My indy mechanic will charge me 110 to change my front brake pads with volvo OE pads, bleed the brake system, and resurface the rotors. I was thinking about doing it myself, but how hard is it to do it yourself, with doing the above. I am going on a 2500 mile trip in about 2 weeks and want t a good brake job.

kevin
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1980 244DL, 1982 245GL, 1987 744GLE, 1991 245SE, 1996 855GLT, 2001 V70

I think you'd be better off just putting new pads on the existing rotors than turning them. Otherwise throw them out; they're "disposable" on the 240. Plus with the chinese cranking out car parts faster than Americans can put them in, the rotors are CHEAP. And they do last decently.

Pads? Volvo pads are nice. But there are others too.

If that's a 91 240SE there is a good chance of ABS brakes being under the hood. If so, you need to bleed the brake system. Actually, as you send the pistons back into the caliper, crack the bleeder on each front caliper. Then get someone to help you bleed some fresh fluid out of the calipers, after you mount the pads and put them back on. It's easy and keeps the ABS system happy for the next year or two. Or the next pad change.

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1992 940 wagon, 72k
as well as others.

Pads from AutoZone, $12 per axle, cheap and make dust. Jack up car and pull wheel. Blow away dust, AZ sells a spray can for this.

Pull pins, clips, and such. Scrape off any crud.

Use water pump pliers to get pad away from rotor just a little, then use large screwdriver to push pad as far from the rotor as possible. Use pliers to pull out pads and shims. Use a light and mirror to check condition of seals, and look for liquid on shims which reveals a leak.

Blow out dust. Lightly grease shim, as said in other posts. Put shim in far enough to cover pistons, then put new pad in. Evenly push both in until pin holes lines up. Reinstall pins and clips. Do other axle.

Do not overtorque the wheel lugs. Can warp a rotor. Alloy "Corona" wheels get 82 lb-ft.

While wheel is on but still up off the ground, do a wiggle test. Grasp wheel and 12 and 6 o'clock and wiggle in and out. Looseness is a wheel bearing problem. Grasp at 3 and 9 o'clock, wiggle back and forth. Looseness is tie rod and/or ball joint problem.

Get in car and slowly push down on brake pedal, not to the floor. Pump up several times until pedal is firm. Do not drive until this is done.

Save receipt for pads, AutoZone may still have their insane (for them) lifetime guarantee.

Good Luck,

Bob

:>)

I've never did any brakes before I owned a 240, but like the previous have said, very easy.

I would recommend new clips and pins and the anti-squeal grease. (BE very Careful not to get it on the front of the pads or rotors.) FCP Groton has OEM pads, pins, is very reasonable and fast shipping. Highly recomended.

Good Luck,

Tom

The best thing about avoiding the "mechanic" is NOT the $ savings...it's the unwanted, unecessary and potentially warp causing avoidance of the "resurfacing" by machining. Basically your rotors are throw away units, if warped, grooved or otherwise bad - you'll need new rotors - making them thinner won't help much. Breaking a slight glaze with some emery paper is OK.

Brake pad swap is too easy on a 240.

Bleeding is easy too with a pressure type bleeder.

Get Bentley.

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http://www.fidalgo.net/~brook4/oilslubesfilters.html

I know what people say about resurfacing can cause warping, but I have had him resurface in the past, and had no warping problems.
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1980 244DL, 1982 245GL, 1987 744GLE, 1991 245SE, 1996 855GLT, 2001 V70

May I ask why you had the rotors resurfaced?
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http://www.fidalgo.net/~brook4/oilslubesfilters.html

I've read that, once a rotor is warped, the metal retains this distortion even after resurfacing and that the rotor will re-warp soon. I recently bought an '84 which had just had the rotors turned. They warped again fairly quickly so maybe there is some truth to saying to replace, not turn.

for the price of new rotors, and having to do the job more than once, I would think real hard about turning them, and under no circumstance would I trun them twice.
just my .02

Very easy to do and you probably do not want or need rotors thinned out for you. Just used the pads and vise grips to retract the pistons, then pull the pads (cotter pins and main pins first) and inspect the rubber seals then use a blunt tool to retract the pistons so you can insert the new pads. Don't hurt the seals, and the tire tool in your "tool kit" works well. Fluid [ressure will try to drive the pistons slowly out and you will have to retract then and put the pad in. For bleeding, see Bentley and maybe get a MotiveProducts bleeder.