Prince Ali said:
Thanks for the instruction. I have a basic question. I have never changed my brake pads because I thought the brakes needed to be adjusted. But I'm pretty good with taking stuff on and putting them back on. Are there any adjustments necessary? Will the pedal distance be the same afterward? What about the handbrake adjustment? What is bleeding the brake line?
Assuming you have not disconnected any part of the closed hydraulic system, nothing will need to be 'adjusted'. After installation, just pump the pedal a few times with the motor running and you'll be good to go. However, if you loosen one of the bleed screws to enable you to push the pistons home, then you will need to bleed air out of the system when the installation is done.
I don't have much faith in the 'one man' bleed hoses, so I use the tried and tested 'two man' method:
1. With your car still up on the jack stand and the wheel removed, have a buddy get in the vehicle and start it. (Please make sure it's not in gear when he releases the clutch.)
2. Remove the cap from the brake fluid reservoir.
3. Attach a tightly fitting piece of clear hose over the bleed nipple.
4. Put the other end of the hose in a plastic cup that contains fresh brake fluid. Make sure the end of the hose is submerged.
5. Open the bleed nipple with your wrench...
6. ...immediately tell your buddy to push the brake pedal to the floor and hold it there.
7. Tighten the bleed nipple.
8. Tell your buddy to release the brake pedal.
9. Keep an eye on the level of fluid in the reservoir. Top up if necessary.
10. Repeat 5 through 9 until the fluid coming out is clean and has no air bubbles in it. Can be anywhere from 3 to 10 repetitions depending which parts of the system were disconnected and for how long. If you just loosened the bleed screw, you will probably not do more than 5 reps.
-Pace