Here is a step by step guide to how to change your front brake pads on your Honda Civic SI. It isn’t worth the money to take it to a mechanics shop to have them do it because it is so easy.
Step 1
The first step is to jack your car up. You can do this by either putting the jack in the middle of the front of the car and jacking it up by the frame, or by doing it one side at a time. I personally recommend doing it one side at a time so that the car won’t be as easy to fall down. Making sure that your jack is secure is VERY important here! You don’t want your jack to come out from underneath the car and the car fall down after you remove your tire. That would be bad for you and for your vehicle.
Step 2
The next thing that you should do is to remove the lugnuts from the wheel that is jacked up off of the ground. You can do this by using a deep socket or by using your air gun. The air gun makes it easier but it can be done by hand as well. Just break the nuts loose on the wheel and then remove them by hand.
Step 3
Once the lug nuts are removed, you can remove the wheel to expose the brake disc and the caliper. This is the fun part in this whole project. Feel behind the brake caliper and you will feel one bolt on the top side of it and one on the bottom. It is very easy to loosen these with a 19mm wrench. Loosen the top one but DO NOT remove it from the caliper. That is VERY important. Now, take off the bottom one completely, take it all the way out. Once you take that all the way out, the brake caliper will flip up and stay, exposing the brake pad for that side.
Step 4
Once the brake pad is exposed, it is time to remove it and replace it with the new one. To remove your brake pad, simply grab it and pull towards the front of the car. The brake pad will slide out and you will see how worn down it is! Compare the old one to the new one to see what you have been driving around with!
Step 5
Once you remove the old brake pad, it is time to put the new one on. The brake grease comes in handy now because it is what lubricates the brake pad to keep it from squeeling after it is installed. Put a small amount of the brake grease on your index finger and rub it on the shiny side of the brake pad (outside). Once you put this lubricant on, it is time to install your new brake pad for the very first time!
Step 6
After applying the brake grease to your new pad, simply slide the new pad into place the same way that the old one came out. Put the shiny side facing you and the rough part on the inside. Slide it into place if it will go, but if not you can use something to push it into place, such as a hammer. Don’t hit the brake pad hard but tap it into place. Once it is in place, you can move on to the next step.
Step 7
Now that your new brake pad is in place, the C clamp comes into play. When you removed the old brake pad, the piston released pressure and expanded all the way out. The caliper will not shut back to the way that it was without pushing the piston back into place. The piston won’t go back into place without having enough pressure on it so a C clamp is a MUST HAVE for this particular step. Take your C clamp and tighten it up around the back side of the piston and the front of it and start screwing it on. Tighten it as much as you can until the piston is pushed all the way back into position. The piston will not release once you get it in place, so you can remove the C clamp as soon as your caliper is able to close. You are almost done! Move on to the next step now.
Step 8
Screw the two bolts back on tightly that you removed on the brake caliper earlier in the lesson. Using the 19mm wrench, you can tighten these by hand and they will be just fine. Once you get those bolts secured, then it is time to put the wheel back on!
Step 9
Replacing the wheel back onto your vehicle should be an easy task because of the way that it came off. Simply line the lug nut holes up with the studs on your car. Put the wheel back into place and tighten the lug nuts securely by hand. Once you feel they are secure you can let your car down off the jack. The next step is the most important step so READ CAREFULLY!
Step 10
The final and most important step is to use a torque wrench to ensure that your lug nuts are secured. You won’t want to be driving down the road and your wheel come flying off of your car! So please make sure that your wheel is secured and you are good to go! Now move on to the other side of the vehicle and repeat steps 1-9 and you have completed your first mechanics job by changing your own front brake pads on your 2007 Honda Civic SI!
