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.

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What Are Car Brake Calipers

The brakes are integral to a car. In fact they serve a very essential purpose for the car. Every part of the brake system is important and the calipers are one of the most important devices in the system. They are the ones who apply the necessary force to slow down the car or to completely stop it. They should always be in good condition and repairing worn out ones are essential for good driving. You would not want to drive with inefficient calipers.

The calipers serve a very big role in the brake system. These small, box-like, rectangular devices are contained in the wheel housing. They are set near the rotary metal disk that is connected to the wheels. They function through a hydraulic system and the brake fluids transfer the pressure needed to move the calipers. In a standard brake caliper, there are metal pipes that are found on the interior and exterior of the rotor. The plates have brake pads and these make the physical contact for the calipers and rotors. When the pedal is pressed, the brake fluid goes through a master cylinder and it is linked on the piston that houses the calipers. The piston presses the pads and the pads are forced to the rotors. The result is the car will start slowing down.

How To Replace Brake Pads

These disk brakes became commercial in the automobile industry around the 1950s, they are great improvements over the drum brakes which could easily overheat and deteriorate in performance in a very short period of time. Almost all cars use the disc brakes but some use the drum brakes on the rear axle.

What Are Car Brake Calipers?

The floating calipers utilize hydraulic piston along the rotor inboard side. These move in and out when the pedal is pressed. The fixed calipers have pistons that are set on both the sides of the rotor and the pressure is applied directly from the 2 sides making the operation much smoother.

The pads usually wear down because of the constant friction and so it is essential to check the pads whenever they are starting to make noise. The brake system should always be checked for wear and tear all the time for safe driving.

What Are Car Brake Calipers?
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How to Replace Brake Pads on Brembo Calipers

Brembo makes high-performance brakes for road and track. Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, BMW, Chrysler, Mercedes, Nissan and Porsche are just some of the vehicle manufacturers that use Brembo-designed brakes. Unlike with conventional vehicles, you do not have to remove the caliper to install Brembo brake pads. The calipers are designed to quick release the pads, on track and road vehicles, which is one of the advantages of the Brembo system. Replacing the brake pads on a Brembo system will give you a first-hand look at this companys technology.

Instructions

1

Loosen the wheel lug nuts from the position where you are going to replace the pads, using a jack. Raise the end of the vehicle with a jack. Place jack stands beneath the subframe or jack points, depending on the vehicle. Lower the vehicle onto the jack stands and remove the wheels completely.

2

Remove the brake pad tie-down cotter pins with pliers. Place the palm of your non-dominant hand over the retaining spring plate on the center rear of the caliper. Push the upper pad lock-down pin through the caliper, toward the center of the vehicle. Use a small screwdriver to push the pin through. Slowly lift your hand to release the tension on the spring plate. Remove the spring plate, then push the lower pin through and out of the caliper in the same manner as with the upper pin.

3

Pull up the brake pads individually, using needle-nose pliers on the small tabs protruding upward from the pads. Pull the pad from end to end, essentially wiggling the pad upward and out of the caliper. Remove each pad by hand once the pads become loose enough.

4

Wrap a flat-head screwdriver in a paper towel, and insert it between one of the caliper pistons, and the rotor. Gently pry the caliper pistons inward on the caliper. The Brembo calipers have four pistons, two on each side of the rotor. Switch back and forth between pistons on one side of the caliper, as every time you push one caliper piston in, the other will want to pop out again. Repeat the gently prying until all four pistons are retracted completely into the caliper.

5

Read the backing plate on the brake pad to see which position it is going into. Apply a generous portion of caliper grease onto the backing plate of the pad. Slide the brake pad downward into the caliper. Gently nudge the rotor opposite the caliper, if the pads get jammed. If the pads will not go in at all, remove the pad from the caliper completely and check the pistons to make sure they are not in the way. Install each brake pad individually. Do not use a hammer to push the pads in place.

6

Insert the bottom pad tie-down pin from the back of the caliper to the front. Tap the pin with a hammer until you line up the cotter pin hole between the brake pad end and the caliper. Insert the pad spring plate under the pin against the top of the brake pad. Bend the plate downward against the top of the pads and rotor completely. Install the upper pad tie-down pin and align cotter pin hole between the end of the brake pad and the caliper wall.

7

Insert the tie-down cotter pins between the upper ends of the brake pads and the caliper wall by hand. Make sure the cotter pin is lined up in each pad tie-down pin correctly.

8

Repeat Steps 2 through 7 to complete the pad replacement on the other side of the vehicle. Install the wheels back on the vehicle and tighten the lug nuts snug. Raise the vehicle off of the jack stands, then remove the stands from beneath the car. Lower the vehicle to the ground, and torque the wheels to the manufacturers specifications with a 1/2-inch torque wrench and a socket.

9

Proceed to the drivers seat of the vehicle and pump the brakes several times. If the brake pedal does not stiffen after about five pumps, stop pumping and bleed the brake system.

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