How to Take the Brake Calipers off of a 2004 Cavalier

General Motors best selling compact car in 2004 was the Chevrolet Cavalier. The car is great for commuting and fuel mileage getting nearly 37 mpg in the highway. The Cavalier came standard with the 2.2 liter four cylinder engine and was available with either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission. The one feature this car lacked was standard ABS. Whether you had the optional ABS or not, maintaining the brake system was frequent as the front brake pads did not tend to last very long.

Instructions

1

Park the vehicle on a flat, level surface. Set the parking brake. Place the wheel chocks around the rear wheels. Loosen the front lug nuts 1/4 turn. Lift the front of the vehicle. Place the jack stands under the frame and lower the vehicle. Remove the lug nuts and the front wheels.

2

Loosen the two Allen-head bolts holding the caliper in place. Remove the caliper and hang if from the coil spring using the wire hanger. Remove the brake rotor. If the rotor is not loose install the lug nuts by hand. Strike the rotor between the lug nuts until the rotor comes loose. Remove the lug nuts and the rotor. Clean the hub mating surface well with the wire brush.

3

Install the new rotor. Install one lug nut by hand to hold the rotor in place. Lubricate the caliper slides and the back sides of the brake pads with a thin layer of silicone brake grease. Install the brake pads to the new caliper by clipping them into place making sure that the pads sit flush with the caliper and with the sensors facing up. Install the new caliper and pads onto the vehicle. Torque the caliper bolts to 38 foot-pounds with the torque wrench.

4

Remove the brake line from the old caliper by removing the retaining bolt and install it to the new caliper using new brass sealing rings on both sides of the brake line. Torque the brake line bolt to 37 foot-pounds. Fill the brake master cylinder with the DOT 3 brake fluid. Bleed the front brakes. Have an assistant sit in the vehicle. Instruct your assistant to push down the brake pedal and hold it. Open the caliper bleeder screw and close it immediately. Instruct your assistant to release the brake pedal. Repeat these steps until only a steady stream of fluid comes out of the bleeder screw, checking the brake fluid frequently. Torque the bleeder screws to 115 inch-pounds.

5

Install the front wheels and torque the lug nuts to 100 foot-pounds. Lower the vehicle. Pump the brake pedal to make sure that you have good braking pressure.

Related Posts by Categories