WORKING ON.

- Mark

If it's not too difficult, remove the rotors (I'm assuming it's disc brakes) have have them "turned" or resurfaced at a shop. Otherwise you could very well have bad noise issues, or uneven wear on your brakes, which could result in more noise or bad vibrations.

This used to be the recommendation, but the rotors on today's cars often don't have enough extra meat where you can machine them and still have acceptable rotor thickness. For this reason, it's common today for many dealers simply to specific new rotors on every brake job.

In my experience, a good strategy for DIY'ers is to simply leave the rotors alone if they're in good shape and not badly scored for 1x or even 2x pad changes. Then replace the rotors even 2nd or 3rd pad change.

- Mark

I used to do ALL my repairs, unless it was something where I needed big like an alignment rack and did'nt want to bother any friends who worked in garages.

Brakes are simple, but you'll run into problems like rusted bolts, stuck rotors, etc etc.

Get yourself a caliper spreader (very cheap at Harbour Freight), and that's really the only tool besides the basics you'll need. Don't really need, you can use a c-clamp, but thats ghetto and you can possibly mess up the caliper piston(s).


As of now, I don't have anywhere to work on my car, and had my first oil change done by someone else. I was actually in the car while they did it. Kinda scary actually, I wouldn't want to touch a car with the customer behind teh wheel.

But it is definitely more difficult work than changing oil or flushing a radiator.
I found replacing the brake pads on my car was far easier than a coolant flush. Brakes took 20 minutes for both sides once it was up on stands. The caliper swings out so there is a total of ONE bolt to do per wheel. Sanded the rotors and that was that. I must have done something right because the braking now is just like OEM or better (because it's new).

It just depends on the car. I have done internal work on some engines but won't touch the "simple" stuff on other cars.

efrobert, what model car are you looking at?

It's my work truck. Ford E150 van.
I did the brake job this morning. I was easy, took less than two hours, including doing an oil change.

What ever kind of car it is, and how you have to move the pistons back (my Subaru's had to turn the pistons, what a pia) be sure you car, truck, SUV, buggy, is securely supported. DO NOT trust the jack that comes with the car, use jack stands, or any this else that will keep the car from falling on you, or your parts. if you have to put a lot of force into loosening a nut or bolt, you can shift the car enough to cause it to fall if it's not supported well enough. Brakes often have stuck bolts requiring lots of force to loosen.

I do all possible repairs on our cars. First, I am cheap and second I don't trust anybody working on my car:)

Take it in for tire balancing, alignments and that's about it. Swapped engine in my jeep, done clutch brakes, welded body when it rusted through. But it is easy to work on CJ7, lot of space inside and under and plenty of aftermarket parts.

I do all possible repairs on our cars. First, I am cheap and second I don't trust anybody working on my car:)

Take it in for tire balancing, alignments and that's about it.

That about sums me up. Cheap and paranoid.

I just saved about 150 bucks on my 06' jetta TDI. I had a emmissions workshop warning come up and the dealer said the MAF and airfilter needed replaceing to the tune of 300+ dollars. I got a bud who's a wholesale VW parts dealer and he got me the MAF for half that and I put it in myself. I found a guy local to me who has the VAG cable to clear the codes, but the car cleared it self when it sensed the new MAF and airfilter I put in. The dealer also recommened new rear brake pads, rotors and fluid change to the tune of 500+ bucks. I'll be doing that one myself too. But my parts buddy warned me that i'll need a special tool to reseat the caliper pistons and he told me where to get one. I figure to save more than 200 bucks doing myself.

I do my own maintaince on my 4v Ducati except for valve adjustments and that'll be next. That is the biggest buggabo for Ducati maintaince. Once I nail that, I'm golden for life.

About the only thing I do any more is plug the vagcom into my VW to see what the check-engine light is whining about this time.

Not me....I prefer my car actually work when I want to use it.

Replacing brake pads on disc brakes is very easy; brake shoes on drum brakes are a little more difficult. What kind of car do you have? I know on some models (such as my Hyundai Elantra), on the front brakes you simply squeeze the piston in with a C-clamp, but on the rears you actually have to "screw" the piston in and it requires a little tool that costs about $10. If you want to do this yourself, I would find a forum for your model of car and ask directions (or look through their Do-It-Yourself/DIY pages for directions).

That about sums me up. Cheap and paranoid...

W3rd.

On the other hand, if you do find an excellent shop, then there's nothing wrong with letting them do some of the tougher jobs. :)

I'm lucky i found one. It's a bit of a drive (about 30-40 minutes away) but i trust them over everyone else. They're not the cheapest, but they are less expensive than the dealer.

It's my work truck. Ford E150 van.
I did the brake job this morning. I was easy, took less than two hours, including doing an oil change.Sounds great! Did the brakes require the spinning-tool to spin the piston back into the caliper? I need to take one of these Ford calipers apart to see why you can't push them back straight in with C-clamps.

The scariest brakes I've seen were on a Chrysler LeBaron. The rear disc brakes didn't have a separate drum parking-brake. Instead, it had a lever that operated the piston and was pulled by the parking-brake handle. Scary part was this cable was exposed and didn't have any cable-housing. And... it dangled about 3-4" underneath the car! Just waiting to get caught on something you drove over and lock up your rear brakes... :(

I hate working on my own car. I did it for years because I couldn't afford anything else.
Now I can afford it, so I gladly pay a mechanic to do it.

Now I have a couple mechanics that I know are good, plus, I can tell if I am getting hosed.

W3rd.

On the other hand, if you do find an excellent shop, then there's nothing wrong with letting them do some of the tougher jobs. :)

I'm lucky i found one. It's a bit of a drive (about 30-40 minutes away) but i trust them over everyone else. They're not the cheapest, but they are less expensive than the dealer.

I did find manage to find a great Porsche shop in my own back yard to get alignments done, but then I sold the car after only going to them one time.

The Ducati shop I have been going to is still pretty good, but wanting to learn how to do my own valve jobs will save me a ton given Ducati's woefully short 6k mile service intervals for valve checks and 12k for belts. I ride 10k+ miles a year.

And I enjoy the challenge of working on my own stuff.

I'min between, trsidn. If it's a simple job, I still do it myself. I put a new starter on the wife's car last weekend, for instance; took less than an hour. If it's strut replacement or a fluid flush, I'll let a shop do that; too involved.