front brake pads

[fatbob33]

hi peeps sorry not been on in a while however i now have a dilema.

is it a straight forward job to change brake pads on the front of a 05 octy vrs ( old shape) if so where is the best place to get the pads and if any problems i need to know please let me know as i need to get it done soonest

thanks guys/gals

[Jimbo vRS]

Fronts are a doddle, I have zero mechanical ability an managed it myself.

You after specific pads, or OEM? Try GSF or TPS for the latter. DOn't by the mintext sets off eBay though, the set I have seem to be made of cheese!

[chicken_eyebrow]

The only difficult bit is pushing the piston back into the caliper to get it to fit round the disc when its got the new pads on. You'll need to take the cap off the brake fluid reservoir to relieve the pressure and get a helper to watch it to make sure the fluid doesn't overflow when you are pushing the piston back in.

[mikey vrs]

Fronts are a doddle, I have zero mechanical ability an managed it myself.

You after specific pads, or OEM? Try GSF or TPS for the latter. DOn't by the mintext sets off eBay though, the set I have seem to be made of cheese!

this reminds me of the time when i quoted a squaddie at work £10 or a box of beer to replace his front pads.....because i was to expensive:eek: & he reckoned anyone can change brakes he went away to do it himself.......a day later he came back with a £10 & a box of beer...."can you look at my brakes mate,ive changed the pads & its making a terrible noise & the car wont stop when i press the pedal"......yup you guessed it he had fitted the brake pads the wrong way round & the friction material wasnt facing the discs!:eek::eek: if you arent sure what your doing you shouldnt be working on your cars brakes! just read my post......this isnt aimed at you jimbo vRS.....your post just reminded me of this story!

[Bodge]

The only difficult bit is pushing the piston back into the caliper to get it to fit round the disc when its got the new pads on. You'll need to take the cap off the brake fluid reservoir to relieve the pressure and get a helper to watch it to make sure the fluid doesn't overflow when you are pushing the piston back in.

You don't have to take the cap off the reservoir, the reservoir cap will just bleed off the displaced air just like it does every time you take your foot off the brakes. It's not a sealed system, if it was the brakes wouldn't work!

[fatbob33]

cheers guys much appreciated , wont be a problem for me done plenty before it's just i heard on here somthing about a special tool for the pistons it's probably the rear pads then

thanks again :)

[mikey vrs]

its only the rears that you need a piston wind back tool for,if you have fitted pads before then you will be fine doing them on your octy:thumbup:

[Jimbo vRS]

this reminds me of the time when i quoted a squaddie at work £10 or a box of beer to replace his front pads.....because i was to expensive:eek: & he reckoned anyone can change brakes he went away to do it himself.......a day later he came back with a £10 & a box of beer...."can you look at my brakes mate,ive changed the pads & its making a terrible noise & the car wont stop when i press the pedal"......yup you guessed it he had fitted the brake pads the wrong way round & the friction material wasnt facing the discs!:eek::eek: if you arent sure what your doing you shouldnt be working on your cars brakes! just read my post......this isnt aimed at you jimbo vRS.....your post just reminded me of this story!

Fitted them the wrong way around?? I'm obviously no expert, but surely that must've taken more effort and ingenuity than actually fitting them correctly?! :eek:

You're dead right though, and I had my (mechanic) father in law check them after I'd done them the first time, just to be on the safe side

[fatbob33]

got in the car this morning and i got abs light constantly on and the asr light is constantly on :confused:hoping that when i changr the pads tomorrow it will sort everything out if not i will be proper peed off :(

[Railroad]

The only difficult bit is pushing the piston back into the caliper to get it to fit round the disc when its got the new pads on. You'll need to take the cap off the brake fluid reservoir to relieve the pressure and get a helper to watch it to make sure the fluid doesn't overflow when you are pushing the piston back in.

On an Astra F you must clamp the brake pipe and open the bleed nipple when you do this. Failure to do so will result in the master cylinder seals becoming irreparably damaged and will need to be replaced. Just thought I'd mention that......

[mikey vrs]

got in the car this morning and i got abs light constantly on and the asr light is constantly on :confused:hoping that when i changr the pads tomorrow it will sort everything out if not i will be proper peed off :(

fitting new pads wont fix this fault!...sorry:) it sounds like you have a faulty abs sensor!

[fatbob33]

ok then how do i go about sorting this problem out, also where abouts is the abs sensor and whats it look like ???