So my front ends jacked up, both wheels are off, and I' looking at my rotors and the calipers that are on the rotors. I have new brakes in my hand, but they need to be on my car. I can get the brakes on, but someone mentioned something about bleeding the lines...Anyone know how to do this? I don't want to have to go back and redo something, so I am asking this now, and going to finish later tonight hopefully.

you have to push the pistons in the calipers back into the caliper to fit the new pads on. to do this, just open the brake fluid reservoir under the hood, then use a c-clamp and block of wood (to distribute the force) to push the piston back into the caliper. put in the new pads, reinstall any bolts (should be 2 per caliper), close the reservoir, and put your wheels back on. once you're off the jack stands, start the car up, pump the brakes a few times until they feel normal, then drive around slowly to make sure you didn't screw anything up. you don't HAVE to bleed the brakes using this method, although it's recommended you do it since it probably hasn't been done in a while. just search google for "bleeding brakes"

As said above you won't need to bleed the brakes....i never have when replacing pads. You only have to bleed the brakes if you remove a caliper, line, hose, wheel cylinder, ect, and let brake fluid out at the line.

If you cannot get the pads to fit over the rotor, make sure you put the c clamp on the piston BEFORE opening the valve located on the back of the caliper. You must have pressure pushing the fluid out at all times to prevent air from getting back into the lines (thats what the c clamp is for). If you do this successfully, there will be no need to bleed the brakes.

dont be like me and replace a caliper bolt with another shorter one (lost the actual one). then before you know it your caliper is hanging by one bolt and you're trying to decelerate from 70 mph then you hear grinding under your car (yeah, grinding my 18" inner wheel walls )

Make sure you get the right kind of C-clamp too. I tried this with a wood-working C-clamp, and the think split into two pieces and almost knocked a hole in the wall. It was bad, and I knew what I was doing too. My brakes needed serious attention after that happened. (BTW, dont go to Dollar General to get tools, it is worth the extra $5-$10 to get better quality. I did some research here over the summer between my Junior and Senior years in HS in a program UMR has called the Jackling Institute. I found out that cost really does mean quality. And DONT BUY "MADE IN CHINA"!!!)

Also, if your rotor is grooved pretty bad, it is a good idea to take it off and get it resurfaced. O'Reilly's or Autozone should be able to do this for less than $10 each. It isn't imparative, but i would do it as long as i was doing the brake pads and it will give you a better, longer lasting braking system.

Speaking of cheap metal, I bought a TD water pump pulley for my truck last summer, made in malaysia or sumthin, and one after noon after making a pass down the street through all three gears, I heard a horrible sound coming from my engine. I quickly pulled over and saw that the pulley was wobbling back and forth beating up my aluminum water pump. Turns out the whole center section of the pulley (where it bolts on) crumbled apart and wasn't there anymore. That was the second of those pulleys I went through before buying the $40 dollar heavy as shit steel one. The first one, the V-belt went straight through it! I thought the belt would break before the metal would!

Yeah, I've gotten some advice from a few people that have seen the rotor today to replace it, and I stopped at O'Reillys and got one for like 17 bucks. So now I get to take the caliper off, but I know how to make sure there is no air in the line I think. Someone told me to loosen the bleeder valve a little, then pry the cylinder back with a screw driver far enough to get the caliper off. They said doing this will force some fluid out the bleeder, and just to fill up the reservoir at the end of the process. I just have to find an allen wrench that fits the two rotor bolts.

Yes, but remember on some cars, removing the rotor requires re-packing the bearings (or replacing). Don't forget to pack the bearings! Thats half the reason cars brakes make horrible sounds (if it isn't that the pads are so wore down that metal is stoping the rotors!)

It is very very very very important not to let the reservoir run completely out of fluid whild bleeding the brakes, if you let this happen, you will need to start over.

I'll try not to let that happen. I don't think it won't be a problem. Thanks for the advice though.

Jesus, don't loosen the bleeder valve. If you loosen the bleeder valve then air WILL get into the lines. All you have to do is put a clamp on it and push the piston back into the caliper a little. The new pads won't fit because they're thicker than the worn out ones. Trust me, if you loosen the bleeder valve, you will have to bleed the brakes and there will be no problem with just pushing the piston back in a little way. If you read this too late all you have to do is get a quart of brake fluid, and a short piece of hose. Put the hose on the bleeder (with the caliper reinstalled) and the other end submersed in a container with brake fluid in it, loosen the bleeder and have someone else push the brake pedal all the way to the floor and hold it, tighten the bleeder, then release the pedal. Continue doing this until you see no bubbles coming up in the container of fluid you have the hose in. Do this on each side and you're done. In extreme cases you may need to do the rear too, but you'd have to get a lot of air in the lines for that. Also, most rear brakes take a special socket and the caliper piston THREADS back in, so if your doing rear disk brakes then you need to know that.

-donut

I've done it many times, if you keep pressure on the piston at all times while opening the bleeder valve, there will be no problems, just dont keep the valve open for too long.

Yes, you're right, but opening the bleeder valve is completely unnecessary and a possible source for air to get in the lines if you screw up. Not bashing you or anything, just informing.