Well technically I have changed my own brakes before but it was on an 88 LeSabre and I had the help of both my friend and a shop mechanic. This time I'm on my own and with a Fiero.

I know the basic way to change the brakes (and I am only changing pads, yes I know this isn't the "proper" way to do the brakes but I know that so lets get on with it). I was reading somewhere that I should remove half of the brake fluid? Im not sure if I should do this.

Basically what is the EASIEST way to change just the brake pads? Thats all I need to know, I'm doing them tomorrow. Thanks

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Alex

1987 GT 2.8 V6

Front or back? Makes a big difference...

changeing the pad is easy, theres two big torx bolts that hold them on - you pull the wheel off, take the two torz bolts out, pull the capliper off the rotor, and the pads are held in with a spring clip

you should be able to push the caliper back in with a C-clamp - that why they say to take some fluid out of the reseviour, it might overflow when you push the caliper in (I never had to)

and you should get some disk brake grease to lube the contact points, where the pads clip into the caliper (NOT the face of the pads :c) - dont use anything else - get a tube from the autoparts store

and put it all back together the same way you took it apart.

I think you might have to turn the rear brake piston to get it to go back in, but Ive heard at least one person say not to turn it - last time i did mine Im pretty sure I turned it with a big pair of vice grips - the front ones push right in.

If you find yourself thinking you need to take a hydralic hose or line off, then stop, you are doing something wrong.

[This message has been edited by Ken Wittlief (edited 07-31-2003).]

Make sure you use a torx bit and not Hex. If you use a Hex and strip the head of the bolt.. well its not pretty...

quote Originally posted by watts: Front or back? Makes a big difference...

I'm doing all the pads. They have never been changed since I bought the car, this is the first sign of the wear tab squealing so I'm not taking any chances of ruining my rotors. At this point I have GrandAm brakes on the rear. Until I get more familiar with the brakes, etc. I'm not going to dive right into a HUGE brake job (ie. doing everything the *right* way).

What does the brake grease do to benefit the braking anyhow? How important is this stuff? I know its cheap stuff so I'd be stupid not to use it but just for knowledge purposes. Thanks

I just got finished doing a pad replacement from hell. Ken covered all the points very clearly. Some things to watch out for are:

Rear:

Make sure the piston is lined up with the pad correctly. There is supposed to be a retaining clip on the face of the piston that holds the pad in place. This is something that you will probably need to replace as they are usually missing. Be sure to give all components a good inspection, or you'll end up doing what I am now, redoing your work with rebuilt calipers.

To put the e-brake cable back on, loosen the cable all the way using the adjustment that is attached to the rear of the engine cradle. Makes it much easier.

Fronts:

Really quite easy in comparison to the rears. One tip, if I may. Take this opportunity to repack your wheel bearings. All you do is loosen the hub? bolt while the brakes are still attached to keep the rotor from spinning, and remove the front rotor. There are some good instructions on repacking floating in the archives.

General Points:

Grease-use only silicone based grease as anything with a petroleum base will rot brake parts. Why use grease? To make sure that everything slides easily and doesn't bind. I bought a tube of it for 8 bucks and still have enough for three more brake jobs.

Take your time, and plan for lots of time.

That just about covers it. Have fun.

Oh-be sure to not over tighten the e-brake cable before the beak in test drive. Burning brakes smell really bad. Don't ask how I know this

I'll mention some specifics in order not to repeat the things everyone else has said.

You'll need a T-50 torx socket to remove the two caliper bolts on each caliper. I've found that sometimes the space is a little tight for the rear brakes if you're using a 1/2 drive ratchet with an adapter to 3/8 and the T-50 socket. However, don't be afraid - it is very do-able. You'd probably be better off with room to spare if you used a 3/8 ratchet - you eliminate the need for the adapter, and eliminate the chance of having little room to get in there.

The brake pads just pop out, but pay attention to the wear indicators (tab of metal on 4 of the pads) - make sure you use the correct pads in the correct place. You will need to push the front calipers back in - a simple c-clamp is all you really need.

As for the rear brakes - I noticed you said you had the Grand Am conversion - I can't recall if those rear calipers just push in like the fronts or not. But, just for reference, if you had the factory rear Fiero calipers, you need to SCREW the piston back into the caliper. An added note to this - the left-side (driver side) rear caliper is left-hand thread. You need to turn the piston counter-clockwise to get it to go in. The right-rear caliper is right-hand thread - turn it clockwise to get it back into the caliper.

Brake grease: Before you put everything back together, you need to apply this to the sliders, and you're good to go. You need it because if you don't use it, you run the risk of having your caliper seize in one place, and it's suppose to move as the pads wear down.

I think that's about it - brakes are straight-forward, and aren't hard to do.

my brakes creaked like a mofo because the sliders didnt slide... you can push the pins fully out of the caliper, clean the pin area and the pinds themselves off, lube'em good and your ready to roll.. er brake.

James Z

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- 2.8v6, 5spd
- no cat, msd ignition/coil, K&N