I need to change the front pads and maybe the rotors on my daughters 2000 Civic LX 4 dr. How difficult is it to do. I haven't done my own brake work in almost 30 years, but I want to start doing it again. Are there any sites that would have photos on how to do it?
Thanks for the help.

 

1. Pull rim off.
2. The brake caliper should be on the front of the rotor, there are two bolts on the backside, pull them out. (I want to say they're 12 mm bolts)
3. Pull caliper off the rotor.
4. While you have it off, your brake piston will push out, using your old pads push them in. I can do this without a C Clamp, but if you use a C Clamp, you'll need a 4-4.5" clamp. Make sure to push it in straight, if the piston gets cockeyed it'll cause locked brakes or uneven pad wear.
5. Once the piston is pushed back in, put the new pads in the caliper.
6. Remount caliper to rotor.
7. remount tire.

8. Drive around braking properly to wear pads in.

 

Thanks for the reply. There are no clips that need to be removed / replaced when I change pads?

 

I did this yesterday...well tried, i had the wrong pads and had to put it all back together and send the pads back for ones of the right size. You only need to do the bottom bolt, and then the caliper will swing up on the top bolt and you can access the pads.

 

Not that I'm aware of. I've done my brakes all around several times now. I had a bad caliper on my rear, so I got more into it than I ever wanted to.

As far as just taking off the bottom bolt. It's easiest to remove the caliper so it's off the bracket over the rotor for easiest access to the pads.. since it's just two bolts, it'll be easiest in the long run.

 

Good idea to remove caliper totally,(both bolts),so you can inspect everything and clean all the dust as well.
Also give you time to check the bushings on the bolts for wear and lubrication.
Hope this helps...